Thermal grease....

[coffee4me]

Hi,,,
I bought some components from Newegg to build a computer. Just a quick question... When I saw the CPU cooler I noticed a pad on the copper side of the cooler. Is this something like thermal grease ?

Do I still need to put thermal grease on the CPU processor or is this patch on the CPU cooler gonna be enough ?

Thanks,,,

 

[Counter-Strike]

It is a thermal pad, stock cooling solution. You can remove it with isopropynol (solid alcohol) if you want to put on say Arctic Silver or something.

Note: You CANNOT use the thermal pad and grease at the same time, it is one or the other.

 

[KingAustin]

Note: You CANNOT use the thermal pad and grease at the same time, it is one or the other.

Well, you can, but you probably don't want to Lesson learned the hard way.

 

[Him]

Well, you can, but you probably don't want to Lesson learned the hard way.

HA! Nice, that sucks.

I advice against the thermal pad, as do most people. Granted, it gets the job done, just not as good as some other things. Get some Arctic Silver 5, it is worth the $12, as it does lower your temps 10-15%. I dont think ISOPROPYL rubbing alcohol is going to be enough to take off that pad, you have to use something slightly abrasive to take it off. Just get a brillo pad and scrub it off with that. Dont use too much pressure, and make sure you go in the same direction.

EDIT: Someone is going to yell at me for saying that, but that pad isnt really the easiest thing to take off. I just used a flathead screwdriver and was very careful, lapped the heatsink a little bit afterward, and used a little bit more AS5 than I usually would. Say 2 grains of rice worth rather than a grain and a half. Thats what I would do. To tell you the truth, if you arent overclocking, than that pad is enough to work, so dont even spend the money for the AS5.

 

[Chankama]

I just used a flathead screwdriver and was very careful, lapped the heatsink a little bit afterward, and used a little bit more AS5 than I usually would.

Whoa.. Didn't you find that it introduced scratches dude? While AS5 is good at filling the micro valleys, I don't think it's meant to fill up huge chunks (relatively speaking with regards to thickness) on the surface. Especially right above the CPU core.. In anycase, was your subsequent temperatures "typical" of AS5 and the heatsink you used or was it higher?

 

[Him]

Nah, it was fine man, I was quite careful, used very little pressure.

 

[bronxblaza117]

i took mine off pretty easily...wat i did was a i played a game (americas army) for 30 minutes...get the cpu nice and hot...and then shut down and it comes off like butter...

 

[cedjunior]

I was able to remove the thermal pad (after the heatsink/fan had already been installed) with a couple q-tips, and then removed the left over film with isopropyl.