How Important is good thermal paste?

lloydcars18

lloydcars18

lloydcars18

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Hey Folks so basically il be Purchasing a 5800X on Thursday when they release as well as a Wraith Spire RGB cooler.

The cooler comes pre applied with paste from AMD and was wondering if i should just use this or use Thermal Grizzly Aeronaught i have which has been sitting in a box for a year or so?

I don't intend on Overclocking my CPU as it will be mainly used for just gaming?

Any help is greatly appreciated :)
 
It's worth doing the paste yourself if the pre-applied stuff has poor coverage or gaps. Otherwise there's very little, if any, difference in performance between the non-conductive pastes.
 
lloydcars18 said:
Hey Folks so basically il be Purchasing a 5800X on Thursday when they release as well as a Wraith Spire RGB cooler.

The cooler comes pre applied with paste from AMD and was wondering if i should just use this or use Thermal Grizzly Aeronaught i have which has been sitting in a box for a year or so?

I don't intend on Overclocking my CPU as it will be mainly used for just gaming?

Any help is greatly appreciated :)
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If you got stuff already at home then you can wipe and reapply. Or if you are using AIO or non-stock air cooler then yes get some decent stuff. You have paid money for decent cooling solution then why not spend £8 on a tube of decent thermal paste.

To buy a tube of something for stock HSF is probably not worth it.
 
I wouldn't bother, the paste the heatsink comes with will be fine.

Spending more on a tube of thermal paste is only really worth it if you plan on stripping your PC down regularly, or if you're wanting to push an overclock on a higher end heatsink.

For the average user the more expensive stuff is just pointless.
 
Unless you're paying attention to every little detail to max fps, just use the paste that comes with it. If you start squeezing the system for every frame then sure, use a better paste.
 
The op says he already has some Thermal Grizzly so I don't see why he wouldn't use it. May only make a few degrees difference but if you already have it doesn't make sense to me to not use it
 
Was thinking same thing benparker. :D Can't check print without removing cooler, and then it's time to at least wipe clean and re-apply.

But to OP's question;
How good your TIM print is is way more important than what TIM is used. Good TIM print is not about what TIM is used, but how well cooler base mates to CPU IHS. I've lapped more coolers in last couple of years than in previous 10. All because new AMD are often just flat but slightly convex trying to mate to a slightly convex cooler base (most coolers have convex bases) .. and there is no way to get a good TIM print with 2 convex surfaces.

Best TIMs are liquid metal being (very expensive and not easily applied) and only 2-3c better heat transfer than best normal TIM.

From there the next 30+ TIMs are all within about 3c of each other.

Using a TIM you are familiar with and know you can get a good print when using and good mating cooler base and IHS are key to good heat transfer.
 
benparker said:
How would you know if it has poor coverage after you have put the cooler on?
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Good cooler and setup case airflow to supply cooler with air close to room temp. Most cases don't come with even half decent case fans, and ones that do have decent fans don't have them placed properly. Every degree warmer air entering cooler is becomes same degrees hotter it will be (@ same rpm & load). That's why it's important to have good case airflow.
You might find link below to basic guilde of how airflow works and how to optimize case airflow of interest.
https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/t...-i-put-my-temp-sensor.18564223/#post-26159770
 
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