Can i not put a thermal compound on my cpu?

[mykebrian]

I have a core i3 2120. Has anyone tried using their cpu without a thermal compound?

 

[Unolocogringo]

Not a good Idea.
Cpu will overheat quickly.

 

[theconsolegamer]

You can use it without thermal paste. If you want to burn you CPU, that is.

 

[theconsolegamer]

You can use it without thermal paste. If you want to burn you CPU, that is.

 

[erikalikesfire]

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Thermal-Compound-Roundup-January-2012/1468/5

Thermal compound is not optional.

 

[13thmonkey]

every-so-often this pops up, like we all put it on for a laugh. if you lap both parts to glass smoothness then you might be able to get away with it, but thats nearly impossible.

 

[KNO3]

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Thermal-Compound-Roundup-January-2012/1468/5

Thermal compound is not optional.

Apparently mayo is a viable alternative

 

[zdbc13]

Love that article, erik, very funny....

 

[mykebrian]

won't the mayo dry out?

 

[erikalikesfire]

won't the mayo dry out?

Yeah, if you look at butter, toothpaste, and cream cheese, they all become 2-3° worse after 12 hours. It's kind of funny to see which compounds are worse than lipstick, but when you get down to it, you need a real thermal compound.

If money's an issue, maybe think of it this way: $5 on some Arctic Silver has a great price/performance increase return, compared to spending $50 on ram, or $100 on a SSD, or $200 on a new CPU.

 

[aviral]

I have a core i3 2120. Has anyone tried using their cpu without a thermal compound?

Yes,I am using it without thermal paste from approximately 2 years.

Problems which occurred while

In summers:-
The only possible effect of not using it is that it may not result in heat dissipation properly and letting your system heat up fast unusually.
Sometimes system gets automatic restarts to protect the processor from overheating on load.

In Winters:-
The effect of auto-restarting of system is minimum.

The thermal compound will give you a few degrees difference but it is really worth it.

Are you experiencing any problems?


It is better to use the thermal compound rather then avoiding it.

 

[jitpublisher]

I have a core i3 2120. Has anyone tried using their cpu without a thermal compound?

Of all the stupid............why would anyone not spend a couple of bucks and a couple of minutes to put on some thermal compound (it doesn't have to be a premium brand, cheap brands will do the job for the vast majority of folks) and prevent the multitude of problems that are inherently going to be created by an overheating processor?
Some people's logic completely escapes me.

 

[KNO3]

Of all the stupid............why would anyone not spend a couple of bucks and a couple of minutes to put on some thermal compound (it doesn't have to be a premium brand, cheap brands will do the job for the vast majority of folks) and prevent the multitude of problems that are inherently going to be created by an overheating processor?
Some people's logic completely escapes me.

Mostly just this. Why would you possibly not use it?

It's even available from radioshack if you have a problem ordering it...

 

[WR2]

In most cases the thermal compound is pre-applied to the heat sink of the CPU cooler.
(the gray patches in the picture)

 

[mykebrian]

Ok thanks everyone. I decided to go buy a thermal compound. The money isn't the problem it's just that no computer store is close to our place. I'll try to not be lazy.

 

[amuffin]

Thermal compound is to fill the microcscopic holes between the heatsink and the processor for better heat transfer.