# Why is thermal compound so important?



## 3991vhtes (Jul 7, 2007)

I don't use thermal paste in my computers, and they are cooled just fine. The PC I'm using has no thermal paste, and it's running 24/7 without any problems.


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## mandelore (Jul 7, 2007)

it fills the micro/macro scopic cavities between thermal interface materials aka cpu and heatsink, it allows greater heat transfer between the surfaces, GREATLY increasing the amount of heat dissipated. 

im afraid, even if you run cool, not using thermal paste is nonsensicle, (said in as best a way as to not offend)

edit:
wait.. tho u may get away with it with such a low thermal output cpu....


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## Solaris17 (Jul 7, 2007)

r u serious?


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## mandelore (Jul 7, 2007)

awww sod it, okay, its daft, you NEED thermal paste, or you WILL get hotspots, places where air just dont cut it as a thermal conduit for heat!!!!


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## 3991vhtes (Jul 7, 2007)

Solaris17 said:


> r u serious?


Yes.


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## shoe16 (Jul 7, 2007)

seriously dude use thermal paste. makes a huge difference and will extend the life of your proc. my friend ran his without paste and was hitting 80 c. used thermal paste and got to 40-50 c


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## JC316 (Jul 7, 2007)

Air is a poor conductor of heat. Since there is no way to fully fill the space between the processor and heatsink without thermal paste, you get poor condutvitity between the HS and the CPU.

A thermal material fills the area where air would normally be and transfers the heat to the HS.

It's HIGHLY important especially on newer processors.


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## 3991vhtes (Jul 7, 2007)

JC316 said:


> It's HIGHLY important especially on newer processors.


But, should I worry as my CPU isn't exactly new?


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## Solaris17 (Jul 7, 2007)

ahahahahah any way sorry mandalore said it best what happens is whithout thermal paste air is trapped in these scratches etc and that causes hot spots were the heat just isnt transfering fast enough at this point that sop starts to trap more and more heat untill its like an oven heating up its nooo good for the proc....i SERIOUSLY suggest thermal paste your temps would probably drop considerably even some cheap best buy dynex is better than nothing lets put this in perspective

my bud has a Pentium D ok? well we applied too little his temps shoit to 115C that isnt good thats melt temp way over spec so we reapplied and it dropped it to 63-65ish that still isnt good but do you see the diff? as for you even if your experiancing no problems your proc is always running hot such heat 24/7 as you put it will SERIOUSLY shorten your proc and possibly mobo's lifespan so id reccomend it hell if i lived near you id give you some.


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## mandelore (Jul 7, 2007)

lol, yeah, ive got some spare crappy white generic gunk lying about, id sent it to you if you actually lived somewhere with a location


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## 3991vhtes (Jul 7, 2007)

mandelore said:


> id sent it to you if you actually lived somewhere with a location



just changed that


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## ex_reven (Jul 7, 2007)

According to intel (i think I read that on the paper that came with my old processors - probably my prescott), un-thermalpasted cpu's without sufficient heatsink contact can burn out in less than five seconds.


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## 3991vhtes (Jul 7, 2007)

My CPU has good contact with the heatsink. I can look at it and I see no gaps when I hold it up to the light.


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## Solaris17 (Jul 7, 2007)

did the HS comne with a square of pink grey or white stuff on it?


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## 3991vhtes (Jul 7, 2007)

No, I bought it used from my friend. (and yes, I actully have a friend  )

edit- and i bought it from him for about $6
edit2- IDK if it came with it when the hs was new


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## mandelore (Jul 7, 2007)

3991vhtes said:


> My CPU has good contact with the heatsink. I can look at it and I see no gaps when I hold it up to the light.



but do your eyes see into the realms of the microscopic? thats where smooth platforms become jagged mountains, valleys and god-knows what else, its a diff world, wherer you see it or not, no surface is atomically flat, the thermal paste just fills these unseen gaps, troughts, crevices, bumps etc, acting as a buffer, smoothing out contact between the 2 surfaces


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## ex_reven (Jul 7, 2007)

3991vhtes said:


> My CPU has good contact with the heatsink. I can look at it and I see no gaps when I hold it up to the light.



lol...gaps can be smaller than the eye can see my friend, there will still be air in those gaps.


