Thermal Paste

Boxxy

My new i5 3570K from amazon came today and the cooler and other parts of the build will come from hardwareversand in the next week or so and I'm just wondering if the http://www.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=59387&agid=669 comes with thermal paste and if it does, is the thermal paste good or do I need to buy separate thermal paste?

Thanks

glynf

They usually come with a layer of paste applied,check a few reviews/un-boxings to be sure.

Edit; looks like it does.

Boxxy

Yeah some reviews and unboxings apply it manually while others have it pre applied? It is easy to apply using the pea method but would you or anyone know if the thermal paste that comes with it is good?

glynf

Is is easy to do, I find the best way is to place a small bit about the size of a grain of rice-maybe slightly bigger on the centre of the chip and spread it with a c.card or similar. Make sure you keep it a bit back from the outer edges, to allow it to spread a bit. make sure no compound goes over the edges & down on to the socket pins, as some paste can be conductive.

If you are not sure and you have enough paste to apply it twice; try it first-apply paste, fit the cooler then remove the cooler and have a look. If its nice and even without any bubbles, you are golden.

If you need more paste, I got Arctic MX-4 from memoryc.ie for €7 and the are based in Kildare, so they are quite handy for bits like this.

rubadub

glynf wrote: »

Is is easy to do, I find the best way is to place a small bit about the size of a grain of rice-maybe slightly bigger on the centre of the chip and spread it with a c.card or similar.

Arctic have guides for different chips
http://www.arcticsilver.com/intel_application_method.html#

A P4 I was changing was recommended not to be spread.

Skerries

I usually go with the blob in the middle and it spreads out when the heatsink is applied

tuxy

Skerries wrote: »

I usually go with the blob in the middle and it spreads out when the heatsink is applied

Having removed the heatsink on my i5 2500k a few times over the years I tried a few different methods.
That method gave me the best temp.

Boxxy

Thanks for the methods but I just need to know if the Cooler master hyper evo 212's default thermal paste is good or just a crappy cheap one?

BloodBath

There's hardly any difference between any half decent silver based compound. The one with the 212 evo is good.

Boxxy

Thanks!

Robert ninja

How often does the paste need to be re-applied?

tuxy

You only re apply it if you remove and reinstall the cooler. The paste will not degrade over time or at least not in the lifetime of a PC.