I'm not using any Thermal Grease...

[JohnnyTheRed]

am I crazy? :D

It's on the system in my sig. Been running like a champ for over 6 months. Temps are around 40.

[Huckleberry]

Well I'm not wearing any underwear. The temps in my office are in the low 30s. I wonder if wearing thermal grease would make it any more comfortable in here. Hmmm... Arctic Silver boxers.

Crazy is just a matter of perspective.

[[OC]This]

Originally posted by Huckleberry
Well I'm not wearing any underwear.
ewww..

[Ffats]

I'm willing to bet you'll shave up to 4 degrees off your temps, which is nothing to shake a stick at.

[stan03]

I don't think you are crazy... usually retail computers don't have thermal grease, and anyone else who just uses retail hs and stock stuff doesn't have thermal grease either.
what heatsink is it anyway?

[bubba gump]

Originally posted by stan03
I don't think you are crazy... usually retail computers don't have thermal grease, and anyone else who just uses retail hs and stock stuff doesn't have thermal grease either.
what heatsink is it anyway?

Most stock stuff comes w/thermal tape, or a cheasy actual grease where grease isnt a good conductor...and goop is better ;) And the tape is just really messy stuff...my uncle's tbird fried and lol...all of the tape was like all brown o.O

Fold and Frag on
Brian

[WejRepus]

look at it this way:
i could run around naked in alaska, but i sure would feel a lot more comfortable with some clothes on
you can run that proc with no goop, but i think it could use a little goop

[breez]

If there would be two perfect surfaces then a thermal paste wouldn't be needed :D

[Finken]

I've been thinking about that... what if you lapped the IHS on a P4/Celeron and the bottom of the HSF with something like 2000?
Would there still be any reason for using a TIM?
Sure, there will always be a lot of really tiny mountains and vallies but if the surfaces are smooth enough a TIM might resault in higher temps?

[breez]

I think "perfect surface" isn't anywhere near possible to achieve with sandpapers and such.

[Mico]

Somewhere, a frictionless surface was created, but that's irrelevant. If you haven't had problems thus far, there is no need to use it. However, if you want a little more of a comfort zone, then by all means, break out the Ceramique.

[Nasdaq]

Give that Ceramique a try of you if ever decide to use goop. I like the way it cools my CPU

[aznchaos]

i dont have any thermal grease either and my temps are at 43 idle and 49 on load. Im going to put some on later.

[DAGO]

I wouldn't say you're crazy, but you certainly are a daredevil...

My primary question is why would you even take a chance? The chances are that if you are getting temps "around 40" without any thermal compound, what would your temps be if you did use a little AS3, Ceramique, or whatever?
I believe that you would see at least some improvement, even if it was only a degree or two...Isn't that worth it?
Not to mention the inevitable question, "How much more can I get out of my overclock now?" That's the real question, eh??
:D

[Strida]

Wow, I wonder what kind of temp you would get WITH some good goop.

[Ugmore Baggage]

Are you running it bone dry or with an alternative to thermal grease?

[Mico]

Sounds like bone dry.

[JohnnyTheRed]

Yes it's running bone dry. And I know I should see 5 - 10 degrees improvement with the use of some. But I never got around to getting any. I will be getting some the enxt time I order another part, but I just don't see the need for it to get its own order. Temps seem fine. Comp seems stable.

I'll prolly get it and add it within the month.

*EDIT* What are some good places to get Thermal Grease? Newegg only has a few types listed. I'm either going to get Nanotherm PCM+ or AS Ceramique.

[Nanotherm]

Your PC will run better with something between the CPU and HSF, rather than nothing at all. Even if you were able to micro-machine and polish both surfaces to the point were each surface was as flat and polished as possible - and both surfaces "fit" together as perfectly as possible with respect to the other - you might achieve a total contact area of 20 - 30% between the surfaces. The average person (or company) could not afford the level of technology it would take to achieve 20 - 30% "dry" contact between surfaces.

In this best case scenario, the other 70 - 80% represents trapped air. The average "as manufactured" total contact area of a well-manufactured CPU and HSF is actually about 2 - 5%. You might be able to improve this percentage to about 5 - 10% if you had some good equipment and knew what you were doing.

Given the fact that air is one of the least thermally conductive materials in the world - and given the fact that air would comprise about 95 - 98% of the thermal junction if no thermal interface material is used to gap it out, don't you think you would you be better off putting something in between your HSF and CPU rather than nothing at all?

[camel]

hmmmm... goop is good. I have to believe that, I paid 10 bucks for it :)

[schismspeak]

Originally posted by JohnnyTheRed
Yes it's running bone dry. And I know I should see 5 - 10 degrees improvement with the use of some. But I never got around to getting any. I will be getting some the enxt time I order another part, but I just don't see the need for it to get its own order. Temps seem fine. Comp seems stable.

I'll prolly get it and add it within the month.

*EDIT* What are some good places to get Thermal Grease? Newegg only has a few types listed. I'm either going to get Nanotherm PCM+ or AS Ceramique.

www.xoxide.com has the nanotherm, and others. You could try svc.com too.

[Toysrme]

Yep. And I was taking part in mass drunk'n nekkidness on a bowl game trip.

Just because I took part dosen't mean I'd do that sober, when I could think very well.

