thermal paste - is it always better to apply it??

[o770]

i readed after 1 or 2 yrs using the computer, when the thermal paste has already get very hard it becomes to act as a blocker for the heat dissipation between the CPU and the heatsink. does it really happens?
i got a FOP38 and it comes with kinda a thermal "tape" under its heatsink, im supposed to remove a thin paper covering it before to install the cooler. is it better to keep this thermal tape or removing it and to apply thermal paste? im planning to use the computer for more than one yr.
thanks.

[Placid]

I would remove the thermal tape and use paste instead.

[LutaWicasa]

One word answer: Yes :)

[outhouse]

Yes the sticky tape is garbage clean it off very well before using your compound.

[Lancelot]

"after one or two years when the thermal paste has already get very hard it becomes to act as a blocker for the heat dissipation between the CPU and the heatsink."

The tape is already hard, and simply too thick compared to a thin film of coolingpaste to provide any really efficient heat transfer...

[Link_flap]

In my experience, the "thermal pads" are about as effective as using nothing! In fact, I read just the other day that one guy had tested several thermal pads over the years and he had yet to find one that outperformed air!

Thermal paste will normally bring down temps about 7-8 °C The temperature drop will be larger for a rough surface heatsink and smaller for a mirror-finish heatsink.

If you have a REALLY flat heatsink polished to mirror finish, you could posibly be better off using no paste at all. I don't think it's possible to get a HS that flat using the OCer's standard toolkit (sandpaper+glass) though.

One thing to keep in mind is that the flatter the surface, the less thermal paste you should apply.

/Link_flap