I don't think you have to spread it out. If it's grease you're applying, just set a small drop in the middle and the heatsink will spread it for you. I've seen this done with good results. I didn't mean an oversize small button. I should've said BB pellets but that didn't come to mind. Or as some people would say, as small as a rice grain. Basically, you just don't need that much to get it going. The new CPU's heatspreader makes it really easy to do this stuff.