Did not apply thermal paste on CPU. Is it okay?

[SNAR]

I recently bought Intel i5 6600 (6th gen) CPU and gigabyte Z170M mobo.
While assembling, I did not apply any thermal paste. This is the first time I'm building a PC.

Is it okay? Please let me know.

 

[bigpinkdragon286]

Both Intel and AMD retail packages come with thermal interface material on the heat sink. You have to realize, these are retail boxed products that are being sold as a final solution. If they didn't come with paste there would be a higher rate of overheating from amateur builders as the heat sink efficiency diminished over time, leading to unnecessary customer support early in the products usage cycle, and possibly bad press. Something else to think about, the crowd you asked has a higher than normal tendency to discard stock coolers that come with retail products, or to purchase an OEM CPU that has no cooler at all as they provide their own, and so is very likely to just remember incorrectly or not know what's on the bottom of a stock cooler.

If the paste was so critical and your machine not had any, your machine would have malfunctioned or throttled before you ever managed to install or boot Windows. The level of response from the above posters is really overblown.

Video of Pentium 4 without thermal interface material

Video of Athlon 64 without thermal interface material

While the compound increases the efficiency of the thermal transfer between the IHS (integrated heat spreader) on a modern CPU and the base of your heat sink, it isn't the primary factor in heat transfer between the two mechanical interfaces.

 

[Rookie_MIB]

Very well said. The big thing to remember is that there is a lot more than just the paste with regards to heat transfer. The finish of the bottom of the heat sink (basic machining vs mirror polished finish), the proper amount of spring pressure, the material the sink is made of, and of course the thermal paste all contribute to how a heat sink functions.

There have been several instances where just for kicks I took a heat sink, sanding block, and several finishes of sandpaper down to 2000 grit and wet sanded the bottom of the sink down to a mirror finish. Took about an hour to do, then installed it on some AMD processors which I proceeded to run without paste for several months with no ill effects.

It ran a stitch warmer under full load, but it certainly didn't shut down, reset, or catch fire in a blaze of glory. The only purpose of it (paste) is to eliminate -air- from being between the CPU and the heat sink, because air is an insulator which prevents quick heat transfer. The paste only fills the microscopic holes and gaps between the sink and the CPU and provides better transfer than air, although not as good transfer as a physical metal-metal connection.

 

[USAFRet]

Very well said. The big thing to remember is that there is a lot more than just the paste with regards to heat transfer. The finish of the bottom of the heat sink (basic machining vs mirror polished finish), the proper amount of spring pressure, the material the sink is made of, and of course the thermal paste all contribute to how a heat sink functions.

There have been several instances where just for kicks I took a heat sink, sanding block, and several finishes of sandpaper down to 2000 grit and wet sanded the bottom of the sink down to a mirror finish. Took about an hour to do, then installed it on some AMD processors which I proceeded to run without paste for several months with no ill effects.

It ran a stitch warmer under full load, but it certainly didn't shut down, reset, or catch fire in a blaze of glory. The only purpose of it (paste) is to eliminate -air- from being between the CPU and the heat sink, because air is an insulator which prevents quick heat transfer. The paste only fills the microscopic holes and gaps between the sink and the CPU and provides better transfer than air, although not as good transfer as a physical metal-metal connection.

Sure, if you a really good job of surface prep.
How many people actually do that?

 

[galeener]

I was going to say it says right here. Also be careful not to damage the thermal interface material attached to the bottom of the fan heatsink.

 

[icerider]

Sure, if you a really good job of surface prep.
How many people actually do that?

I used to lap "remove all the nickel till you have perfectly razor flat and mirror finish copper" all my cpus, using a large mirror and auto sand paper. Now days my overclocking is much more main stream so no need for such extreme detail.

 

[Rookie_MIB]

Sure, if you a really good job of surface prep.
How many people actually do that?

