Still need that thermal lube?

[KevinWI]

Got a new Q9300. Building a new PC. Looked at the installation instructions for the Q9300 which were aparently written for 2nd graders as it has no written words, just big pictures. Anyway, this installation picture book has no mention of thermal grease. Wondering if you don't need to apply it anymore. The heatseak/fan combo that came with this chip was massive.

 

[cklaubur]

Was this a boxed processor and cooler?

If so, I believe that there is thermal interface material already applied to the cooler. It's okay stuff, but not very impressive. I would recommend removing it and applying a good thermal grease.

Casey

 

[outlw6669]

The stock cooler should have TIM preinstalled on it. If it is showing bare metal you will need to add some TIM.

 

[Zoron]

Intel's thermal interface material is actually quite good... you don't need to apply anything else until you remove the heatsink and reapply it. Just remember that if you do remove the heatsink, you'll have to clean both it and the CPU before applying more thermal paste.

 

[KevinWI]

Well, I'm a sissy, I don't plan to overclock. The stuff that comes pre-installed should do fine.

 

[outlw6669]

I believe that there is thermal interface material already applied to the cooler. It's okay stuff, but not very impressive. I would recommend removing it and applying a good thermal grease.

Casey

Intel's TIM is some of the best you can use. I wish I could find the link of a test I saw a while back where it showed better results than the uber good shin itsu stuff which is, in turn, better than standard AS5.