DOES RETAIL CPU NEED THERMAL GREASE FOR INSTALLING?

[leousb]

Hello, Simple question pls,

Got a RETAIL Athlon64 3500+, and need to know if thermal grease is neccesary for installation, cause it seems that it already has a thermal "compund" applied.

Please people with serious knowledge answer me, can't wait to get my rig up and going


Thx a lot

 

[LTC8K6]

If it already has the TIM pad, then you don't need any thermal compound. Remember though, that pad is basically a one time use item. If you take the heatsink off more than a couple times, you should replace the pad with thermal compound such as Arctic Silver.

If you intend to try for a good overclock, you probably want to replace the pad with thermal compound.

 

[Icepick]

^ Agreed with LTC8K6 ^

Do NOT add thermal grease to the retail heat sink. It comes with a thermal pad attached to it and can be installed right out of the box. You can NOT use thermal grease AND a thermal pad at the same time.

If, at some time in the future, you decide to switch to thermal grease instead then you need to remove the thermal pad from the heatsink before applying the thermal grease. Hope this helps!