Thermal tape vs. grease on a socket462

[John]

I went to an AMD seminar in Dallas, TX on Monday and had a great time in the process. One of the technical advisors suggested that you use the thermal pad that comes with their fan on a boxed cpu. They found that most thermal paste didn't cut the mustard.

Are most of you guys using an Alpha Pal6035 w/ the supplied grease or a thermal pad?

 

[AMB]

Coming to think about it, I have heard many stories where people were using grease and it was making matters worse, instead of just sticking to the thermal tape

i am using the original thermal tape that came with my tai sol heat sink and am getting temperatures around 36c when doing web browsing and listening to mp3s

 

[HellRaven]

It depends really. A vast majority of the time grease is better, but if you get a really low quality grease and/or apply too much of it - you can actually increase the temperature instead of decrease it. With a decent grease that is applied as a thin layer you will always get a better result though. Thermal tape is better than nothing, but grease will always be better when applied correctly.

 

[DaddyG]

John,

If you have read any of my posts you'll know that I'm a big pimp for the pad. (its not really a pad is only 5/1000" thick and its Phase Change Thermal Compound). CHOMERICS T725 is the brand used by most of the AMD approved hsf manufacturers, but AMD has a couple of other brands approved as well. Nevin, who makes Arctic Silver disagrees with AMDs approval but they don't approve his stuff.

While initial temps may be a degree or two lower with good thermal grease, many of them that are Silicone based, dry out under the high temps that TBIRDS produce. Its a fact that PCTC stays stable much longer under many thermal cycles. Also most people just don't know how to apply grease correctly (maybe this is why AMD does not approve Arctic Silver). Nevin has speculated that the pad may also act as a cushion to help prevent chipping the TBIRDS fragile core, could be.