Installing Intel CPUs

[nugget]

Anyone have any experience at installing new Intel CPUs, specifically, boxed versions?

I'm asking as I'm in the middle of installing mine now and it seems to me that (according to the instructions) you don't need to put on any thermal paste. I have the boxed version that comes with the Intel fan and on the bottom of the fan (where it sits on the CPU) there are 3 grey stripes that sort of look like thermal paste.

It seems logical to me that if the instructions don't say to put thermal paste on, it's because the 3 grey stripes are thermal paste but I want to make sure.

Any ideas?

EDIT: It's okay, I found what I need here.

[ffreeloader]

Originally Posted by nugget

Anyone have any experience at installing new Intel CPUs, specifically, boxed versions?

I'm asking as I'm in the middle of installing mine now and it seems to me that (according to the instructions) you don't need to put on any thermal paste. I have the boxed version that comes with the Intel fan and on the bottom of the fan (where it sits on the CPU) there are 3 grey stripes that sort of look like thermal paste.

It seems logical to me that if the instructions don't say to put thermal paste on, it's because the 3 grey stripes are thermal paste but I want to make sure.

Any ideas?

AMD's cpu/heat sink combos come with the something very similar,, only they don't use three strips of thermal compound, they apply a square of thermal paste to the heat sink that covers the entire area of the cpu. It is dried out to where it doesn't feel tacky to the touch, but once you install the heat sink if you have to take it off for any reason you can see where it acts just like Arctic Silver or something like that.

[nugget]

Thanks freddy. I haven't installed a cpu since my athlon 2600 so the new one threw me for a loop for a while. I though that was the case but I wanted to make sure.

[ffreeloader]

Originally Posted by nugget

Thanks freddy. I haven't installed a cpu since my athlon 2600 so the new one threw me for a loop for a while. I though that was the case but I wanted to make sure.

No problem.

LOL. You've been running hardware almost as antiquated as mine. I still have a 1 ghz Pentium III and an two old Athlons, one at 800 mhz and one at 1.6 ghz.

[Modey]

The heat pads / paste on the HSF's that come with retail boxed processors are usually quite poor. Best advice is to clean it off and apply your own. TIM cleaner can be bought quite cheap (and is handy to have anyway) as is decent quality thermal compound.

[nugget]

Thanks Modey. I think I will clean it off and put on some Arctic Silver.

Freddy, all my stuff is rather old and I thought it was time for an upgrade.

[ffreeloader]

Originally Posted by Modey

The heat pads / paste on the HSF's that come with retail boxed processors are usually quite poor. Best advice is to clean it off and apply your own. TIM cleaner can be bought quite cheap (and is handy to have anyway) as is decent quality thermal compound.

To tell the truth, I've never seen any difference in temps when using the stuff that comes on pre-loaded on a heat sink or when using Arctic Silver. Maybe the stock stuff doesn't have as a long a life time, or something like that but I've just never seen a difference in temps.

[Crito]

That's phase change material and manufacturers actually recommended it over paste for long-term use. Doesn't perform as well as say, arctic silver, but it also doesn't dry out over time. If you use paste you really should re-apply it every year or two.

http://www.thermaflo.com/ifmat_phase.shtml
http://www.thermaflo.com/ifmat_grease.shtml

[greenbrucelee]

Originally Posted by Crito

That's phase change material and manufacturers actually recommended it over paste for long-term use. Doesn't perform as well as say, arctic silver, but it also doesn't dry out over time. If you use paste you really should re-apply it every year or two.

http://www.thermaflo.com/ifmat_phase.shtml
http://www.thermaflo.com/ifmat_grease.shtml

I have heard that too, I built a system for a friend last week with a boxed quad core cpu I just pull of the seal so the thermal pad could do the business instead of the paste. I'm sure if there were some problems with heat my mate would have got back to me about it.

[ffreeloader]

Originally Posted by Crito

That's phase change material and manufacturers actually recommended it over paste for long-term use. Doesn't perform as well as say, arctic silver, but it also doesn't dry out over time. If you use paste you really should re-apply it every year or two.

http://www.thermaflo.com/ifmat_phase.shtml
http://www.thermaflo.com/ifmat_grease.shtml

Good post, Crito. I didn't know what the name of the stuff was, I just knew it has always worked well for me.

[BosonMichael]

Originally Posted by Modey

The heat pads / paste on the HSF's that come with retail boxed processors are usually quite poor. Best advice is to clean it off and apply your own. TIM cleaner can be bought quite cheap (and is handy to have anyway) as is decent quality thermal compound.

Agreed. I always clean off the pad/strips and apply a fresh dab of Arctic Silver 5.

[BosonJosh]

I've used the strips/pads (without replacing them with Artic Silver) in the past and didn't have any problems. The computer is still running fine after about 6 years. On my newer computer, I did remove the strips and use Arctic Silver. This computer also runs great.

[NightWalker]

I use toothpaste. The minty gel stuff is a bit runny, tends to end up on the top of your graphics card when you run the CPU hard. Give the stuff with stripes a miss too, the best one for the job is a good quality whitening paste. The polishing grains allow for exceptional thermal efficiency and excellent particle cohesion even on the hottest of CPUs. Ramp up the RPMs on your case exhaust fan and you also get the fresh scent of mint throughout your work area. The radius the mint smell is able to permeate and be detected by human olfactory senses also corresponds very accurately with the range of a wireless access point... amazing!

[nugget]

Originally Posted by NightWalker

I use toothpaste. The minty gel stuff is a bit runny, tends to end up on the top of your graphics card when you run the CPU hard. Give the stuff with stripes a miss too, the best one for the job is a good quality whitening paste. The polishing grains allow for exceptional thermal efficiency and excellent particle cohesion even on the hottest of CPUs. Ramp up the RPMs on your case exhaust fan and you also get the fresh scent of mint throughout your work area. The radius the mint smell is able to permeate and be detected by human olfactory senses also corresponds very accurately with the range of a wireless access point... amazing!

Hmm, I detect a note of sarcasm here. You don't really use toothpaste, do you?

[Bluerinse]

Originally Posted by NightWalker

I use toothpaste. The minty gel stuff is a bit runny, tends to end up on the top of your graphics card when you run the CPU hard. Give the stuff with stripes a miss too, the best one for the job is a good quality whitening paste. The polishing grains allow for exceptional thermal efficiency and excellent particle cohesion even on the hottest of CPUs. Ramp up the RPMs on your case exhaust fan and you also get the fresh scent of mint throughout your work area. The radius the mint smell is able to permeate and be detected by human olfactory senses also corresponds very accurately with the range of a wireless access point... amazing!

Classic lmao