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.

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....

Solaris17 · Jul 7, 2007

r u serious? :twitch:

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!!!!

3991vhtes · Jul 7, 2007

Solaris17 said:
r u serious?

Yes.

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

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.

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?

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.

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

3991vhtes · Jul 7, 2007

mandelore said:
id sent it to you if you actually lived somewhere with a location

just changed that

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.

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.

Solaris17 · Jul 7, 2007

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

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

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

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.

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!!

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)

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.

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 :toast:

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

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.

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.

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

Processor	AMD Athlon 64 3800+ Venice 2.4GHz
Motherboard	ASUS A8V-VM SE
Cooling	Stock
Memory	1GB DDR400
Video Card(s)	DiamondViper Radeon X1650PRO 512MB PCI-e
Storage	Seagate 250GB SATA
Display(s)	Acer AL2002W 20" LCD Widescreen
Case	cheap
Audio Device(s)	Creative SoundBlaster
Power Supply	500 watt
Software	Vista Ultimate
Benchmark Scores	4.1 Vista index

Processor	I9 9900KS @ 5.3Ghz
Motherboard	Gagabyte z390 Aorus Ultra
Cooling	Nexxxos Nova 1080 + 360 rad
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Processor	I9 9900KS @ 5.3Ghz
Motherboard	Gagabyte z390 Aorus Ultra
Cooling	Nexxxos Nova 1080 + 360 rad
Memory	32Gb Crucial Balliastix RGB 4.4GHz
Video Card(s)	MSI Gaming X Trio RTX 3090 (Bios and Shunt Modded) 2.17GHz @ 38C
Storage	NVME / SSD RAID arrays
Display(s)	38" LG 38GN950-B, 27" BENQ XL2730Z 144hz 1440p, Samsung 27" 3D 1440p
Case	Thermaltake Core series
Power Supply	1.6Kw Silverstone
Mouse	Roccat Kone EMP
Keyboard	Corsair Viper Mechanical
Software	Windows 10 Pro

Processor	AMD Athlon 64 3800+ Venice 2.4GHz
Motherboard	ASUS A8V-VM SE
Cooling	Stock
Memory	1GB DDR400
Video Card(s)	DiamondViper Radeon X1650PRO 512MB PCI-e
Storage	Seagate 250GB SATA
Display(s)	Acer AL2002W 20" LCD Widescreen
Case	cheap
Audio Device(s)	Creative SoundBlaster
Power Supply	500 watt
Software	Vista Ultimate
Benchmark Scores	4.1 Vista index

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Why is thermal compound so important?

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