do I need shim, grease etc.???

[rl32455]

Thanks to ppl. who replied with tips on my last posting. I have another question. I'm looking for a barebones pc and components to make up a budget gaming system. I'll get an Athlon XP 1700-2000 range probably and I will *not* be overclocking or anything like that.

A lot of sites that sell barebones case/mobo/cpu have an extra option to add a shim, upgraded cpu fan, extra case fan and thermal grease. For example, accubyte.com has this stuff as a "cooling value package"... http://www.accubyte.com/applications/bto/bto3.asp?kitSku=BB-AMDECS&btoCatID=0301

Is it worth it if I'm not overclocking? I don't mind spending a little extra if it will prevent frying my cpu, but if it's overkill, then I'll skip it. What combination of cooling stuff is a good amount for a vanilla setup like I want?

Thanks.

 

[CrazySaint]

You don't need a shim, but you'll definitely need to get some grease or a thermal pad if your CPU doesn't come with it.

 

[dmcowen674]

I've never used grease or a shim. Many machines running between 1 and 2 gig, had 4 of them in 150 degree attic, no grease, no problems.

 

[CubicZirconia]

If you take your time when installing the heatsink (assuming you will be doing it), a shim isn't necessary. Like CrazySaint said, you definately want some sort of grease on there. Regardless of whether or not running cpu's without grease is possible, its still a not a good idea.

 

[numark]

With Athlon XP's, leaving out the thermal grease is not an option. Those things run hot, and it's not a fun experience to smell your $80 chip frying in a puff of smoke. No heatsink will make perfect contact with the chip's core, that's why you have thermal grease/pads to fill in the gaps.

Shims, on the other hand, are worthless. They are designed to solve a problem that no longer exists on current XP's, namely the old ceramic-type substrate that led to cracked cores. In addition, they tend to hold heat on the chip, since a shim is not perfectly flat and thus leaves gaps between the chip and the shim. With the new flexible chip packaging, cracked cores are less of an issue.

 

[wetcat007]

Many heatsinks come with a thermal pad which isnt the most effective way to cool it but it gets the job done, when u look at heatsinks, a good one i would recomend for that range would be the ThermalTake Volcano 6cu, it's a bit older than many but does a effective quiet and simple job of cooling and comes with a thermal pad. If you want better cooling use Artic Silver 3 for sure for cooling grease http://www.articsilver.com.

-Mark

 

[NokiaDude]

Thermal Pads do the trick for STOCK sppeds and at decent case temps. Artic Silver 3 is highly recommended for overclocking.