Most effective way of applying thermal compound?

[RichB-1962]

Hello everyone, building my first PC here, and I bought an aftermarket cooler (Thermaltake Spin-Q), because I do plan to play around with OC a bit.

I've been watching videos, and reading about different ways to apply thermal paste to a CPU. I thought I'd ask you guys which method you find the most effective. The methods I've heard of are:

• 1-2 Pea/Rice size blobs in the center of the CPU, and then apply heatsink.
• 1-2 Pea/Rice size blobs in center of CPU, and then spread with creditcard (or finger, while covering finger with plastic bag or glove).
• Draw a small line in the center, and apply heatsink.

I suppose they're all the same, the only real differences are applying with a creditcard/finger, or letting the heatsink pressure spread the compound for you. Which way works the best? I'm thinking of maybe letting the heatsink spread the compound would be better to avoid air-bubbles, but that may leave areas of the CPU uncovered.

Thanks for any tips and help.

[EzyStvy]

Option #2 is what I co. (cc)

[glc]

http://www.arcticsilver.com/instructions.htm