HELP with Thermal Paste Please !!!!

[SleepyTim]

Hello everyone. I am just getting ready to build a new system, and I have a T-Bird 900, and an Alpha PAL-6035. The place I bought it included some silicone based themal goop, but it's just a tiny little packet, and I don't see any numbers or anything on it, telling me what it is. I have heard that silicone stuff is not very good anyway. Is that true?

And somebody told me there was a page of "AMD Approved" thermal compounds but I looked and I can't find it. I found the "AMD Approved heatsinks" but no thermal materials.

I know you will probably say "Get Artic Silver", but I am buiding my new system tonight/tomorrow, and its not available anywhere at stores where I am.

And here is the other thing. I am not going to be overclocking (don't yell at me), and I just want to put the Alpha PAL 6035 on there with some good pastes, keep that T-bird 900 cool, and forget about it.

So what should I do?

Is that little packet of silicone stuff (not Alpha's) that came with my heatsink from K&D Computers good enough?
It says "SIL More, Taiwan. Silicone Compound 3ml" on the packet.

The only store I have by me is Fry's Electronics and they do have several different kinds of thermal paste.

What should I look for?

And does anybody know where/ or have the list of AMD Approved thermal paste?

Please give me advice.

Thanks.

 

[vvvvvv]

radio shack has good thermal paste

 

[Poof]

Yeah - you might want to go to Radio Shack. It's a shame that it took me going to 3 different stores to finally find it. The idiot salespeople at Radio Shack nowadays only know how to sell cell phones and wouldn't know an electronic component if they fell over it. They looked at me like I had lost my mind when I asked for thermal paste... But I did finally find some and I bought it to have on hand, even though I had ordered some Arctic Silver.

And I did get my Arctic Silver paste delivered yesterday after waiting a week. MAN!! That stuff is FANTASTIC!!! It dropped my idle core temp from 42C to 30C! I have a PIII 600e with a Global Win HS/F on it and the little thermal pad from the GW was pretty crappy (alot of pits and creases in it, which didn't allow full contact with the core). I OC'd it last night to 800 (1.80 volts) after applying the paste and the idle maybe went up a degree or so. At full load (UT for several hours and now running SETI/Folding@home), the temp is maybe maxing out at 36C?!

Worth every penny as many many here have attested!!!

 

[vvvvvv]

is arctic siler in retail stores or only online?

 

[Poof]

As far as I know, it's only online. Cooler guys and Arctic Silver.

[EDIT: Oh and I think a couple of other 3rd parties sell it too online. I don't have the links for them offhand though.]

 

[JimMc]

Also try 2Cool HERE.

 

[BLoop]

You can get it from everythingconnected for $12.99 including shipping.