Importance of high end Thermal Paste?

Here is some information that I see online. Do you agree with this statement?
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Heat sink compound is something that many do not use anymore, myself included. But, in some older systems, it will be necessary. Or you may wish to in order to increase the conductivity of the heat from the processor into the heat sink. To do this, apply just enough to cover the surface of the chip. If you have portions of the chip higher than others, apply compound only to the raised areas. The layer should be thin. More won't hurt anything, but will be a mess when you press the heat sink down.
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Thermal compound is <i>only</i> to fill in the microscopic gaps between the CPU die (or Heatspreader in the case of a P4) and the bottom of the heatsink, as it's very difficult for any surface to be <i>perfectly</i> flat, so something to fill those tiny little air pockets and make sure there's no air in between the two is desirable (as air is a good insulator).

If you ever replace the heatsink, then you'd be best advised to thoroughly clean off all the older gunk and apply a <i>really</i> thin layer of some thermal stuff, but otherwise you should be ok with what the stock heatsink comes with.

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<font color=red>Those of you who think you know everything are annoying to those of us who do.</font color=red>

It only promotes the rates of thermal transfer between the CPU die and the HSF. It will keep your CPU cooler by up of 5 degrees celsius. the cooler the CPU, the more stable and longer it will last.

This kind of stuff is a must for OCers. If you do get the Artic Silver, then get the Artic Silver 5 which you can find at www.crazypc.com

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