Is all thermal compound the same?

Is all thermal compound the same?

Not All Thermal Paste are the same. Since thermal compounds are a high-margin product, it’s no surprise that the market is so crowded. But it’s vital to note that the products aren’t all alike.

What is the best thermal paste pattern?

The cross pattern is one of the best patterns that cover all, if not most, the chip’s surface. Due to this, there are little to no air pockets that trap heat. By theory, this should give us a better temperature. Although it may seem that this is the best thermal paste pattern, you may have some spillage from the sides.

How much difference does thermal compound make?

This means choosing the right thermal paste is an easy way to reduce the temperature of your CPU before your even get started on a CPU cooler. Lowering your temperatures by 4 degrees (a 5% improvement) by changing thermal paste is also cheap, given a small tube typically costs only a few quid.

How many grams of thermal compound should I use?

Thermal grease is ONLY meant to fill the tiny scratches in the surfaces of the heatsink and CPU heat spreader. As noted a pea size or smaller drop is plenty of TIM. A 3.5g tube would be enough for at least (20) CPUs… When in doubt READ AND FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS !

Is a higher or lower W mK better?

A material’s thermal conductivity is the number of Watts conducted per metre thickness of the material, per degree of temperature difference between one side and the other (W/mK). As a rule of thumb, the lower the thermal conductivity the better, because the material conducts less heat energy.

Does it matter what thermal paste I buy?

The big question is, does the type of thermal paste you use matter? Short answer, yes. Thermal pastes vary in composition, cooling effectiveness, viscosity and price, so you’ll want to determine what kind of machine you’re building and how desperately you want to shave off a few more degrees.

How much is too much thermal paste?

When you ask CPU and GPU manufacturers how much thermal paste is enough, they answer pretty bluntly: “Not too much.” Both AMD and Intel recommend using thermal paste at the size of a pea or a grain of rice. You might think to yourself that the mentioned amount couldn’t be enough to cover the whole surface sufficiently.

Can changing thermal paste increase performance?

Yes, it does improve performance. Thermal paste must be applied, as cpu surface and cooler surface are not perfectly smooth. To make to perfect contact between two surfaces for maximum heat transfer, we need to fill the microscopic gaps.

Can changing thermal paste improve performance?

Wrapping things up. Thermal paste is essential when it comes to keeping the CPU and GPU cool. Using your computer with dried-out thermal paste will lead to noticeably decreased thermal performance, which means throttling of your clock speeds and potential risk of overheating.

What is a good thermal conductivity W mK?

Thermal Conductivity of insulating materials To allow you to get a feel of insulating materials – their thermal conductivity varies between about 0.008 W/mK for vacuum insulated panels (so these are the best, but very expensive!) to about 0.061 W/mK for some types of wood fibre.

Is a higher or lower W mK better for thermal pads?

First and probably the most important is the conductivity, which in cases of thermal paste labeling is often expressed in W/mK which stands for Watt per meter by Kelvin. The higher the number, the better the thermal conductivity of the compound is.

Does more expensive thermal paste Make a Difference?

Nope, it will work just fine. The more expensive thermal pastes might give you 1-5C better temps but nothing to force you to buy them.

How often should you Repaste your CPU?

In most cases, you shouldn’t need to reapply more than once every few years, though you should replace your paste if you remove your cooler for any reason. You may also want to consider reapplying thermal paste if you find your CPU temperatures are climbing.

Does CPU paste expire?

If the thermal paste has dried up in the CPU, you need to replace the thermal paste. Remove it with an isopropyl alcohol pad and put on a new layer of thermal paste. Thermal paste generally takes around three years to go bad.