PLEASE HELP! What is thermal paste?

[jjviper2000]

please help, i am a sry but i am a noobie and im trying to build my first, i was wondering what thermal paste is? what does it do? How do i put it on? where do i put it on? how much do i put on? and where do i get it?

please help!!!

 

[Susquehannock]

Q - i was wondering what thermal paste is? ....... A thermally conductive paste which fills the voids between heatsink and CPU.

Q - what does it do? .... Assures optimum thermal transfer.

Q - How do i put it on? ..... Depends, what type/brand paste do you have?

Q - where do i put it on? ..... Between object to be cooled and heatsink.

Q - how much do i put on? ...... Only enough as is needed. Too much will actually raise temps.

Q - and where do i get it? ...... Thermal paste can be had at most any PC vendor. Many recommend Arctic Silver 5 (a.k.a. - AS5) but my preference is Arctic Ceramique or Shin Etsu X23-7783D.

Again, the answer to many of the questions above depend on what paste you have, or intend to purchase.

 

[Toonage]

To perhaps clarify the answers above a bit more.........

1. We don't know what kind of cpu you have, but if its a socketA Athlon XP or Sempron, the chip is in the center of the brown or green printed circuit board and small. If its an Athlon 64, the whole thing appears as the chip, but its actually a heatspreader covering the chip underneath. Same with an intel chip.
2. Don't put on a whole lot at all. Just because you got this tube of AS5, Ceramique, plain white stuff, whatever,,,,,,doesn't mean you use the whole tube! Personally my method (for A64's) is to put a thin line in a zig-zag pattern and then spread evenly with the edge of a credit card. Just scrape gently one direction, then the other.you will see when the gaps are filled and its even.
3. As was said, this paste forms a bond between the chip and the bottom of the heatsink to aid in heat transfer, and is very important to use. If you have a new retail chip then the factory already does this all for you, but many prefer to scrape that off and use AS5 as it tends to be an improvement over stock stuff.

 

[Susquehannock]

<snip>
2. >>>>>>>>>
Personally my method (for A64's) is to put a thin line in a zig-zag pattern and then spread evenly with the edge of a credit card. Just scrape gently one direction, then the other.you will see when the gaps are filled and its even.
<snip>

FWIW, that is not what Arctic Silver recommends as the application method. Spreading the paste first can create air pockets. Which is why they say to place a small dab in the center of the CPU and let the heatsink squish the paste into place.

Arctic Silver - http://www.arcticsilver.com/arctic_silver_instructions.htm

Ceramique - http://www.arcticsilver.com/ceramique_instructions.htm

In my opinion, if you are a n00b best to stick with Arctic Silver's recommendations. Then once you get more acquainted with things you can experiment.