Hey it's your chip. If it get's your rocks off to be different without any thermal transfer helper, then whatever.

I however would not suggest doing so. (no goop, not drunk'n nekkidness; that depends on the drunk'n nekkid company!)

[Nanotherm]

That's the nekkid truth ;)

[Strida]

With my paste it made my temps about 5*C better, though I was using a pad before hand, instead of just bone dry.

[Nanotherm]

Good feedback. Almost anything is a better choice than a pre-applied TIM pad - with the exception of thermal tape and air (bone dry).

[macklin01]

Hmm, since it's bone-dry, and as it's a P4 architecture, you may well be experiencing thermal throttling.

You also haven't mentioned your room temp and case cooling solution, both of which make a big difference. If you're running in a place with temps like a Minnesota winter, you probably could get by without any thermal interface material, perhaps even without thermal throttling. -- Paul

[Yodums]

Originally posted by macklin01
Hmm, since it's bone-dry, and as it's a P4 architecture, you may well be experiencing thermal throttling.

You also haven't mentioned your room temp and case cooling solution, both of which make a big difference. If you're running in a place with temps like a Minnesota winter, you probably could get by without any thermal interface material, perhaps even without thermal throttling. -- Paul

Hehe, what I was thinking too. You may not notice any extreme temps due to the throttling.

[CaptainValor]

Yeah, I'd try disabling that in the BIOS and see what temps you get afterward.

[Nanotherm]

Just pop off your HSF and put some type of goo between your HSF and CPU for crying out loud! :rolleyes: Drive down the street to RadioShack if you have to, but put something in between there, please.

[JoT]

Careful Johnny, you're making TIM reps nervous ;)

[Nanotherm]

Nervous? This thread is like listening to people discussing running a high performance engine without oil. Is it possible? Yes - at least for a short period of time. It's the next best thing to running your fingernails across a blackboard... it's doesn't sound pretty at all.

[Ciffer]

if you are fine with you temps then leave it alone, you are more likely to harm your cpu my removing and reinstalling your hs then by not useing thermal grease, espesially if you are running near 40

[MrBean]

It's a P4 with an IHS hows he gonna harm the cpu. Believe it or not Raio Shack grease isnt that bad. Im gettin some nanotherm pcm+ myself.

[Nanotherm]

Mr Bean,

I always knew I liked you :D

[Voodoo_fx]

Ill test some nanotherm.. what is it anyways? some sort of artic silver or ceramique? Im just using some dow corning 38 or whatever it might be that came with my Aero 7+

[aznchaos]

Im getting a new heatsink and grease to put on so i wont be dry for long.

[CrystalMethod]

Originally posted by breez
I think "perfect surface" isn't anywhere near possible to achieve with sandpapers and such.


http://www.brolysan.freesurf.fr/2533-2.jpg


This is as "perfect" as it gets. But, few of us have the means to achieve such a flat surface. There's nothing holding that CPU to the heatsink other than friction. At that point I think you can do away with the thermal paste. If you can't do that with your CPU and HSF, use thermal paste. It's just a good practice to use it.

[Nanotherm]

To the naked eye, that surface looks pretty perfect. Look at it under high magnification, though, and you'll know why you still wouldn't want to run it without a coating of thermal compound.

[blackhabit]

guess waht fellow oc members , i built my pc almopst two years ago, and my duron is running fine and dandy, bone dry. no pad or gease, nothing! computer is in my bed room where temps range from70degrees F to about 95 degrees F depending on out side temp.i did plan to get sopme grease with i built but i forgot to order and then i jsut got lay and never got around to it. so see it doens;t hurt bad but i can tell it sweats lol

[JohnnyTheRed]

Don't worry people, I will be getting and applying thermal paste soon. Just as soon as I need to order something else. I'll be getting Nanotherm PCM+ or Arctic Silver Ceramique. Then I'll let ya all know how the temps do after that.

[Nanotherm]

Good man. No reason not to squeeze every ounce of performance you can out of your PC - especially with a tweak as simple and inexpensive as thermal compound.

[Gregory_WE]

I don't have a problem with no thermal grease... stock HSF and my full load temp is around 37-38C.

[Nanotherm]

Do you have a pre-applied TIM pad on your HSF? If you didn't scrape one off, you may very well have one on the bottom of your HSF right now vs. the bare metal-to-silicon scenario your are suggesting. If you are running bare metal-to-silicon, then I guess you need to ask yourself how much better your PC would run if you had some sort of TIM between the mating surfaces to fill in the surface imperfections and gaps, eliminate the air in the thermal junction (which always impedes heat transfer) - something with thermally conductive properties (unlike air) that actually promotes heat transfer from the "hot" surface to the cold "surface."

Of course, if you're happy with the current performance of your PC and you don't need or want to implement a cheap tweak to make it run cooler, faster and better, then I guess you're all set.

[tio]

Originally posted by CrystalMethod



http://www.brolysan.freesurf.fr/2533-2.jpg


This is as "perfect" as it gets. But, few of us have the means to achieve such a flat surface. There's nothing holding that CPU to the heatsink other than friction. At that point I think you can do away with the thermal paste. If you can't do that with your CPU and HSF, use thermal paste. It's just a good practice to use it.

OMG, that's beautiful! :D

[Nanotherm]

Any new feedback with TIM applied?