Thermal Compound?

[mshirley001]

Well I did it, I ordered the Asus P4PE Board and P4 3.06GHz Processor and a gig of PC2700 DDR 333MHz. Was sitting here flipping through a Tigerdirect catalog and noticed a intel socket 478 fan and in the description it says "includes thermal compound". Im assuming it somehow reduces heat but am I gonna need this stuff? The retail boxed processor I ordered didnt make any mention of it.

 

[Newposter]

Thermal grease (compound) improves heat transfer from the processor to the heat sink. Definitely use it. Newposter
"Good judgment comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgment."

 

[WheeDoggy]

Yes. The best cooler is worthless, if the heat transfer from the CPU to the heatsink is insufficient.

You can get some at an electronics store such as Radio Shack for probably around $2 US.

When you are assembling your new hardware, be sure to secure against ESD (ElectroStaticDischarge).

Rgds

 

[oldcomptrguy]

Most new CPUs come with thermal paste on the cpu. If it has a small removeable tab over the center bottom of the CPU, you do not need to add additional paste. You can check out the CPU mfgr web site to be sure but I have never added paste to a NEW CPU.

 

[jonhiker]

The newer CPU's run very hot and the thermal compound aids in the heat transfer. You will use a very small amount of it, one article desccribe the amount as "mouse turd size". Then, take a razor blade, can use the blunt edge, and scrape it out for a smooth, even coverage.

 

[KimLeece]

Most CPU's do come with a thermal pad already over the bottom - but thermal pads are not as efficient as thermal paste - I gained a 15 degree drop in temperature when I removed the pad (very, very carefully) and smeared Arctic Silver in place. You only have to apply the paste over the centre square box - taking great care not to let it go over the rest of the surface - jonhiker's "mouse" amount is plenty to use.

Kim Leece.

 

[paparazi]

Because the "footprint" (size of the heat transfer area) is much bigger on a P4 compared to an Athlon is does use more paste, "Hamster turd size" rather than "Mouse turd size" lol, don't put a metal blade anywhere near it, even if it's a blunt razor, Artic silver have an indepth explaination of how properly to apply on there website.

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

Your heatsink/fan unit will almost definately include thermal compound.
Don't forget at least a couple of extra 80mm case fans at the time of building, not later! front lower "sucking in cool air" and one on the rear top "exhausting the warm air out"
Good luck!!!!!!!!! Martin Replying helps further our knowledge, without comment leaves us wondering.

 

[stevenriz]

So what you all are saying is, even though the Intel processor Retail Box has a thermal pad already on the fan it includes, peel that off somehow and spread some Artic Silver on the processor instead?? Would it behoove us to go ahead and purchase a better fan anyways? What would you suggest in the $10-$30 range?

 

[paparazi]

If you have no intentions of overclocking the processor the supplied paste or pad will be just fine and the same goes for the retail heatsink and fan unit which will also be capable of cooling the CPU that it is supplied with.
There isn't any issues cooling P4's only AMD XP's this is because of the much smaller heat transfer area of the XP core, the latest thoroughbreds are even more critical (40% smaller than core size than the older Palemino)and require copper or similar heat transfer plate on the cooler.
Also retail P4 heatsinks are considerably larger and more efficient than there XP counterparts so generally are better in the first place.
Definately don't mix thermal compounds, if you do buy Arctic Silver III then thoroughly clean off the paste or pad from both surfaces before applying.
Martin

Replying helps further our knowledge, without comment leaves us wondering.

 

[stevenriz]

One more ques... I do have ASIII. If I do plan on overclocking, would the stock intel fax still be sufficient? It is huge and, correct me if I'm wrong, but would Intel include larger and larger heatsink/fans for each step in their processors? Like a larger fan for a 2.53 and an even larger one for their 2.8 etc etc??

 

[franklin97355]

The heatsink/fan is usually not supplied by the chip maker. The heatsink supplier will usually size the heatsink to the processor depending on its heat output.

 

[mshirley001]

Okay, so you guys recommend scraping off the original stuff and putting a different compound on it. If I were to do that I think I would want to install it as is to make sure the processor isnt DOA before scraping anything.

Is it difficult to remove once installed? Back in the day they were a pain and often resulted in bent pins.

I planning to make overclocking a different thread as I dont understand the pros & cons.

 

[stevenriz]

To answer you franklin97355, the processors are supplied with the retail boxes of the P4 processors. Those of you that know this know how bug this fan is. It also includes a 3yr warrantee! Soo I don't know...

 

[xomcat]

If you opt to remove the pad (my recommendation),use WD-40.Let it soak for a min. or two and than it will lift right off.Soak part of a coffe filter with isopropyl and carefully clean the surface before applying the AS.Perhaps Pentiums are more heat tolerant than Athies,but better heat transfer can't hurt them either.

 

[paparazi]

I fitted a P4 3.06gig hyperthreading a couple of weeks ago, the retail fan has finer fins than the slower CPU's in the range,and alot more of them to cope with the extra heat output.
The retail heatsink/fan can cope with resonable O/Cing, Arctic silverIII will improve heat transfer from the core to the heatsink compared to a standard patch or white paste.
Remember the paste is not intended to be a layer between the CPU and heatsink base, it is just a filler to expell microscopic air pockets, replacing surface imperfections with the paste, ASIII is designed to have a high thermal heat coefficient, so where there isn't a good metal to metal contact the paste fills in the gaps to give the processor the best possible heat transfer contact.
Martin Replying helps further our knowledge, without comment leaves us wondering.