Is this bad for the PC?

[Genesis15]

I went to NAPA recently and bought some Electrical Thermal Grease Compound because I heard it could be applied to CPU socket pinholes. Well, I decided that would be too risky and I was running out of AS5 so I said hey, this can't be bad? (my CPU heats were hitting 60c idle which is horribly bad) so I cleaned the AS5 off of it and threw some Thermal Compound ($20 from NAPA so expensive.) onto my CPU head and it lowered my idle temps to about 34c which is about 26c lower (thats pretty amazing.) I'm just hoping this won't short my CPU in some way, seems unlikely people wouldn't be using this if it was this effective.

 

[btcomm1]

Why would it short your CPU if you just put it on the cpu head?

 

[nineball9]

Thermal grease has been around longer than home computers and it's used in many consumer electronics devices. If it was electrically conductive your TV would go *poof* in a second as used to disipate heat in several semiconductors including the HOT.

From what I've read on these forums, some seem to think that Artic Silver is the only thermal compound one can use which is nonsense. It maybe good stuff but it's not the only thermal compound around. You should be fine.

 

[conlan]

You'll be fine, i've been using it on Automotive Modules for decades. It's used as an Module to Heatsink interface. Some folks use it in their cpu sockets although i've never found this to be necesary. All it would do in their is insulate the pins from moisture, although i guess there could be a benifit if your running a water-cooled setup and, god forbid, it should spring a leak.

 

[Roguestar]

Originally posted by: nineball9
Thermal grease has been around longer than home computers and it's used in many consumer electronics devices. If it was electrically conductive your TV would go *poof* in a second as used to disipate heat in several semiconductors including the HOT.

From what I've read on these forums, some seem to think that Artic Silver is the only thermal compound one can use which is nonsense. It maybe good stuff but it's not the only thermal compound around. You should be fine.

Why would his TV go *poof*? There aren't any electrical contacts to bridge on the top of the CPU, otherwise metal heatsinks would bridge them 😕.

OP: It wouldn't matter if it was electrically conductive and some in fact have been (isn't liquid metal conductive?), because it sits on the die or IHS of the chip and doesn't short anything; there are no contacts or pins there.

 

[Paperdoc]

It worked, and that is to be expected. The before-change temp you note is 'way too high - MUST have been poor thermal contact and inadequate heat removal. The after-change temp looks perfectly normal.

Like they all say, putting this on top of your CPU has little risk because there are no contacts to short out. I really would NOT consider putting it on the pins or socket holes, though. Depending on the conductivity of the material at high frequencies (bit rates) you could disrupt the circuits. And therein lies the only real risk of using a thermal paste not known to be suitable for this task. It is vaguely possible that it could fluidize and slowly flow out of the space between CPU and heatsink, dripping down into the socket. One presumes that Arctic Silver and its major cometitors have ensured this does not happen with their products designed for the CPU application. That may also be true of the NAPA paste you used - who knows?

 

[GuitarDaddy]

It will be fine, it is the same thing

The only reason to put it in the pin sockets is if you are using sub-zero phase change cooling. Then its a good idea because with phase, condesation forms on the cpu cooling head and can run down into the socket and short it out.

 

[nineball9]

Originally posted by: Roguestar

Originally posted by: nineball9
Thermal grease has been around longer than home computers and it's used in many consumer electronics devices. If it was electrically conductive your TV would go *poof* in a second as used to disipate heat in several semiconductors including the HOT.

From what I've read on these forums, some seem to think that Artic Silver is the only thermal compound one can use which is nonsense. It maybe good stuff but it's not the only thermal compound around. You should be fine.

Why would his TV go *poof*? There aren't any electrical contacts to bridge on the top of the CPU, otherwise metal heatsinks would bridge them 😕.

Sorry about that! I was referring to thermal grease in general, not just the OP's CPU. Thermal grease, called by various names (I have "Silicone Heat Sink Compound") is used in many consumer electronic devices including TV's. Hence, if thermal grease was conductive, high power semiconductors in the OP's TV would be shorted as the compound is smeared around the leads and often the metalic heat sink. You are correct about the CPU die having no electrical contacts; my point was that the same grease is used in places that do have electrical contacts. Sorry for the confusion!