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## mandelore (Jul 7, 2007)

3991vhtes said:


> No, I bought it used from my friend. (and yes, I actully have a friend  )
> 
> edit- and i bought it from him for about $6



slap him for not giving you any paste, even frikken toothpaste (as halariously posted on tpu by our resident jester) would be better than nothing, well... maybe anyways, JUST DONT TRY IT, ITS MORE FUNNY THAN ITS PRACTICAL, we'd honestly die from laughter, just say no to thermal toothpaste!!


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## 3991vhtes (Jul 7, 2007)

Could my CPU's heat also be affected by the fact that there is practiclly no air flow in my case (don't have any case fans)


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## Solaris17 (Jul 7, 2007)

well i simply cant stress enough like omg im serious you NEED it it doesnt matter what processor what company with or without ihs thermal p[aste is needed and provided with new HS by the company it is considered requirted by any and all proc manufacturers and running it without thermal paste is voiding any and all warranties so if i were you id ask that buddy of yours if he has any b4 that athlon xp refuses to boot one day at which point youll go and get a better comp only to do the same thing you must undwerstand it doesnt matter if youve gotten lucky so far it WILL fail its one of those things that will happen no matter how much you hope and prey kinda like a comet coming tword earth thing someone will die....well without thermal paste that proc will NOT last.


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## tkpenalty (Jul 7, 2007)

dude be a bit more mature and take the advice... seriously even if you use a light to see gaps you wont see any due to the fact that they are microscopic.... what temps are you getting anyway (just listen to us and do the right thing). 

PUT THE DARN THERMAL PASTE ON


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## mandelore (Jul 7, 2007)

yes, minimal air flow drastically impacts heat dissapation, get a fan, or a few, especially make sure the one on your heatsink is running, but for the love of cod and halibut, get some thermal paste


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## 3991vhtes (Jul 7, 2007)

My mobo doesn't have any sensors, therefor I cannot check my temps. Also, I am going to get some when I get paid.


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## nora.e (Jul 7, 2007)

How many recomendations is it gonna take? NOTHING is going to be a perfect surface match. Put some heat sink paste on it and have it be done with.


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## Solaris17 (Jul 7, 2007)

3991vhtes said:


> My mobo doesn't have any sensors, therefor I cannot check my temps. Also, I am going to get some when I get paid.




i love you in the gayest way


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## 3991vhtes (Jul 7, 2007)

I was thinking of getting this thermal paste. but not from newegg, from a local pc shop.


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## ex_reven (Jul 7, 2007)

newegg said:
			
		

> Pros: used it to put a passive cooler on my northbridge to replace a NOISY fan on my ecs motherboard. does a great job.
> Cons: doesnt *taste* very good...



LOL


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## mandelore (Jul 7, 2007)

ok ok, tell u what, get the progrom from the internet called "core temp" that will tell u the temperatures, if it dont work, get a hold of a program called speedfan, that will also display temperatures.

failing that, try an old program called motherboard monitor (probably the most copmpatable with your setup)


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## Solaris17 (Jul 7, 2007)

3991vhtes said:


> I was thinking of getting this thermal paste. but not from newegg, from a local pc shop.




um try paste not a compound or adhesive


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## driver66 (Jul 7, 2007)

This is a joke right??


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## 3991vhtes (Jul 7, 2007)

ex_reven said:


> LOL



Ha, I didn't know that people would actully _eat_ the stuff!


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## Solaris17 (Jul 7, 2007)

just make shure its thermal paste not adhesive that will glue your hs on...not so good


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## 3991vhtes (Jul 7, 2007)

Solaris17 said:


> um try paste not a compound or adhesive



I always thought it was the same thing


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## oily_17 (Jul 7, 2007)

Also if your not sure how to apply it,there is an article here on TPU

http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/overclocking/134


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## mandelore (Jul 7, 2007)

3991vhtes said:


> Ha, I didn't know that people would actully _eat_ the stuff!



some1 has to star in the worlds dumbest (tm)


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## mandelore (Jul 7, 2007)

3991vhtes said:


> I always thought it was the same thing



thermal adhesive, like the arctic silver adhesive is a permanant alloy thermal material, comes in 2 tubes, like an epoxy resin, except thermally conductive, used for fixing ramsinks etc permanantly to chips, not for cpu use ofcourse


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## Solaris17 (Jul 7, 2007)

3991vhtes said:


> I always thought it was the same thing



adhesive...."adhesive"....thats long speak for thermal GLUE just get some thermal "paste" it will say paste in the name or in the description that will work fine now thermal adhesive does conduct heat thats what its made to do but its more used for like mosfet coolers or your NB and SB because its a glue and those coolers arent usually ment to come off


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## 3991vhtes (Jul 7, 2007)

My bad...what thermal compound should I be using?


