Rant: thermal paste application methods are overthought garbage

Every forum post I read swears by the pea method or the X pattern or some $30 paste. I've done 200 builds over 5 years at my shop in Austin. Used the spread it with a card method for every single one. Temps never differ more than 2 degrees C. Last week a customer brought his own $40 liquid metal and demanded I use it. After a month he came back with the same temps as my cheap stuff. So tell me, what's the actual proof that method matters beyond being careful and not overdoing it? Am I missing something or is this all just ritual?

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avery7218d agoMost Upvoted

Man, my buddy runs a repair shop and he had this one guy swear by the line method. He did it with some fancy paste, then re-did it with the cheap tube from the drawer, and the temps were literally identical. Guy still insisted the expensive one "felt better." People just want a ritual, I guess.