# Do I need thermal grease?



## Mez (Aug 8, 2008)

As most of you know, the black edition AMD processors are unlocked, for easy o'cing, which means... it doesnt come with a fan. Im planning to buy a heatsink/fan with it. Do I need to apply thermal grease or will it work without it?


----------



## ScOuT (Aug 8, 2008)

yes...apply thermal grease...you will see smoke and smell something burning if you don't


----------



## Droogie (Aug 8, 2008)

Many fan/heat sinks come with pre-applied thermal paste.


----------



## Mez (Aug 8, 2008)

do you guys know if this cooler comes with pre-applied thermal grease?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835200023

I plan to do minor overclocking. its the AMD Athlon X2 5400+ BLACK EDITION @2.8Ghz stock. I plan on overclocking it .2 Ghz so its @ 3.0Ghz


----------



## jdbennet (Aug 8, 2008)

generally the stock cooling apds are crap

replace with AS5 or something


----------



## oregon (Aug 8, 2008)

Yes, it comes with thermal grease. 

As for using it without thermal grease, it will work, but your temperatures will be much higher than with it. Probably 20 or 25 C higher than it should be.


----------



## jdbennet (Aug 8, 2008)

and AMD cpus tend not to like heat as mcuh as intel ones


----------



## TrainTrackHack (Aug 8, 2008)

> Many fan/heat sinks come with pre-applied thermal paste.


Not ideal for OCing, though. For OCing, I'd recommend "real" thermal grease.


----------



## Okedokey (Aug 16, 2008)

hackapelite said:


> Not ideal for OCing, though. For OCing, I'd recommend "real" thermal grease.



agreed.


----------



## fade2green514 (Aug 16, 2008)

man.. i love it when people call it thermal grease and thermal paste. i have never used anything greasy or pasty on my processor, only metallic compounds lol


----------



## Yeti (Aug 16, 2008)

fade2green514 said:
			
		

> man.. i love it when people call it thermal grease and thermal paste. i have never used anything greasy or pasty on my processor, only metallic compounds lol


Except that is how it is known commercially and industrially.  And it does have the consistency of a paste or grease.  And not all thermal pastes contain metal.  And most contain silicone grease as a base.  And metallic compound isn't very desciptive of its use.


----------



## Okedokey (Aug 20, 2008)

hear, hear


----------



## bubblescivic (Aug 20, 2008)

oregon said:


> Yes, it comes with thermal grease.
> 
> As for using it without thermal grease, it will work, but your temperatures will be much higher than with it. Probably 20 or 25 C higher than it should be.



worst advice ever, you don't tell someone who knows nothing that it will work. don't listen to this guy. get a tube of arctic silver 5 or arctic silver ceramique and apply a rice grain sized portion to the center of the CPU, put your heatsink directly on top, pushdown and spin 90 deg Clockwise then 180 deg counter clockwise and 90 back to the original state and mount it.



fade2green514 said:


> man.. i love it when people call it thermal grease and thermal paste. i have never used anything greasy or pasty on my processor, only metallic compounds lol



i actually use proper nouns so that people don't get the stuff confused. the proper terminology for the grease or paste is TIM or Thermal Interface Material.


----------



## Okedokey (Aug 20, 2008)

bubblescivic said:


> worst advice ever, you don't tell someone who knows nothing that it will work. don't listen to this guy. get a tube of arctic silver 5 or arctic silver ceramique and apply a rice grain sized portion to the center of the CPU, put your heatsink directly on top, pushdown and spin 90 deg Clockwise then 180 deg counter clockwise and 90 back to the original state and mount it.
> 
> 
> 
> i actually use proper nouns so that people don't get the stuff confused. the proper terminology for the grease or paste is TIM or Thermal Interface Material.



You don't need to spin the heatsink, in fact if you have anything other than a stock HS, you risk damaging internal components.  Just apply the grain sized TIM and evenly spread it thinly and consistently.  You definately need it though.  When it heats up it will even out more.


----------



## bubblescivic (Aug 20, 2008)

bigfellla said:


> You don't need to spin the heatsink, in fact if you have anything other than a stock HS, you risk damaging internal components.  Just apply the grain sized TIM and evenly spread it thinly and consistently.  You definately need it though.  When it heats up it will even out more.



*rolleyes* yeah cause i wouldn't know with my 1700mhz overclock on air right?


----------



## StrangleHold (Aug 21, 2008)

The best way in laymen terms, call it Thermal (Compound). Covers Paste or grease. With the exception of Thermal Adhesive.


