With all the recent postings about people using PTM 7950, I’d like to add a little remark from experience and past post but not in recent post. PTM 7950 can be reused multiple times for as long as it is not remove from the die / coldplate.
PTM 7950, as a Phase Change Material, turns solid when cooled after being heat-cycled. This is in direct contrast to its pre-application state where it is extremely hard to even remove from its plastic backings. I have seen videos online of technicians misidentifying PTM7958 on Lenovo Legions as ‘dried out concrete paste’ similar in nature to actual dried out thermal paste. I’ve also seen in my local country’s forum where there was a small discussion if it was actually reusable.
However, unlike actual dried out paste, PTM7950 can be reused by simply picking any of those dried, hard pieces that have spilled over and placing them back onto the die area. Simply tighten as usual and continue using. I have not noticed a difference in temps between reusing and a fresh application after heat-cycling both again. This makes using PTM7950 an even better cost saving imo due to its long service life.
You don’t need to cover the entire die. Just leave whatever is left on the heatsink Coldplate and on the die alone. Then just use a plastic tool to scrape any that were pressed out during mounting and re-place them onto the middle of the die.
Mount and tighten as usual. Just by having the mounting pressure along with the heat cycles later will be enough to spread them again. My 1 month experience was enough to see that there were no difference in temps between new and reused 7950