Thermal pads or thermal grease?

[HeatM1ser2k4]

I have 2 tubes of Arctic Silver Ceramique,but recently heard that thermal pads were better because the thermal grease dries and seperates,therefor losing complete contact over time....which is preferred for a system that has a Athlon 2800+,a Thermalright 947-U Heatsink,and probably overclocking?

 

[@md0Cer]

nooooooo....never thermal pads.........

They do not nearly have the thermal conductivity and performance of a thermal grease. Especially if you are going to do overclocking.

The thermal grease does last pretty long. I do not know exactly how long, but mine has gone 6 months now without a general increase in temperatures. Plus, the frequency that you have to take your heatsink off to clean the dust and pet hair or whatever out of it is far more frequent than you would have to take the heatsink off to re-apply the thermal grease.

Here is a general link about CPU temperatures:
http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=329015

BTW, a thread like this would be better off sent to a place like the cooling section, but don't worry about it, I goofed up quite a bit..and still do...

 

[Vio1]

yes, definetly stay away from thermal pads.

 

[Skeen]

Yes what you heard is true, but it still takes a couple years for the grease to dry out. I've heard cheap thermal grease (which dries out relatively fast) will still last for a "few thousand hours". Well lets say about 2500 hrs, thats still two years. Thermal pads are more for servers and other office computer applications where no one is going to even think about the cooling. The pads last for something like 8 years.

AS and the like are much better at conducting heat.

 

[HeatM1ser2k4]

Thats what I had thought.After a year,I bought a Thermaltake 947-U heatsink.When I removed the stock HS,the thermal grease was prectically dried out.Then I upgraded my mobo after having the 947-U on for about 10 month with Ceramique....and it was still pretty moist.I am still learning alot about building computers,so many of my question may seem noobish...but there is no better place to go to get your questions answered correctly that right here.Thanks for the input guys!

PS-- if anyone know a link to a good tutorial for noobs to learn overclocking Athlons,I would appreciate it it you posted it here...even better,if anyone has a link to overclocking the Soltek SL-75FRN2-RL nForce2 Ultra,that would be a really big help.There are so many tutorials out there,and as a nooob,I wouldnt know which one is the most complete and easy to understand tutorial written.Thanks for your help!