Should I use thermal paste or not?

[Unseen]

I was wondering if it was worth the trouble/$$ to put thermal paste on CPU? I heard somewhere if you put thermal paste you void that cpu warranty, is that true??? I am not really experienced at all, so I might need to exchange the cpu or something later on.

Also I was wondering if it was worth an extra $20 or so have MB, CPU, thermal paste, and heatsink fixed together? The only other comp upgrade I made was p166 upgraded to 1600 xp and it got 2 problems. It temp is bit hit, it goes up to 60C (that might because rear case fan is blowing air in, instead of out. I am just to lazy to turn it around) and it always get message that +12v out of range. It might be CPU problem, but I guess its more likley a PS problem. It has been running ok for 2 years now, so I just don't bother to fix anything. Think having MB combo would help or not?

 

[neveroldmilk]

I`ve no idea where u heard that putting on some paste will cause u to lose warranty,and it sounds funny.Oppositely u will surely lose the warranty in case of not getting some paste between the fan and cpu and letting it burned.

 

[ufo_warviper]

Neveroldmilk is right. NOT putting thermal past on the Heatsink & CPU has a higher chance at voiding the warrenty. I personally would put thermal paste on the CPU,"or it will burn up faster than a .09 PRESSHOTT", sorry wrong quote. But really, I would put the paste on there or you would risk having your CPU not receiving the proper cooling. Thermal paste IS part of the cooling solution afterall. Go liberal with the paste too, just to make sure you have enough on there. I heard AMD doesn't offer a manufacturer's warrenty on theri CPU so putting thermal paste on is youre safest bet.

My OS features preemptive multitasking, a fully interactive command line, & support for 640K of RAM!

 

[Flinx]

If you left the thermal grease that came with the CPU on then just leave it there. No need to remove it and replace it with another thermal compound.

However if you've cleaned it off and unless you have placed your heatsink perfectly you could cause damage to ur CPU.
The paste fills the imperfections/gaps/pits/ripples between the heatsink and the cpu.



The loving are the daring!

 

[pjordan]

New Artic Silver 3 would perform better than stock goop, but it probably not worth the trouble for you to do it.

 

[pIII_Man]

it voids the warantee on the athlon Xp's to change fans,heatsinks or thermal interface material...


Proud owner of DOS 3.3

 

[Unseen]

So the athlon xp already come with thermal paste? never knew that! I guess thats what the pink stuff that on 1600 xp i build 2 year go was. Should save me some trouble then. Thanks for the help!