Pretty much nobody. Lol. I was bored and wanted to see what I could do with it. It really was interesting to see how fine of a finish I could get on it and the change in finish was pretty dramatic. Showing of course how lazy some of the manufacturers are when it comes to finishing their parts.

 

[sheriff12]

Thermal paste is used to help conduct the heat out of the CPU. You don't need to remove the CPU. You have to remove the heat sink that sits above the CPU. After removing the heat sink, put a drop of thermal paste about the size of a grain of rice on the center of the CPU. Then, with the heat sink, slowly and gently move the heat sink in a circular motion to help evenly spread the thermal paste. Re-install the screws for the heat sink. Your done and your computer will be happy. Good luck! I hope you didn't damage the CPU.

 

[killmofasta]

NO, you need to apply thermal paste.

Your CPU will overheat without thermal paste and shut down to protect itself. You don't have a usable PC until you apply thermal paste.

Oh. As the paste was not there in the either of the boxes (cpu and mobo) I thought it is not necessary.
So now I should remove CPU, apply and remount it ?
Please post a video link which explains how to properly apply it.

Some thermal bridge is a very good idea. Thermal paste is a very good idea, because it significantly improves the transfer of heat from the CPU to the heat sink. Now, turn your heat sink upside down, and look at the three gray marks on the bottom. That is thermal transfer tape. ( heat sink compound with a glue in it. ). Its what your missing. Its better than nothing, but not as good as a rice grain sized drop of thermal compound. I got tricked by this too.

https://www.google.com/search?q=picture+of+bottom+if+intel+heat+sink+i5&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

See? That gray stuff? That is your thermal bridge. Its good, for stock cooling, but would improve with just one grain of rice sized bead of thermal compound

 

[bigpinkdragon286]

Pretty much nobody. Lol. I was bored and wanted to see what I could do with it. It really was interesting to see how fine of a finish I could get on it and the change in finish was pretty dramatic. Showing of course how lazy some of the manufacturers are when it comes to finishing their parts.

I wouldn't be too quick to call CPU manufacturers lazy. It could just be that somebody looked at the cost benefit ratio and realized thermal interface material was going to be used on all pack-in heat sinks, regardless of the fit and finish on the physical interfaces, and decided the high extra cost isn't worth it. Also, why lap the heat spreader for an OEM CPU when the end solution provider picks up the cost of cooling? That's just bad business from an investor point of view. It's not a moral decision, which laziness might suggest, just business.

 

[bentremblay]

Think of it this way: so long as it's powered OFF, the CPU will not overheat.
Powered ON, electrons are racing around, creating heat as they go. Booting is an intense activity, so the temp will spike. Will it blow out? prolly not.
Sitting there with the ScreenSaver running, everything is idling ... temps are min.
Do something intense. Load a MilSim game and fly a fighter fast towards a city. Will that spike kill your CPU? maybe not: maybe it will throttle down with something like Blue Screen.

When I juggle knives, I keep my eyes open.
Could I juggle them with my eyes closed? Of course. Would that exercise benefit anything or anyone? 0_o

Use paste.
/*Next case!*/

 

[ZelmoQuad]

Funny conversation. So in all this discussion there were no shutdowns or abnormal operations. Everyone fears the worst; forgetting to apply paste. BTW, you can do a great service to your new cpu by ordering a cooling tower or All In One water cooler. These will knock 20-25% off the experienced temps you get from the stock cooler. More so if you are using your machine for gaming or heavy graphics.

 

[Rookie_MIB]

I wouldn't be too quick to call CPU manufacturers lazy. It could just be that somebody looked at the cost benefit ratio and realized thermal interface material was going to be used on all pack-in heat sinks, regardless of the fit and finish on the physical interfaces, and decided the high extra cost isn't worth it. Also, why lap the heat spreader for an OEM CPU when the end solution provider picks up the cost of cooling? That's just bad business from an investor point of view. It's not a moral decision, which laziness might suggest, just business.