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## tkpenalty (Jul 7, 2007)

Find MX-1 On Newegg and order it . Holy cow, how many people are reading this thread?


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## Solaris17 (Jul 7, 2007)

tkpenalty said:


> Find MX-1 On Newegg and order it . Holy cow, how many people are reading this thread?



umk isnt that the stuff that like melts aluminium? because thats whaty he has..........id reccomend Arctic silver 5 or arctic ceramique


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## nora.e (Jul 7, 2007)

I changed my mind, not only don't you need any heat sink grease, you also dont even need the heat sink. Just get one of these babys set it to high pointed at the cpu, this will cool it off all by it's self


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## ex_reven (Jul 7, 2007)

Solaris17 said:


> umk isnt that the stuff that like melts aluminium? because thats whaty he has..........id reccomend Arctic silver 5 or arctic ceramique



No thats Coollaboratory Liquid Pro...corrodes alu


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## mandelore (Jul 7, 2007)

no, its liquid metal that eats aluminium, heres my old aluminium heatsink that i applied a tiny ammount to and let it go to work:






i have this stuff on my cpu DIE against my pelt block, works a charm 


lol, corrodes.. such a tame word, it BUBBLES AND FIZZES hehehehe

btw, i dont believe anything has yet to acheive the thermal conductivity of the coollabs liquid metal


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## tkpenalty (Jul 7, 2007)

Solaris17 said:


> umk isnt that the stuff that like melts aluminium? because thats whaty he has..........id reccomend Arctic silver 5 or arctic ceramique



MX-1 Doesnt melt aluminium and AS5 needs constant replacement ._. MX-1 in short > AS5 in every way.


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## anticlutch (Jul 7, 2007)

Solaris17 said:


> umk isnt that the stuff that like melts aluminium? because thats whaty he has..........id reccomend Arctic silver 5 or arctic ceramique



That would be this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835121005

Arctic Cooling MX-1 or Arctic Silver 5 (probably THE best known compound) would be  your best bet; I've also heard favorable things about the Shin-Etsu compound http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835150080


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## tkpenalty (Jul 7, 2007)

anticlutch said:


> That would be this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835121005
> 
> Arctic Cooling MX-1 or Arctic Silver 5 (probably THE best known compound) would be  your best bet; I've also heard favorable things about the Shin-Etsu compound http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835150080



MX1  AS5. AS5 needs too much replacement its not funny.


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## anticlutch (Jul 7, 2007)

Replacing AS5 doesn't bother me too much anyways... either I reseat the heatsink with AS5 because I have nothing better to do, or I reseat it once every few months when I clean out the rest of the computer. For those that don't want to reseat the heatsink every so often, then MX-1 or the Shin-Etsu compound is the way to go. Otherwise, AS5 is an awesome choice


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## ex_reven (Jul 7, 2007)

apparently that Liquid Pro Cooling Liquid Metal stuff corrodes Copper too...
according to that newegg link someone said it corrodes copper (albeit over a longer period of time)


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## 3991vhtes (Jul 7, 2007)

Ok, since I don't really take my PC's apart a lot, and I don't really see any reason to take off the heatsink (other than to change it for a better one). I think I will go with either the Shin-Etsu or the MX-1.


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## JC316 (Jul 7, 2007)

I use antec silver 5, great stuff.


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## 3991vhtes (Jul 7, 2007)

It's final, I'm going to go with the Shin-Etsu. I read all the reviews on NewEgg, and this was all 5 star  Thanks for all the help guys! 

3991


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## J-Man (Jul 7, 2007)

I would recommend using thermal paste.


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## Solaris17 (Jul 7, 2007)

well good call dude atleast your putting something on only reason i reccomended paste btw is because the liquid stuff is harder to apply drips etc.


