How long's it been since they changed their stance or grease application?

8. RECHECK to make sure no foreign contaminants are present on either the bottom of the heatsink or the top of the CPU core. Mount the heatsink on the CPU per the heatsink's instructions. Be sure to lower the heatsink straight down onto the CPU.

Once the heatsink is properly mounted, grasp the heatsink and very gently twist it slightly clockwise and counterclockwise one time each if possible. (Just one or two degrees or so.)

Please note that some heatsinks cannot be twisted once mounted.

DO NOT REMOVE THE HEATSINK FROM THE CPU TO LOOK AT THE COMPOUND ONCE YOU HAVE MOUNTED THE HEATSINK. This will introduce air into the interface layer and require a fresh application.

Our testing has shown that this method minimizes the possibility of air bubbles and voids in the thermal interface between the heat spreader and the heatsink. Since the vast majority of the heat from the core travels directly through the heat spreader, it is more important to have a good interface directly above the actual CPU core than it is to have the heat spreader covered with compound from corner to corner.



The photo to the right shows how the pressure from the heatsink base spreads the compound and also shows a P4 with the heat spreader removed to show the location of the actual CPU core that is the source of the heat.

While the CPU core on an Athlon64 is slightly larger than the P4 core, it is still much smaller than the metal CPU Cap that covers it.
http://www.arcticsilver.com/arctic_s...tions_big2.htm

is this something that is now commonly held?? I should note that it is a techniqe for procs with built in heat spreaders.

In that case, would that be the same thing you'd do with a graphics chip?