Well, the truth is, while they're machining it, and have the tools and such - it really wouldn't take more than a minute per heatsink to get a DRASTICALLY better finish, which would only allow their heatsinks to perform better overall. And considering how cut-throat the heatsink business is (a difference of a few degrees can give them serious bragging rights) why wouldn't they just put a stitch of extra time into it. Some of the higher end manufacturers do - and they have a mirror finish on the bottom - and they command higher prices because they do perform better.

 

[tom42]

I recently bought Intel i5 6600 (6th gen) CPU and gigabyte Z170M mobo.
While assembling, I did not apply any thermal paste. This is the first time I'm building a PC.

Is it okay? Please let me know.

The choir is right you need to apply thermal paste to protect your investment. Just a very thin coat you can see thru or you can use the pea method to apply. Don't run your computer again until you apply some thermal paste. I sell a lot of Arctic Silver 5, but there are many choices from which you can choose.

 

[tom42]

Some heat sinks come with a gray pad attached to the surface where the CPU will contact it, which I presume is a thermal compound of some sort.
Years ago we used zinc oxide ointment, which worked on the items made back then.

 

[bigpinkdragon286]

Well, the truth is, while they're machining it, and have the tools and such - it really wouldn't take more than a minute per heatsink to get a DRASTICALLY better finish, which would only allow their heatsinks to perform better overall. And considering how cut-throat the heatsink business is (a difference of a few degrees can give them serious bragging rights) why wouldn't they just put a stitch of extra time into it. Some of the higher end manufacturers do - and they have a mirror finish on the bottom - and they command higher prices because they do perform better.

The extra expense would be too high for the small gain. The tooling and time it takes in both higher calibration frequency and actual time in labor to polish to a nice mirrored finish, leading to lower production run numbers, isn't going to be paid for by the percentage of consumers that will actually care. You will make more money selling more, low priced, "okay," SKUs than fewer, higher priced, "great," ones.

What's the percentage of lapped heat sinks, even among enthusiasts, who are aware of and do monitor temperatures?

The manufacturers could either eat the extra cost or raise the price, and for what, 1 - 2 degrees Celsius?

 

[SNAR]

NO, you need to apply thermal paste.

Your CPU will overheat without thermal paste and shut down to protect itself. You don't have a usable PC until you apply thermal paste.

Oh. As the paste was not there in the either of the boxes (cpu and mobo) I thought it is not necessary.
So now I should remove CPU, apply and remount it ?
Please post a video link which explains how to properly apply it.

Some thermal bridge is a very good idea. Thermal paste is a very good idea, because it significantly improves the transfer of heat from the CPU to the heat sink. Now, turn your heat sink upside down, and look at the three gray marks on the bottom. That is thermal transfer tape. ( heat sink compound with a glue in it. ). Its what your missing. Its better than nothing, but not as good as a rice grain sized drop of thermal compound. I got tricked by this too.

https://www.google.com/search?q=picture+of+bottom+if+intel+heat+sink+i5&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

See? That gray stuff? That is your thermal bridge. Its good, for stock cooling, but would improve with just one grain of rice sized bead of thermal compound

Thanks for the reassurance
My CPU is i5 6600.. so there is no option for Overclocking. And when idle temp is 24C. So I guess the thermal paste on the stock cooler is enough.

 

[bigpinkdragon286]

The stock thermal interface material is plenty sufficient. If it wasn't, it wouldn't be included, but instead would be replaced by a different stock thermal interface material that was. Make sense? 🙂 Intel and AMD aren't stupid. They will include what is both sufficient and cost effective, for the life of the product.

 

[SNAR]

The stock thermal interface material is plenty sufficient. If it wasn't, it wouldn't be included, but instead would be replaced by a different stock thermal interface material that was. Make sense? 🙂 Intel and AMD aren't stupid. They will include what is both sufficient and cost effective, for the life of the product.

Yeah! But thing is, I did not know that grey strips are thermal material. If I knew that, I would not ask this question at all.