Do I need to put on thermal gel?

[LuckyTaxi]

Just bought an Athlon XP 1800 processor. Do I need to put some thermal gel on the processor?

 

[jarsoffart]

If you are talking about Thermal Interface Material, you don't need to, but it helps lower temperatures like 2 C i think? The previous was a run on sentence.

 

[Jhhnn]

You definitely need some kind of thermal transfer material between the heatsink and processor. The stock sinks have a square of pink thermal interface material, usually covered with plastic tape to protect it during shipping. peel off the tape, install. If there's no interface pad, then definitely use some heatsink compound- just a very thin layer on the surface of the cpu die in the middle of the processor package.

Never power up a cpu without a properly installed heatsink- poof!

 

[Zim Hosein]

Originally posted by: jarsoffart
If you are talking about Thermal Interface Material, you don't need to, but it helps lower temperatures like 2 C i think? The previous was a run on sentence.

Sorry jarsoffart, but you must use a TIM either the square pad that comes w/ the CUP, or something like AS3. For complete instruction on AS3, click Here

 

[LuckyTaxi]

I had to peel a cover off the heatsink before I placed it on the CPU. There was something still stuck on the heatsink. I assume I'm ready to go?

 

[zodder]

If you aren't planning on overclocking, that should be fine.

 

[Woehlck]

Arctic Silver III ! Never skimp out on CPU cooling - especially when it is something as simple as quality paste/gel/TIM (etc.....)