AMD Athlon 64 3700+ Where's the Thermal Paste!???

[rHy0]

Hey, my athlon 3700+ CPU arrived today, along with the other pc parts i ordered, and after i checked in the CPU box i noticed that there was NO thermal paste! This really annoyes me cause i was ready to build!!! Whats up? cause I thought that AMD supplies the basic thermal compound?? Thanks.

 

[theholylancer]

could be the fact that they put it on the bottom of the hsf? there should be like a thin sheet of plastic cover to protect it during transport...

 

[rHy0]

Yeah there is something like that, i'll try describe it. Its gray and has small squares on it. Could that be it??

 

[handym3000]

yes that is their version of thermal paste.

i wold not recommend using it though. look at artic silver thermal paste's they are far superior and its worth the five dollars

 

[rHy0]

Alright thanks for the help.

 

[mpjesse]

i wold not recommend using it though.

Based on what? All the articles I've ever seen actually show that the thermal pad does just a good a job as arctic silver in most cases.

rHy0- the thermal pad is fine. don't listen to him. have fun building and don't worry about having to use arctic silver- it's not necessary on OEM heatsinks.

-mpjesse

 

[trinitron6_03]

I agree with MP, iv used their standard "thermal paste" ever since iv had an amd processor, but just incase you do wanna change. lets ask someone who has taken off the paste how they did it

meaning

how and what did you use to take off the paste?. then how much is too much "new" paste to put on a processor? .. this is mostly for newbies.. and i understand a lot. but im kinda confused a lil bit myself on how much would be to much.. and what if you put a lil to little? lol

 

[cowboytech]

The purpose of the paste is to help transfer the heat from the chip (or chips) to the heatsink where the fan will help remove the heat from the heatsink that will remove the heat from the chip. All the paste does is improve the conductivity of the heat transfer between the two environments. All you need is enough to remove air between the contact points of the heatsink and chip, Not the Whole wafer (in the case of AMD)

 

[rHy0]

I am a bit confused i looked at the bottom of the heatsink and i dont see any kind of paste (or anything like it at all)!? I just see what looks like a plain grey square? Is the AMD paste actually on there and just very thin or is it there at all?? Thanks so much for the support so far.

 

[Grimmy]

I'm a P4 user, so I haven't really seen AMD stock 939 HSF.

More then likely, yes.. it is a thin layer. It should be enough to fill any air gap between the heatsink and top of the CPU core.

The compound is grey or white.

 

[luminaris]

There should be a plain grey square of thermal paste on the bottom of the HSF. Check out this link.

http://www.ixbt.com/cpu/s754-coolers-shootout/igloo7200-backside1.jpg

That gray square is the thermal compound. Its a very thin layer.

 

[sirheck]

mp is right the stock paste works fine
dont listen to any one else i use the white paste from radio shack with no or zero diff from the amd or arctic silver

 

[linux_0]

MP and sirheck are correct! 😀

Indeed that gray square is the thermal compound and YES it does well QUITE well.

You do not need AS5 that thermal pad is actually very good stuff.

 

[Grimmy]

I agree to a point that there is no difference as far as making it cooler.

Though, reg load temps are the same for me, but the AS5 on my stock P4 setup, has dropped at the most 3 degrees C at idle, compared to my reg thermal paste.

Other thing, hard to say, it may drop the temp faster then thermal when the load is off it. Can't verify it, but for me just seems that way.

Now, for me.. it really doesn't justfiy why I spent 11 bucks at Compusa for AS5 VS Radio Shack tube thermal compound that I had for over 5 years for 6-7 bucks. I was running low and thought.. what the heck. 😀

I dunno... whatevah trips anyones triggah. Can't find out yourself till you tried.

 

[luminaris]

Well, its true that with Intel machines, you pretty much need AS5 and to ensure the HSF are installed correctly for proper cooling. The AMDs IMO, don't really need it. I installed the stock cooler with AS5 on my Opty only because I know the AS5 made quite a difference with my Intel machine over stock. Besides, whats the use of having an opty if your not going to OC it which I have so happily done!

The first thing I noticed after installing my opty was how cool it runs. I mean, 25C is very nice for a processor. That's one thing I will say I have never been able to achieve this with any Intel. At least not without using aftermarket coolers and paste.

 

[sirheck]

yes most of these guys are correct it doesnt matter what paste you use
the ambient temps in the enviroment you pc is in and air flow make the biggest diff
i have had my proccesor at 9c but it was out side this winter