[drakos]

I agree with casecutter. AS5 is a fantastic TIM, but people use way too much of it. I use it myself and the small tube has lasted forever. You only need about the size of 3/4 of a bb. I have known of people who have spread this stuff all over the cpu. It is a no-no. Too much will act as a insulator trapping the heat under the TIM instead of transfering it. You can run a simple test and put a small dab on the cpu, apply the heatsink, then remove it. You will be able to see the spead of the compound. It should be a circle that cover a good portion in the center of the cpu heatspreader.