for an AMD A64 should you cover the whole top of the PC with ArticSilver5? in the past i've just added a pea sized drop and let the PSU spread it out in a circle that nearly covers the CPU, but the directions with the heatsink said to cover the yop of the CPU. what do you guys think, is the center circle enough?
What i do is place a small drop on the CPU die, put a freezer bag over my finger and spread the grease around the die so it ends up as a thin layer (edge to edge). The idea behind the bag is so there aren't any descrepencies caused by fingerprints.
Back then, headspreaders were uncommon, and if AMD had them it was on Opterons only. Wicked is correct. Furthermore, for thermal paste, you only want a little bit of it to help facilitate heat transfer. Too much and it starts to act like a barrier.