Quick one about thermal paste

SouthyCHXC

SouthyCHXC

SouthyCHXC

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Joined
11 Jan 2011
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16
I'm wondering about thermal pastes, I understand the benefits of the paste itself, not so much how it works (which I'm not fussed about).
I've been looking at the paste linked to below, and I'm just wondering why is this more pricey than the others? How much does Synthetic Diamond Power paste improve on metal alloy/liquid metal pastes?
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=TH-001-ID

It's only around 15 pounds, which is a fair price to keep my £200+ cpu cooler, but is it actually worth it?

Also do I apply it straight to the CPU, or on the CPU heatsink?
And is it compatable with H50/H70 styled water coolers (e.g. a block straight over the CPU)

Thanks!
 
Thermal paste is really about maximising the heat transfer (ie. thermal conductivity) between the CPU and the heatsink by filling in gaps between the two items.

There's lots of formulas for these pastes by manufacturers and they have varying degreees of how much heat can be transferred. Hence why you get mixes of products that are silver based or synthetic based compounds.

Prices differ due to what the ingredients in the thermal paste are. Price does not mean the best for your situation .... you may buy the most expensive stuff but it performs only maybe 1%-5% more than something costing 5 pounds .... in terms of temperature it may only be a degree or 2.
 
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First off stick with MX-4 which is a great paste and will do the exact same job. To apply the paste you put a small blob (slightly smaller than a pea) on the centre of the heat spreader which is fitted on top of the actual CPU. Then allow the heatsink to spread the paste when you mount it. There's loads of Youtube videos on this if it's still not clear ;)
 
Just to clarify, is there any need to apply thermal paste to the base of an akasa venom cooler with heatpipes i.e. to fill in any gaps? I mean as well as on the CPU btw. Decided at gone midnight last night it probably wasn't the best time to be putting my PC together so gonna be revisiting it tonight and I'm still not 100% confident about the best way to do it. I'm assuming at the moment a blob of paste in the centre of the CPU and let the cooler spread it but just not sure about putting any paste on the base of the cooler itself...

Cheers
Andy
 
only a blob on the cpu itself dont go overboard you only need a pea sized ammount or it will leak all down the sides of the cpu socket onto the motherboard
 
Ive always applied some paste to the base of a heatsink with pipes and spread it so that it fills the gaps but is clear on the base.

Can't remember which paste i like but im not a fan of the pastes that are a pain to apply.
 
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