what is better, heatsink compound or thermal pad?

[Cosmic_Horror]

What is better to have, heatsink compound or a thermal pad (between the cpu and a heatsink)?

just got the a coolermaster DP5-6H51 for my sister's duron (they chose the cooler just need to run a duron 700 @700Mhz for the moment anyway) and it comes with a little thermal pad.

should i remove the pad and use heatsink compound (the stuff you get fronm radioshack, silicone-based) or leave it alone?

thanks

 

[Shu8]

the thermal pad would work. you'll get the best results if you use artic silver...research up on that or just post another thread.

 

[Zorba]

Compound is better, but the pad should work fine.

 

[chiwawa626]

if u are running it at 700 then its fine

 

[Viperoni]

If you aren't going to be removing the sink FOR A LONG TIME, then the pad is fine.

 

[Cosmic_Horror]

cool

i don't feel like pulling off the thermal pad and cleaning it all up...

 

[tigger80]

my arctic silver compound works like a charm

 

[Fisher999]

I've seen so many references to this "arctic silver". Where does one purchase it?
If you can't tell me in this forum, email me at this little 'ole blue line ;-)

 

[Mikewarrior2]

Arctic silver is probably the best thermal grease right now. CircuitWorks stuff is probbaly just as good, but AS lacks the electrical conductivity(which is a good thing).

As far as pads, it should be a PCTC pad, so remember to heat up the pad so that it "phase-changes". it should perform fine.



Mike

 

[jamarno]

A thermal pad is about the same as regular thermal grease but not as good as high performance thermal grease.

The one material you want to avoid is thermal tape.

 

[AMB]

I think it was DaddyG, that said the Thermal Pad was better then the Thermal Compuound as it conducted well against the HSF

 

[Cosmic_Horror]

just got back from my sister's place and her new duron 700 /msi k7t Pro2-A/128Mb sdram system is running great! much faster than her old k6-200 cpu. what a wonder a cpu and motherboard upgrade can do

still she is running an old ET6000 4Mb video card... think i might have to give her my TNT 16Mb (diamond viper V550) so i can get myself something faster, when i upgrade my system to a duron.

*sigh* my sister has a faster system than me now... and she doesn't even play games..

 

[DaddyG]

Thermal pads, aka Phase Change Thermal Compound, works better than alot of Silicone based greases on TBIRDS and OCed Durons. The high heat output, combined with high clip pressure, cause alot of them to squeeze out or dry out. The 'pad' adds that little extra cushion for the chip.

Arctic Silver is the only thermal grease that I would recommend, with a caution to check the AS website for 'correct' application.

PCTC is almost 'foolproof' but the recent posting at [H]ardocp shows a burnt up TBIRD when the user didn't remove the protective plastic film.

 

[SIGKILL]

Okay. Question! Once you have applied the HSF with the PCTC to the CPU, can you remove it and reapply it? The reason I aked; I didn't apply adequate graphite on the L1 connectors on my Duron. So now, I can't only increase the multipler 1 integer at a time. When I try to do a 0.5 step increase, the mobo just picks the next integer.

What would be your recommendation? I've got a tube of the RS silicone-base thermal grease left, but after reading a bit, I'm afraid it's not going to cut it anymore.

 

[NuovoTech]

Was curious if anyone knew answer to SIGKILL's question just above...I'm mainly concerned if any of that PCTC stays stuck on the CPU core.

 

[DaddyG]

PCTC is pretty much a one time deal. Will it stick to the core, yes, it sticks to everything !!. One of the benefits to PCTC is that it is heat-fused to the heatsink. By doing this you get an excellent thermal interface with the hsf. After 'phase changing' and removing the hsf, the bubble gum like compound just won't sit flat against the core.

Options include, replacement PCTC pads, or Arctic Silver. Radio Shack grease is better than nothing but if you have a BIRD or or an overclocked Duron, replace the RS grease as soon as possible.

A comment about the replacement pads, these are heat-fused to a foil backing which has a pressure sensitive adhesive applied. They do dot perform quite as well as the original pad which is heat fused directly to the hsf.

 

[Flat]

Radio Shack beloved patriot is #@$& dont use it, also the thermal pad is #@$&. Use artic silver, or aluminum paste which is nearly as good and is a fraction of the cost. best place to buy: plycon.com

 

[NuovoTech]

DaddyG - Guess I was concerned the "bubble-gum" might stick so hard 2 the CPU
core it would be difficult 2 remove...we all know how fragile the TBird core can be.

 

[Vinny N]

How fast does the radioshack compound dry up? The only times I've seen it dry up is in slot based cpus where's there's space for air to easily circulate between the cpu pcb and the heatsink itself.

I really don't want to worry about using a bit too much artic silver and having just enough make contact with something to make my system go boom.


edit:


Aaaah...screw it. I just ordered some from The Card Cooler.
Plycon was more expensive and out of stock.

Let's just hope I'm careful enough when applying this stuff

 

[jamarno]

Vinny_N, I have some Radio Shack thermal compound on my stereo amplifier, and it hasn't dried out much since the 1970s.

 

[Cosmic_Horror]

WD-40 is really great at removing the PCTC after it has been heated up.

Currently i am using silicone based heatsink compound from radioshack and it is working very well.