Do I really need thermal compound?

[jbslow]

I just got a new 1.2 athlon and want know if I really need to apply thermal goop.

I'm waiting on a SK6 with 40cfm delta so what do you think fine as a stand alone cooler?

Just so I know the compound is only going to contact the four little studs on the cpu or is it just supposed to be all over. I don't know but the idea of getting that stuff all over the ceramic , the bridges the little diods(or what ever you call them) and having to remove it just to reapply should ever take of my hs just sucks.

Someone please give me the facts on the application and how much temp. improvement should be expected from this stuff.

[SteenkyBastage]

yes, definitely use thermal compound.

and in response to where you put it...you only have to cover the middle little rectangle part, not the ceramic or bridges.

if by the four posts, you mean the four pads, no, dont put any thermal compound on them, those are simply to help your processor from being crushed by the HSF, as well as helping to keep the HSF balanced flat on the cpu core.

you dont necessarily need to use thermal grease if your HSF comes with a little thermal tape pad on the bottom of it. as you could use that instead, but i'd recommend the grease as it works better anyhow.

[outhouse]

DO NOT RUN YOUR PC WITHOUT THERMAL COMPOUND.

it has been done before and it has fried a few before.

[Patchmaster]

I got these numbers from some hardware review site; I don't recall which.

Silicone zinc-oxide thermal compound, like the stuff Radio Shack sells, has a thermal conductivity of about 0.7W/mK. (Don't worry about the units, it's the number that's important. Bigger is better in this case.) Arctic Silver II has a thermal conductivity of 8.4W/mK. For reference, air has a thermal conductivity of 0.02W/mK.

AS II has 12 times the thermal conductivity of silicone zinc-oxide; silicone zinc-oxide has 35 times the thermal conductivity of air. The moral of the story -- use AS II if you can, but even the Radio Shack white stuff is way, way better than nothing.

[Colin]

Instructions (http://www.arcticsilver.com/arctic_silver_instructions.htm) from Arctic Silver's Web Site on how to apply thermal grease.

[jbslow]

Thanks everyone !

I'll order some Artic Silver II tomorrow.