Question regarding an AthlonXP processor and thermal paste

[ZowieHowie]

I'm building a system for a friend, and someone told me that the XPs dont need the thermal paste as long as you use the retail heatsink and fan. Is this the case? I had always used thremal paste on the regular athlons. Is my friend out of his mind or is he correct?

 

[MercenaryForHire]

You're both correct.

Edit - Just noticed you didn't mention this. Athlon XP retail HSFs have a "thermal interface pad" on the bottom of them. While it's not as good as a thermal paste, it's more than enough to cool the chip properly and much more idiot-proof for Joe End-User.

As they come from the box, a stock XP with a stock cooler and thermal pad, running at stock speeds, will be just fine. If you want something quieter, cooler overall operating temperature, overclockability, or all of the above - thermal paste and an aftermarket solution is the way to go. Basically, it depends on what you want to get as an end result.

- M4H

 

[ZowieHowie]

Its going to be run at stock speeds, so I guess I will go without the thremal paste

 

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: ZowieHowie
Its going to be run at stock speeds, so I guess I will go without the thremal paste

However, as far as I know, if you remove the heatsink, you'll need to clean off the pad completely and use either another thermal pad (which I've never seen for sale anywhere) or thermal paste.

And of course, when using the pad, remember to remove the plastic film that protects the pad during shipping! Otherwise, you'll do a good job of keeping the CPU's core insulated from the heatsink, which will yield a very dead processor.