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## Solaris17 (Jul 7, 2007)

wo0t i got thanked boo ya boi ..../bump


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## zekrahminator (Jul 7, 2007)

I have more thanks than you .


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## Solaris17 (Jul 7, 2007)

ya cause you cheated how many ppl did u threaten to ban to get those? you kno i can do that too.


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## 3991vhtes (Jul 7, 2007)

see, the way I thank ppl is if either
A. they helped me
B. taught me something (in this situation)


> liquid stuff is harder to apply drips etc.



I don't want ppl thinking i'm a "thank-whore" or something like another member of TPU is.


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## Solaris17 (Jul 7, 2007)

3991vhtes said:


> see, the way I thank ppl is if either
> A. they helped me
> B. taught me something (in this situation)
> 
> ...



me? those 37 ppl earned their thnx


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## 3991vhtes (Jul 7, 2007)

I'm going to thank every1 with helpful advice.


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## ex_reven (Jul 7, 2007)

zekrahminator said:


> I have more thanks than you .



I will pwn thee! 



3991vhtes said:


> see, the way I thank ppl is if either
> A. they helped me
> B. taught me something (in this situation)
> 
> I don't want ppl thinking i'm a "thank-whore" or something like another member of TPU is.



Good choice.


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## Steevo (Jul 7, 2007)

I have a tube of MX-1 I can send, enough left for about 5 applications, or 2 for newbs.


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## HookeyStreet (Jul 7, 2007)

no thermal paste or fans, thats priceless


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## 3991vhtes (Jul 7, 2007)

HookeyStreet said:


> no thermal paste or fans, thats priceless


That statement is going to be out of date tomorrow  . I am going to go to the local pc shop and get some Shin-Etsu. But, as for fans, there won't be any except on the psu and heatsink.


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## Casheti (Jul 7, 2007)

Look at my load temps WITH thermal paste 







Without it, my CPU would probably explode... =\


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## 3991vhtes (Jul 7, 2007)

@ casheti Holy crap! thats *HOT*

edit- did a conversion 177.80000 Degree Fahrenheit!


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## Casheti (Jul 7, 2007)

I can push it to 90*C+ if I try...

81*C was with the side of the case off...


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## Jonnycat (Jul 7, 2007)

Wow, and I get nervous when my processor gets over 50C.


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## Casheti (Jul 7, 2007)

Heh, I don't care if this thing blows up tbh...

I'm temporarily lovestoned right now by my new Kaley Cuoco wallpaper


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## 3991vhtes (Jul 7, 2007)

Casheti said:


> Without it, my CPU would probably explode... =\



and/or smell like melting and burning plastic....


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## Casheti (Jul 7, 2007)

Lol yea xD


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## 3991vhtes (Jul 7, 2007)

I had that happen to me....lol overclocked my 850MHz to like 1200MHz, and the cooling wasn't good enuff...that cpu is no more...my room smelled like melting plastic  and that had no thermal compound or paste or whatever it is called.


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## Casheti (Jul 7, 2007)

Hah wow... awesome 

(If you wanna shorten thermal compound just say "TIM")


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## tkpenalty (Jul 7, 2007)

Solaris17 said:


> ya cause you cheated how many ppl did u threaten to ban to get those? you kno i can do that too.



 lol look at zek's post . I want a thanks *cries*


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## 3991vhtes (Jul 7, 2007)

There you go, tkpenalty


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## thebeephaha (Jul 7, 2007)

OMG... No further comments.


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## Casheti (Jul 7, 2007)

...Respect the streets, fool.


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## mandelore (Jul 7, 2007)

ex_reven said:


> apparently that Liquid Pro Cooling Liquid Metal stuff corrodes Copper too...
> according to that newegg link someone said it corrodes copper (albeit over a longer period of time)



actually thats total rubbish, it doesnt effect copper, only aluminium


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## 3991vhtes (Jul 7, 2007)

I got a tube of the Shin-Etsu earlier this morning. I think I made a good choice and followed this community's advice . I also think my CPU will thank me as the computer is on 24/7. Thanks guys! 

3991


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## largon (Jul 10, 2007)

mandelore said:


> actually thats total rubbish, it doesnt effect copper, only aluminium


It's not rubbish. 
It's not that bad as on alu but it does "blend in" copper too. The reaction just takes much longer and is not that radical as on alu.


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