How Important is Thermal Paste?

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Hi,
I have my Pentium PC running for about 8 years without any problem. It's a Pentium E2180, overclocked from 2GHz to 2.3GHz. I have been running it for a long time without any thermal paste. The CPU still shows comfortable temps., even while stress testing. So what I am asking is, is thermal paste really important? I am asking it as I am building a new system with an i3 6100.

Thanks in advance.
 
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basroil
i3 6100 comes with a CPU cooler with paste already on it. The general thing is: Don't worry about paste if your cooler already comes with it, at most you get 3 degrees of difference under the absolute worst conditions. For an i3 6100 and default cooler, even denture cream is good enough
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basroil

basroil

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Oct 19, 2013
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i3 6100 comes with a CPU cooler with paste already on it. The general thing is: Don't worry about paste if your cooler already comes with it, at most you get 3 degrees of difference under the absolute worst conditions. For an i3 6100 and default cooler, even denture cream is good enough
 
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G

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Denture cream, lol. anyways, thanks for the reply.
 
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Solandri

Solandri

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Jan 4, 2012
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Most of the heat transfer from the CPU to the heatsink is via metal-on-metal contact.

The thermal paste fills in microscopic pits and valleys between the two metal surfaces because they aren't perfectly flat. Paste has about 100x worse heat conductivity than metal-on-metal. But it has about 100x better conductivity than the air which would normally fill those gaps.

It improves overall conductivity enough that it's worth doing. But not so much that the type of paste really makes that big a difference. A vocal segment of the PC modding community wants the absolute best for their PC, so they will spend lots of money for marginally better paste that reduces temps by a couple more degrees. But as basrail says, even denture cream or toothpaste will do in a pinch. What's more important is applying it properly. Putting on too much paste is actually worse than having no paste at all.

If you're not a hardcore modder, learn how to put on paste properly (a pea-sized or half-pea-sized dollop, then press down hard enough until metal is contacting metal). Then don't worry about it, except in 4-7 years you may want to paste it again (certain pastes dry out over time, reintroducing air and reducing heat conductivity).
 
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Solandri

Solandri

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Jan 4, 2012
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Short of a vacuum, air is just about the best insulator there is. The fiberglass insulation in your roof doesn't insulate because of the fiberglass. It insulates because the fiberglass traps air. Likewise, a blanket or your winter coat doesn't insulate because of the cloth material. It insulates because the cloth material traps air.

Almost *anything* gooey in the microscopic gaps between your CPU and heatsink will conduct heat better than air. (Not that I recommend toothpaste or denture cream - I'd go with something less gritty and easier to get off. Maybe smooth peanut butter? I'm guessing the low water content should prevent electrical shorts, and high oil content should make it clean up readily with alcohol.)
 
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