system
A chat on subreddit /r/pcmasterrace
human
I've always been a fan of pea sized dot but from what I see with temp comparisons of all of these on youtube the temps always seem negligible.
gpt
Its not about temps, its about the messy disaster anything besides "pea dot" leaves behind.

The pea dot is the only one where you dont end up with a waterfall or paste off the sides after fully tightening the cooler. Very few of those videos/comparisons/etc, really mention hoe much of a mess all the other methods leaves behind. Especially bad with the super sticky pastes, becomes awful to clean up after. Electrically conductive ones are more rare now days, so that is no longer a concern, but absolutely was prior, and having that shit leak down the sides could cause real damage.