Thermal pads and paste?

[Kenny]

Just want confirmation that if a CPU heatsink has a thermal pad attached
that there is no advantage in putting thermal paste on as well.
CPU in question is an Athlon 64 3200MHz retail boxed with h/s and fan
included.

 

[Leythos]

Just want confirmation that if a CPU heatsink has a thermal pad attached
that there is no advantage in putting thermal paste on as well.
CPU in question is an Athlon 64 3200MHz retail boxed with h/s and fan
included.

One or the other, never both. Too much is a bad thing - almost to little
is a good thing. The only thing the pad/paste does is make up for the
imperfections in how the CPU surface and the heat-sink surface mate to
each other - the idea is that there are no gaps/air pockets.

 

[Mike Hollywood]

AMD's pads melt when heated to do their job.
They can't be reused, and AMD's website
recommends never useing paste with their CPU's.

Mike

 

[Peter A. Stavrakoglou]

AMD's pads melt when heated to do their job.
They can't be reused, and AMD's website
recommends never useing paste with their CPU's.

Mike

This is not true, AMD does recommend using thermal grease as the preferred
method for their Athlon 64 and Opteron processors. To quote their website "
"High-performance thermal greases and pastes are the recommended solution
for lidded processors, such as the AMD Athlon 64 and AMD Opteron.
processors. For a list of recommended greases for lidded parts, see the AMD
Athlon 64 and AMD Opteron Processors Thermal Design Guide, order# 26633."

The link to the document is
http://www.amd.com/us-en/assets/content_type/white_papers_and_tech_docs/26951.pdf,
see page 11.

 

[Phillips]

If you do not overclock and your box is well ventilated, you can keep that
thermal pad.
Otherwise, clean it (alcohol) and use a drop of ArcticSilver right in the
center of the CPU - if you pull out the metal plate on top you'll see that
the CPU is much smaller - 1 sq. cm. or so. Thermal paste would take off a
few (3-4) C degrees.
Michael