Thermal pad or paste?

A

andyc

New Member
i was wondering what is better to use: Thermal pad or the thermal paste

I've heard people say that thermal paste is better for conductivity or somthing but then i read on AMD's site that thermal pad is better for long term usage.

So...when do you use a thermal pad and when do you use thermal paste? :confused:
 
with stock hsf I use the thermal pad that comes with it, but for an aftermarket hsf I'll use AS, usually paste/compound is better but with the preapplied pads on the stock stuff I don't bother removing it.
 
So...when do you use a thermal pad and when do you use thermal paste?
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You can always use the paste. It's just a matter of how much work you want to put into removing the stuff already there
 
is there any difference between the two? is the paste better than the pad? from what i have seen, people tend to use the paste..
 
The aftermarket stuff is superior in terms of heat transfer and superior by a significant margin.... again it depends on if you plan on OCing and how lazy you are ;)
 
Well, you can't be tooo lazy. There are levels of laziness that can cost you a chip (remebers to scrape off pad from now on). :D
 
Well, you can't be tooo lazy. There are levels of laziness that can cost you a chip (remebers to scrape off pad from now on).
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Agreed, its always worth the time to me .... but for people who use features like "Cool and Quiet" and make use of the Thermal Protection etc and dont OC, its usually not a big deal pad or paste :)
 
Alright, so pretty much thermal paste is the answer. I was looking up this up on google, and i stumbled upon an AMD video regarding this. Here's the link:

http://www.amd.com/us-en/assets/content_type/DownloadableAssets/section5-high.wmv
(NOTE: The video is for Athlon processors....if that makes a difference)

In it says, to use thermal pad for long term usage. Then it says to use thermal paste when the processor and heatsink need to be removed several times.

so my question, can you use thermal paste for long term usage?
 
My old XP 2100+ is still running well after more than 2 years and the original application of thermal grease.
 
In it says, to use thermal pad for long term usage. Then it says to use thermal paste w
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It also says that "thermal paste may disperse over time" .... so dont buy thermal paste that does that and you're ok They also said to use thermal pad for "long term production" ... i.e., a machine u build for a person who doesnt know jack about computers (and wont OC etc)
 
Not a problem :) (i think the reason AMD decided to reccomend thermal pads over paste was because a lot of people [who didnt know exactly what they were doing] were putting way too much thermal paste on and that has a negative effect on heat transferability :)
 
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