Do I need thermal compound for anything beyond CPU/Heatsink?

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HieronRemade

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Dec 28, 2015
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Hi All - I just purchased a nice upgrade for my gaming desktop's CPU and GPU. I first built the machine in late 2011 and even back then it was a budget machine so I also had to get a new motherboard to accommodate the new parts and will thus basically have to rebuild the whole machine. I was supposed to get help doing the upgrade but now it's looking like I'll have to learn to do it myself!

(Among other things) I'm wondering about the Arctic Silver thermal compound my flaky help had me buy. Do I need it for anything other than attaching the heatsink to the new CPU? I've been reading and apparently the heatsink that came with the new CPU will already have a layer of thermal paste on it...did I buy this other stuff because what comes on the heatsink is poor quality? If that's the case, should I use some alcohol or something to wipe off what's on there before I add the stuff I bought? Thanks for any thoughts; have a good one.

Mike
 
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giantbucket
YOU need to put the goop where YOU attach a heatsink to something. EVGA already put the goop on when they build the graphics card. if YOU take the card apart, then YOU need to reapply the goop. but there should always be a layer of goop between a heatsink and whatever it's attached to. who puts the goop there is irrelevant.
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giantbucket

giantbucket

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thermal compound is always used between an item and a heatsink, whether it's a cpu, gpu, vrm, or whatever. if there's a heatsink, there's compound. some cpu coolers already come with it pre-applied and that fine. as long as there's SOMETHING there.

to remove it, use an alcohol and some paper towels or toilet paper or old socks. if you ever take stuff apart, clean off the old stuff and apply a new layer - mostly to avoid capturing air bubbles.
 
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fredfinks

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Oct 21, 2015
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Basically youve been conned by your flaky guide who was under the spell of the syrens of marketing.

I dont know what CPU youve bought but if its a non K intel then the intel heatsink has paste already applied. If its a K and youve bought a cooler then the coolers come with a tube of thermal paste.

Dansdata did a test many years ago and the difference between fancy thermal pastes, toothpaste and peanut butter is ah heck all. (toothpaste better than peanut butter) thermal paste retains is elasticity for much longer so thats why we dont use toothpaste.

When you remove the old heatsink just wipe off the old crap with a tissue, being careful not to get it everywhere.
 
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M0j0jojo

M0j0jojo

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Are you using an after market cpu cooler, or the one that comes with the CPU? In an after market CPU you usually get a tube of thermal paste, the heatsink that comes with the CPU already has thermal paste on it. And since its your first time building the PC, you do not need to put thermal paste anywhere else beside an aftermarket CPU heat sink. (Put thermal paste on the top of CPU, not on the heatsink).

Edit: If you search on Youtube, im sure you will be able to find a tutorial on how to install a cpu cooler.
 
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HEXiT

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the stuff that ships with the heatsync isnt the best thermal interface but it is good enough.
typically you would see 3-5'c drop in your max temp by switching it out for a decent brand.

if you have gotten a 3rd party cooler already then it would ship with in most cases, a better thermal paste than the stock intel/amd paste.
swap these pastes out for something like arctic and you would be lucky to see a 1'c drop and more than likely not have to wait 200 hours for the paste to cure.

yes its best to clean off the cooler and ihs with 90%pure or better alcohol and a glass cloth.
 
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HieronRemade

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Dec 28, 2015
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Ok, just to clarify - the new GPU is a EVGA GTX 950 with one fan. I don't have to open up the GPU case and do anything with that fan, right? When you talk about heatsinks for a GPU you're talking about adding a heatsink in addition to however the GPU comes built right? I do have a general fan in the pc as well but if I'm understanding correctly that's also different than a heatsink that gets attached to a GPU or CPU.

Bottom line, for my machine, sounds like I only need to worry about thermal compound for my CPU.

 
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giantbucket

giantbucket

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YOU need to put the goop where YOU attach a heatsink to something. EVGA already put the goop on when they build the graphics card. if YOU take the card apart, then YOU need to reapply the goop. but there should always be a layer of goop between a heatsink and whatever it's attached to. who puts the goop there is irrelevant.
 
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HieronRemade

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Dec 28, 2015
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Again just to clarify - So, if I use this Arctic Silver stuff, I have to wait 200 hours before I turn on the PC? I don't remember doing that back when we built the machine haha...

I have a regular fan built into the machine but the only heatsink I have for the CPU is the one that came with it (it's an AMD FX 8320). So I will probably be cleaning off whatever is on the heatsink and using the nicer stuff I bought instead. It will suck if I have to wait over a week before I can try out the upgrade. :/

 
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