Intel retail thermal paste, enough or not?

Mr.Nick · 6 Jun 2009 at 23:27

Hey guys/gals

Got most of my new pc stuff today, but I was just wonderin, is the thermal paste that is pre applied to the cpu cooler enough? It doesn't look like there is enough on there.

Thanks all.

wbc1 · 6 Jun 2009 at 23:33

It's enough

J.B · 6 Jun 2009 at 23:35

It will do unless you are planning on some heavy OCing

JonJ678 · 6 Jun 2009 at 23:35

Less is more with paste. If you have to use the stock then so be it, leave it be.
When you find yourself with better thermal interface use as thin a layer as possible.

^in which case that cooler isn't going to cut it anyway

Mr.Nick · 6 Jun 2009 at 23:43

Yeah, just making sure, I knew you shouldn't put a lot on as this deteriorates the cooling capability, but that really looked like there wasn't enough.

No Oc'ing for me yet, hopefully will get a Titen Fenrir and try my hand at overclocking, will buy some decent paste of course aswell as cpu grease cleaner.

Thanks for fast replies.

Audigex · 7 Jun 2009 at 00:55

It literally should JUST cover the base - the thinnest layer possible without having metal-on-metal contact (sounds like something Jaqui smith's husband rented)

Gammawolf · 7 Jun 2009 at 01:27

Audigex said:
It literally should JUST cover the base - the thinnest layer possible without having metal-on-metal contact (sounds like something Jaqui smith's husband rented)

I thought in a perfect world full metal on metal is the ideal?

MikeHunt79 · 7 Jun 2009 at 01:30

Gammawolf said:
I thought in a perfect world full metal on metal is the ideal?

It would be if there was no air between... I wonder if you could solder a heatsink to a CPU?

Caseh · 7 Jun 2009 at 12:08

MikeHunt79 said:
It would be if there was no air between... I wonder if you could solder a heatsink to a CPU?

I think someone should get out their old CPU and Heatsink, and give it a try.

Ben M · 7 Jun 2009 at 12:14

MikeHunt79 said:
It would be if there was no air between... I wonder if you could solder a heatsink to a CPU?

I guess that you could melt some silver and apply it to the heatsink, still melted, then apply that to the cpu heatspreader and clamp it down. The solder might be a bit too hot and kill the cpu though I guess, and you'd have to get it right first time!

JonJ678 · 7 Jun 2009 at 12:15

Solder would do a very good job. Risks are damaging the chip (not major) and ending up with a heatsink/chip combination which you can't fit into the socket.

If you want perfection, the ideal would be a very clean and very flat copper surface on each, clamp together and leave at 80 degrees or so for quite a while. It'll weld itself together.

More sensible is to clean each surface and put 'liquid metal' inbetween, as it alloys to each surface.