Thermal glue...can it be bought locally? Radio shack?

[DefBringer2]

I just had a mobo combo shipped to me. DESPITE my request that they mount the fan to the CPU, they shipped them seperately. It's a WBK 38. I've never put a fan on a CPU before and I'm a bit nervous. The fan has this little odd-looking removable sticker on the bottom....is that some built-in adhesive or something?

Can I buy some of this thermal glue stuff at radio shack? I can't wait to order Arctic Silver...I need my machine up and running *today*.

Any tips/hints how to apply this glue would be greatly appreciated as well.....

(Not happy with United Micro....took one week to ship my mobo combo and didn't even follow my simple request)

 

[DefBringer2]

Ok, the sticker is thermal adhesive....how do I remove that correctly then add the thermal grease? Is it worth the effort to replace the adhesive with the grease???

 

[WarCon]

First off the pad is a phase change thermal pad. It isn't glue though. When the processor hits a certain temp (have heard its in the 50's celcius) the pad melts and forms a thermally conductive layer. It isn't as good as Arctic Silver, but should be ok for normal "one time" use on your heatsink. Its not great for overclocking, but is usable. Like I suggested earlier it can only be used one time and after you take your heatsink off again for whatever reason you will need to thoroughly clean it off and apply thermal compound. It is easier to get it off now before it melts, if your plans include removing your hsf regularly. I personally wouldn't suggest using Radio Shack's thermal compound, but there is a group of people here on Anandtech that seem to think there isn't any difference between it and Arctic Silver (they are wrong of course, but).

.........edit...........
Oh and you have to take the protective piece of plastic off of the pad before you use the thermal pad. Many people have either had serious issues with cooling or have cooked their chips by not removing that clear or blue tinted piece of plastic. And don't touch the core or the thermal pad before you apply it, human grease sucks as a thermal compound...........