Thermal Compound?

[dpazza]

Hi All,
Just want to know Thermal Compound is it needed for a 1Ghz T-Bird if not overclocked? Seems every site is using it but I thought it must just be an overclocker thing?
I want to get:
1GHz T-Bird, Abit KT7 Raid, 2X 30GB IBM ATA100 7200RPM HDD's for Digital Video + 8GB HDD for System, 256MB Memory & GeForce2 MX. Some of this I already have.

 

[Guest]

Absolutely! Always use thermal compound.

Mike

 

[mpjesse]

If you like to preserve your investments you'd better use some =)

-MP Jesse

 

[Guest]

Maybe you are a little confused behind the actual purpose behind thermal compound. The use of thermal compund is not new to CPU's. The reason it is used is to assist in transfer of heat to the heatsink, and to eliminate HOT spots on the core of the CPU. The compound, or thermal pad, fills all the gaps and inconsistencies on the CPU core and Heatsink. On just about any CPU that dissipates more than 15W of power, some type of compund is needed. Your 1Ghz CPU dissipates about 55 Watts of power.

 

[Ncogneto]

To eleaborate on the above post yes you do need some. However, only a very very thin layer is needed, to much and you have not only defeated the purpose but made it worse. Thermal paste is like body filler, only there to fill in the small ( microscopic?) cracks and crevices on the cpu and the heatsink.
By doing so you effectively increase the surface area and thus get better heat transfer.

A little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing!