Tec questions

[OpTiX]

i was thinking of getting a MCX462+T, someone told me that i wouldnt need to use dialectric grease, and only to use that stuff in water cooled tec setups, also any other info would be nice

 

[MichaelD]

I assume you're referring to TIM. Thermal INterface Material. The stuff that goes b/t two metal parts to promote heat transfer. I.E. b/t a CPU slug and the bottom of the heatsink.

No matter how flat the bottom of the HS may look to the naked eye, it's seldom flat and often filled with small pits that trap air. Air is a lousy conductor of heat. The TIM fills these gaps and ensures heat gets transferred fromt he CPU to the HS.

You ALWAYS need TIM, or dialectric grease! For stock solutions, I.E. no overclocking, the pink pad that comes preattached to a stock HSF will work fine. For anything else, you'd be best served to scrape off the pink pad and use Arctic Silver. Everyone sells it.

 

[Peter D]

Originally posted by: MichaelD
I assume you're referring to TIM. Thermal INterface Material. The stuff that goes b/t two metal parts to promote heat transfer. I.E. b/t a CPU slug and the bottom of the heatsink.

No matter how flat the bottom of the HS may look to the naked eye, it's seldom flat and often filled with small pits that trap air. Air is a lousy conductor of heat. The TIM fills these gaps and ensures heat gets transferred fromt he CPU to the HS.

You ALWAYS need TIM, or dialectric grease! For stock solutions, I.E. no overclocking, the pink pad that comes preattached to a stock HSF will work fine. For anything else, you'd be best served to scrape off the pink pad and use Arctic Silver. Everyone sells it.

Dialectric grease is for TEC and Vapour coolers, AFAIK, to protect the CPU from condensation in which case I'd definitely use it.

 

[OpTiX]

alright thanks for the help