I will only use KPx, still the best paste I have ever used. Always consistent, but then again I also always spread it out myself that way I know its pretty much even every time. But that also stems from doing LN2. I see your using the optimus block, I have the nickel/plexi, And my god I love it. The only thing is the mounting isn't fool proof. So I just set the block down on the cpu, then press down on the block in the middle between the two fittings. Spin the thumb screws down until they stop spinning on their own. Once all four have down that, start to snug them 1/4 turn at a time in a cross pattern. Do that till your block can no longer move/spin on top of the cpu. I have almost perfect mounts every time doing it that way, just a suggestion for you :)
 
Your build is looking good! I did a complete rebuild of my 9900k and 2080 Ti water loop and added a 3rd 360 rad due to a slime type growth in everything. But of course I failed in completely cleaning out and killing the growth in the radiators so it all came back. But instead of trying to clean the rads, I'm going to just have to buy 3 new ones, sigh.

Apollo1321
I will only use KPx, still the best paste I have ever used. Always consistent, but then again I also always spread it out myself that way I know its pretty much even every time. But that also stems from doing LN2. I see your using the optimus block, I have the nickel/plexi, And my god I love it. The only thing is the mounting isn't fool proof. So I just set the block down on the cpu, then press down on the block in the middle between the two fittings. Spin the thumb screws down until they stop spinning on their own. Once all four have down that, start to snug them 1/4 turn at a time in a cross pattern. Do that till your block can no longer move/spin on top of the cpu. I have almost perfect mounts every time doing it that way, just a suggestion for you :)
 
Your build is looking good! I did a complete rebuild of my 9900k and 2080 Ti water loop and added a 3rd 360 rad due to a slime type growth in everything. But of course I failed in completely cleaning out and killing the growth in the radiators so it all came back. But instead of trying to clean the rads, I'm going to just have to buy 3 new ones, sigh.

Thanks for the tip. I tried to do exactly that, but I think I must have slipped when trying to find the snug-point on the first thumb-screw (/nut? I mean...the screw part sticks out of the board, so I think it's a nut). That must have offset it a little and even though I did gradual cross-pattern tightening, it must have started bad. It felt much better this time and my temps seem to be a little bit lower and less jumpy. It isn't huge or anything, but it seems a little better. Honestly, the best I've seen so far was from the blob method with Prolimatech PK-3. I've never used Kryonaut before, but I have some, so I may try that when I remount for my new motherboard. If I don't like it, it'll be back to the PK3. I don't really keep track of the ambient temperature in the room during any of my tests, so it is sometimes difficult to tell which paste/application is best lol.

Looks Good!

An update on thermal paste from post 79 above.
 
Disassembled my system to swap motherboards (due to POST LED failure RMA). My mount was as close to perfect as it gets. I forgot to take a picture, but paste distribution looked nice and even. SO, I decided why not, I'll try some other pastes with the same method.
 
I got the new motherboard in, cleaned everything up and installed Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut. This is the older style (gray colored, not pink), and my temps were about 10°C higher than the last time I tested things. I think ambient was a couple degrees warmer, so let's call it 7-8° warmer for the thermal grizzly than the KPx.
 
So that wouldn't do. I took the block off and found that yet again, paste distribution was amazing (so the mount was good). I tried to replicate my original and so far best results, with a blob of Prolimatech PK-3 nano. This dropped the temperatures back down to within a couple degrees of my previous test, which again, I think is due to ambient being a little higher. I had just been running my dehumidifier right next to the PC (it is a basement...I turn the thing off while I game, but it was on for a good chunk of the time I was doing the board swap. I eventually turned it off because it was getting too hot down there lol, so I know it was warmer than the last time I tested, I just don't know how much warmer).
 
So at the end of the day, I can say that I've had my best results with the blob in the center (not a "grain of rice" or a vertical line over the internal die), and also can say that I've had about identical results with Prolimatech PK-3 nano and Kingpin KPx. My test setup is not repeatable enough to say one is better than the other, but personally I think they're both fantastic. PK-3 nano is much more viscous and creates less of a mess because of that. KPx can drip/run quickly, so if you're installing with the PC in the upright position, you have to move fast lol. 
 
