Oh man I think I made a mistake (Please help)

[Madhatter4]

Alright I ordered all the parts for a new homebuilt system and received everything today.... However I FORGOT to order a tube of thermal gel to apply to the top of the CPU. All might not be lost because I also ordered a third party copper heat sink for the Radeon 4850 I received and it came with a small tube of "Zalman thermal Grease". Is this the same stuff that I need to apply to the top of the CPU????

Please reply ASAP

Thanks

 

[geofelt]

You are good to go.
The stock Intel cpu heatsink will come with some paste pre-applied. It looks like three grey stripes on the cooler base.

 

[ohiou_grad_06]

Yeah, if it came with thermal grease/thermal paste you are golden. Don't think anymore about, just use the stuff that came with it.

 

[Madhatter4]

So thermal grease is the same as thermal paste?

 

[Granite3]

So thermal grease is the same as thermal paste?

Same idea, different execution.

Most thermal paste is used on items with less than great surfaces to mate up- think cheap coolers, low end items.

Grease is a lot "thinner" than the paste, allowing for the 2 surfaces to come in better contact with each other. This allows for the most heat transfer between the 2 surfaces, keeping your cpu cooler. Think 2 pieces of flat glass pressed together. The grease fills in the minute cracks and imperfections to give a perfect bond.

Paste is used for large cracks, uneven surfaces, etc. Think caulk around the bathtub. Not nearly the perfect union described above, but adequate to get the job done.

Some folks even "lap" (or sand to a mirror finish and perfectly flat surface) their cpu/heatsink to improve the thermal conductivity.

Cooler cpu's last longer, usually overclock better, and give the satisfaction of a job done right.