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.

So there were a few doubts about the thermal grease which I used. The
consistency of the grease is similar to a 10% cream. But in the images
on the internet describing the process I had seen the grease to have a
consistency similar to that of a toothpaste. Is what I bought the right
thermal grease? It cost me $5 for a gram of it. Or would I be better off
using a thermal pad instead?

Thanks,
/KS

"Arctic Silver" is what everyone swears by ...

Dave
"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.

So there were a few doubts about the thermal grease which I used. The
consistency of the grease is similar to a 10% cream. But in the images
on the internet describing the process I had seen the grease to have a
consistency similar to that of a toothpaste. Is what I bought the right
thermal grease? It cost me $5 for a gram of it. Or would I be better off
using a thermal pad instead?

Thanks,
/KS

Actually, thermal grease tends to work better than termal pads. The pads
are used for consistency of application and to reduce the mess. You're
probably just as good off or better now than with the thermal pad.
(I work for one of those "major" computer companies, FWIW and use both).

b.

BW wrote:

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.

So there were a few doubts about the thermal grease which I used. The
consistency of the grease is similar to a 10% cream. But in the images
on the internet describing the process I had seen the grease to have a
consistency similar to that of a toothpaste.

Grease usually works better than a thermal pad because it usually forms
a thinner layer, but some thermal grease is so viscous that it's hard
to make it thin out, and you have to swirl the heatsink around while
pressing down or even warm the heatsink with a hair dryer (the
heatsink, not the CPU). Radio Shack "transistor heatsink grease" or
dielectric grease sold at auto parts stores (used for waterproofing
spark plug connections and cooling ignition modules) is perfectly
adequate.

Don't obsess about CPU temperature as long as it's cool enough, usually
70C or less for a modern CPU with a maximum temperature rating of
85-90C. 50C is very cool for silicon and there's no benefit in going
lower.

"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.

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.

greg

GregS wrote:

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.

Huh? I don't think so.

Machined and polished
flat surfaces with little grease, is best. If the surfaces are not flat and polished,
a pad may be better.

greg


--
The e-mail address in our reply-to line is reversed in an attempt to
minimize spam. Our true address is of the form .

"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.