----------



## Okedokey (Aug 21, 2008)

bubblescivic said:


> *rolleyes* yeah cause i wouldn't know with my 1700mhz overclock on air right?



ahem, sorry The Enforcer, but just because you have a 1700MHz overclcock doesn't in anyway mean this overclock is responsible for your turning of the  heatsink 180 degrees.  At most you will only need to slightly rotate (1 or 2 degrees) to ensure no air is in there, but I don't care how many fat nerds you hang out with on the weekend, a 180 degree turn is unecessary.... (as per your photos)


----------



## bubblescivic (Aug 21, 2008)

bigfellla said:


> ahem, sorry The Enforcer, but just because you have a 1700MHz overclcock doesn't in anyway mean this overclock is responsible for your turning of the  heatsink 180 degrees.  At most you will only need to slightly rotate (1 or 2 degrees) to ensure no air is in there, but I don't care how many fat nerds you hang out with on the weekend, a 180 degree turn is unecessary.... (as per your photos)



lol, look at this cat here. talking all this mess about someone who currently KILLED your whole forum's fastest superpi time by 4/10 of a second, with a computer pieced together with parts from my collection. GTFO dude, i mean seriously if i didn't know what i was talking about i wouldn't be sponsored by big names. post something close to my clock or my times then you might get a gram of respect from me, don't talk mess on myself or my crew because i made you look like an idiot on your home forum. 

3.0ghz on c2d... LOL that's a fkn joke mate, swallow a knife.


----------



## TrainTrackHack (Aug 21, 2008)

> lol, look at this cat here. talking all this mess about someone who currently KILLED your whole forum's fastest superpi time by 4/10 of a second, with a computer pieced together with parts from my collection. GTFO dude, i mean seriously if i didn't know what i was talking about i wouldn't be sponsored by big names. post something close to my clock or my times then you might get a gram of respect from me, don't talk mess on myself or my crew because i made you look like an idiot on your home forum.


Firstly, calm down. You're not the first one here to achieve a 1700MHz OC, YET you ARE teh first one here to say that you should spin your HS around. Turning it a full 180 degrees gives no advantage over quickly turning it a few degrees, the fact that you got a 1.7GHz OC doesn't mean you know better. You are allowed to express your opinions, but rather than acting like an arrogant smug @$$ back up your statements with some hard evidence, not the "*rolleyes* yea like I wouldn't know with my neverheardofbefore 1.7GHz OC roflmao at u noobs eat*&(%#^*&!"- approach.

180 degrees turns aren't necessary, and I doubt they are beneficial in any way, nor do I believe it's harmful but no more use than turns of few degrees. In the unlikely event that I'm completely wrong, pleaso do give me some evidence. Don't tell me to swallow a knife, I'm not going to do it no matter how hard you try. That's not going to make me believe a thing. Evidence is.

As for you calling bigfella a cat, you must have gotten some really poor grades in biology if that's what you think he is... that thing in his avatar is called a "shark"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shark

If you think having a SuperPI higher than everyone else in this forum makes you cool, you have a problem. Relentless bragging over nothing usually is caused by insecurity, which has its traces in poor social skills and/or a life of failures...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emotional_insecurity

And, you're sponsored by BIG NAMES? Woww.. all heill "TEH ENFORCERHH". Well guess what, I'm sponsored by STFU International & Co., so GTFO dude, i mean seriously if i didn't know what i was talking about i blah blah blah. BIg deal? I get free stuff from my family, friends, Yamaha and of course Timbaland & STFU International, I guess that means I'm sponsored by big names. Care Factor = -2374239.65463345.

May I also note that even my unborn children (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sperm) punctuate better than you.

I can't imagine why someone can get so full of himself just because he makes a little chip full of semiconductor material not to make stacks of machine code go awry while making the clock controlling it tick a bit faster... we're all BEGGING for some grains of respect from you alright. When I get some, I'll cook some bubblespastix porridge for your pet mouses.

Of course we won't talk "mess on yourself or your crew" because if you do "you and your crew" are going to come and bash, no, not that, even worse, OVERCLOCK the hell out of us and give us a lesson. Har, har, har...

Also, about the term "home forum"... dunno, but I would think most of us live in houses. Just a guess.



> in fact if you have anything other than a stock HS, you risk damaging internal components


I can't see how that's true, most people who OC "seriously" use aftermarket cooling.


----------



## mikesrex (Aug 21, 2008)

honestly why do you guys argue over something so trivial?  spinning the heatsink will at best make sure the thermal paste/compound/whatever you want to call it is applied evenly.  In most cases you probably don't have to spin it at all.  I usually spin mine whatever amount the heatsink mounting hardware allows me to once everything is mounted, just to be sure it is evenly spread.  

Since I put the right amount of thermal compound in the center of the processor's surface, I probably don't need to spin the heatsink anyways.


----------



## justin52493x2 (Aug 21, 2008)

You should buy aftermarket thermal grease and apply it plentufully, as you will see better performance. Especially if its AMD. Intell is the way to go, AMd systems hate the heat and don't perform well. And when your playing crisis and stuff... Feel your system; computers are hot.


----------



## Okedokey (Aug 22, 2008)

Look, according to Arctic Silver, it depends on the CPU, and it says to rotate the CPU 1 - 2 degree, (not 180), like i mentioned.  But I guess they know less than you eh THE ENFORCER? http://www.arcticsilver.com/instructions.htm

BTW Hack, you summed it up perfectly!!  

just one last thing how does one "talk mess"? THE ENFORCER?


----------



## hermeslyre (Aug 22, 2008)

Overclocking is more trial and error than skill anyway. More relevant to the equation would be luck of the silicon*how much dough you spend on the douche. 

It's funny, this thread.


----------

