• Welcome to Overclockers Forums! Join us to reply in threads, receive reduced ads, and to customize your site experience!

Thermal Tape or Thermal Paste?

Overclockers is supported by our readers. When you click a link to make a purchase, we may earn a commission. Learn More.

Shortman

Registered
Joined
Jun 19, 2001
I have a 1 Ghz AXIA Athlon and a Coolermaster EP5-6i11 HSF. I only plan to overclock to 1.1 or 1.2 Ghz. Is it necessary to go to all the trouble of removing the thermal tape and buying the paste? My case is an EN7237 w/ standard cooling, one 80mm in back and one in front.
 
Yeah, go with the thermal paste. Even the regular zinc oxide (white) thermal pastes have better conductive heat transfer coefficients than thermal tapes. If you choose to use thermal tapes, you can expect your CPU temp to be higher by 1 or 2'C. I think you should visit The Heatsink Guide for more info on this.
 
Also, when I bought my case, the company I bought it from said it did not ship with the plastic bracket for the fan in front. Do you know if I can order that separately from somewhere or anywhere I can find one? I don't feel like drilling holes in my case :)
 
Definately go for thermal paste. The pads on almost all heatsinks are terrible conductors with the exception of the thermoengine.
 
Shortman (Jun 20, 2001 10:09 a.m.):
Also, when I bought my case, the company I bought it from said it did not ship with the plastic bracket for the fan in front. Do you know if I can order that separately from somewhere or anywhere I can find one? I don't feel like drilling holes in my case :)

Well, I mount extra fans internall with both garden wire and double-sided tape. If you really need to create some perforations in your case front you can MELT holes rather than drill them out. Use a solder iron. Why don't you just remove all the metal tabs behind your PCI slots and/or mount one of those fans that can fit in a 5.25" drive bay?
 
what about on a Voodoo5 I want to put a couple of blue orbs on the sob adn overclock it! I don't want to use Artic silver because of the possibility of it becoming conductive! what should I use?
 
Just cover the tracks around the chip with masking tape whiles you are attaching the heatsink like spode did here then remove when it's attached. Frag tape id crap at heat transfer, leaving what you have one would be better than using this.
 
Back