Figured I’d just throw the idea out there, seems like it would help a lot of people building TR4 systems
It is going to spread slightly I’d imagine, and as long as the dies are covered by a consistent layer that’s where most of the heat would be generated anyways.
The entire point of the IHS is its name, internal heat spreader. You want to cool the entire thing not just the hot part because the heat from the dies spread out because…wait for it, the heat spreader spreads heat.
As for the 3D printing I assume you mean FDM because nothing else makes sense.
FDM printers are not fast enough to produce product on this scale when you could just have specialized applicators (dispenser guns with paste and flat nozzles) laying a wide, flat line instead of a bead.
Another issue is that thermal paste is, a paste, when you go to scrape it off a print bed it will be ruined.
0/10 terrible idea
or you aren’t talking about printing with actual paste and I’m misunderstanding this and what you are referring to is a stencil which even then it would be fragile and thin and still would not do as good a job as a gun with a nozzle.
Like that, but for the IHS of threadripper.
I’m sure it could be done to cover the entire IHS, The 3-D print could just be a prototype for someone, or made avalible for anyone who wants to order one from somewhere, or print it themselves
now this makes sense
if I had that drawing in your reddit thread with exact dimensions of the TR die I could draw it in 5 minutes, just scaling the cut outs and print it when I get home
im seeing that the paste is going through a film/screen or something?
you cant 3d print that part, not with consumer hardware
RIght, it’s a silk screen, for which you can buy the mesh, it also needs a gasket at the bottom to prevent the paste from leaking out of the wanted area.
Not 100% on what a thermal paste needs for it’s mesh, I think they’re usually made of aluminum or something.
I’d say TPU but would need a really fine layer height
this is still possible
could just print the whole thing in TPU 
I assume that’s something soft that will seal the area?
and my sandwich idea may need to be in 3 peices, so the mesh could be folded over the middle section a bit and held in tighter maybe.
yes, its soft but not completely rubberish, imagine shoe sole
looks like 90+% coverage should be the goal, preferably 100% I suppose, didn’t think it would make that much of a difference. though it still has to be applied after it’s in the socket I think.