To put it all together, I'll add to this list I started a while ago. Tests I've done:
1: Using PK-3 with a big blob gave me really good numbers. This was also only tested on Distilled water, which shouldn't make much of a difference, but is worth noting.
I thought it was spikey, which could have been indicative of a bad mount (too much paste) so...
2: I tried the "spread it out manually" method. I think I utter-failed at this. I didn't have a good spatula, so I tried to fake it with something I'm too embarrassed to even describe specifically, but it looked pretty good before I put the block on. Worst test numbers I've seen.
3: I tried a line (think: elongated grain of rice) of KPx. It came with my block, so I figured I had it and may as well try it. This is what I've left on there currently, and now has the EK Premix running in the loop. It's worse than test 1, but much better than test 2.
4: I tried a blob of KPx. This gave good results. Doesn't seem quite as good as test 1, but this could be due to ambient differences and that I've now added a 3080ti to the system, which now has different airflow because of this.
5: Checked and repeated test 4 due to uneven mount pressure. It was interesting that test 4 performed as well as it did considering how uneven pressure is (see post #79). The re-test of this was only marginally better (not really noticeable in any way I could test).
6: Blob of Kryonaut. This was ~7-8 degrees warmer than test 4/5. No thanks.
7: Blob of Prolimatech PK-3. This is performing very much like 4/5. I'll keep this for the foreseeable future unless some reason to re-mount comes up.

Update!
 
I'm going to have to update my signature again. Due to the EVGA Bucks program ending and having to spend my points on something, I picked up the z690 Classified and DDR5-6000 32GB kit bundle they had (only reason it made sense to upgrade my CPU and motherboard right now with new gens coming in just a few months).
 
Excuse the mess, but I was just trying to get it up and running lol. I still have some more tuning to do on the CPU overclock (separate thread in z690 section for that), but it's alive.
 

External light on just to see what's going on inside easier:

If you're curious, yes, the board sticks down below the power supply shroud. yes I plugged in the front panel audio and a USB 2.0 header completely blind and by feel. The Front panel power/reset switch/leds connection was...complicated:

An annoying one^, the case mounts the power supply about an inch and a half inside the case with a mesh back panel with its own power inlet and switch and there's a little ~6" jumper cable from their power inlet to the power supply. The inlet on the EVGA 1000W G3 is upside down from what bequiet! had in mind with their right-angle power cable. It has to do a little loop, as seen here, to connect correctly. I could king the thing and jam it in a slightly different spot so it isn't visible, but that would risk the cable and internal wires to damage and that just doesn't feel responsible. I suppose I could buy the other-angle jumper cable, but if you look at the top two pictures, you'll notice that you can't even see it in there under the GPU, so it's only noticeable when you're working on things.
 
As I said, I haven't done a lot of tuning on the CPU OC and I'm still waiting on an LGA1700 contact frame to get here to fix my mount pressure, so I'll do more tuning after that comes in, but here are some initial scores from a quick overclock:
CPU Profile
Time Spy
Port Royal
 
I think this is 5.4GHz 1-4 cores, 5.3GHz 5-6 cores, 5.2GHz 7-8 cores. I'm not posting this from that computer right at the moment so I'll have to verify later. It doesn't really matter as I'm planning to get to about 5.5 1-2 cores, 5.4 3-6 cores, 5.3 7 cores, 5.2 8 cores. I know that isn't a lot higher, but I think it'll definitely be manageable with proper tuning.
 
Edit: Time spy updated with 5.5GHz 1-2 cores, 5.4GHz 3-4 cores, 5.3GHz 5-6 cores, 5.2GHz 7 cores, 5.1GHz 8 cores.

What allen keys are you using there?
 
Also, I like that tubing you're using.

seth89
What allen keys are you using there?
 
Also, I like that tubing you're using.

The ball-end hex keys are from Wiha. I like the color coded ones, they're pretty handy for keeping track of which key goes to which screws when you have multiple going. I've also used these kits from them (I have a set at work), which are very nice with the swivel holder thing that is surprisingly helpful when taking one out of the holder or putting it back in.
 
The only Wiha ball-end hex tools I don't like are the ones with the "screw holding" hex tools with the little tension clip at the end that's supposed to lock the screw in. They work for a little while, but the tension clips seem to fail over time, then you don't get as good purchase on the screw as the normal ball-end hex does.
 
Overall, I'm a huge Wiha fan. All my screwdrivers are from them too. They have the best Phillips bits I've found, in that they are considerably better at not stripping out a Phillips screw, even when you sometimes forget to apply copious amounts of pressure lol.
 
Also, while looking at the picture to see what tools I was using, I also saw my fancy Kai scissors. Those things are phenomenal. I have the cheaper set at home and use one of the "pro" line ones at work for cutting some insulation material and other things and their quality is outstanding. I...well...I like nice things. A good quality tool just makes you want to build stuff.

Did anyone notice the floppy disc in post 87?

rjohnson11
Did anyone notice the floppy disc in post 87?

lol. it is a rubber cup holder. gift from the wife from thinkgeek.com I'm pretty sure. Edit: which I just found out was bought by gamestop and destroyed.