"GregS" wrote in message
...
In article , "Anna Daptor"
wrote:

"BW" wrote in message
. ..
Hi,

I had removed the heatsink from the processor a few days ago to clearup
the heatsink fan and the dust accumulated in that area. I had read at
some places that once the pad assemble is dismantled, a new one should
be used or thermal grease is recommended.

I bought a packet of Antec thermal grease yesterday to replace the
almost three year old pad between the processor and the heat sink. I
applied it on the processor+heatsink assembly and the machine is up now.
However, my system logs do not show any difference between the
temperatures with the thermal pad and now with the grease.

That's not unusual, the quality of thermal pads has increased in leaps and
bounds over recent years, and most are as good if not even better than the
cheaper thermal grease.
Don't get over fussed with the temperatures too, the difference between
the
best and the worst thermal grease/pads will only be a few degrees if they
are applied correctly.

A pad prevents metal to metal contact, very important. Machined and
polished
flat surfaces with little grease, is best. If the surfaces are not flat
and polished,
a pad may be better.

Exactly. Unfortunately very few commercial heatsinks are anything close to
flat and some even have very visible ridges on their base. In those cases a
thin layer of thermal compound can actually be worse as there's an even
smaller contact area between device and heatsink.