Do thermal pads work?

[benhar]

I'm considering finally upgrading my 1.4 Thunderbird to a 2.0 Ghz Althon XP. I've been using an Alpha 8045 + Panaflo L1A combo, with the thermal paste that came with the heatsink. However, I saw that Antec has thermal pads, and was wondering how well they work.

So, I guess my question is, what is the best stuff to use nowadays b/t the processor and heatsink?


Thanks

 

[drewski]

the pads work, but i personally avoid the pads and use Artic Silver.

i've heard good things about the Artic Alumina as well.

 

[Lord Evermore]

If you decide to get a retail processor with the stock heatsink, you can just use the thermal pad and it should be effective enough. However good case airflow is critical with the stupid design of the retail heatsinks for Athlons now, and dust builds up VERY quickly in the dense fins. It worked fine in my own Antec case, but in a friend's cheaper case his CPU was overheating and becoming unstable while sitting in a very cold room.

If you're going to use a third-party heatsink, then there's just no reason to buy a thermal pad when there are so much more effective products available. The white paste that you probably used before is about the worst product possible though. Arctic Silver 3 is essentially the best possible product. Arctic Alumina is supposedly easier to clean up and almost as good for thermal transfer.

 

[NokiaDude]

Is the thermal paste Cooler Master makes and uses on their cpu coolers pretty good? Because my Cooler Master DP5-6I11A came with the thermal paster made by cooler master pre applied to the base. I get pretty good temps with my Duron 1.2Ghz, 46C surfing the net, 55C running Toast.

 

[Lord Evermore]

I'd actually consider that pretty high temperatures, though not anything you should be too concerned about if you're not having any stability issues.

I don't know what paste Coolermaster supplied with the heatsink. If it was a pinkish putty-looking material in a square shape, that's a thermal pad. If it was a white semi-liquid, that's just crappy silicone paste which dries out eventually and is the worst heat transfer material possible (it's only "adequate" for cooling).

 

[NokiaDude]

How long does it take to dry up? If it's going to dry up in less than a year tell me so I can get some AS3 ASAP!!! BTW, it was more of a grey color so I thought it was Cooler Master's Premium thermal paste on the HS.

 

[Lord Evermore]

I just looked at Coolermaster's thermal compound, it should be pretty good. Not sure what it's made of though, but I don't think drying out will be a problem. The gray stuff is actually pretty near to some Arctic Silver products as far as heat transfer capability.

 

[NokiaDude]

Well I'm glad they didn't stick a thermal pad on there. I let you know if in a month it dries out on me and gives me 55+C temps.

 

[Doggiedog]

My thermal pad on my Coolermaster just burnt up recently causing my CPU to overheat and die. I was getting about 50c temps from the start but towards the end they were at 60c+. After doing an autopsy, I noticed the pad just melted off towards the sides and just a gap between the HSF and the CPU.

 

[wetcat007]

Artic Silver 3 as always is the best route to go.