Thermal paste: what are its types? And how to add it correctly to the processor

 

If you are new to the world of computers and hardware or even about to build and assemble a computer yourself, you should know a very important point about the thermal paste material that we add on top of the surface of the central processor: Thermal paste is not intended to cool the central processor in the literal sense, but rather You can consider it as a material to insulate the metallic layers in contact with each other because it is what causes the temperatures to rise. Without thermal paste, the heat sink base will cause the CPU surface temperature to increase and rise exponentially. But there is another reason why we have to use it and we will explain it shortly.

 

What is thermal paste?

 

We use thermal paste between the metallic contact surfaces, between the surface of the CPU and the heat sink base or water pump base in water cooling, in order to improve how high temperatures are dissipated.

 

The real idea of ​​using the paste material came due to the unevenness of the contacting metal surfaces as a result of the presence of scratches and surface defects that cause air to be trapped. and air spaces. Air is known to be one of the worst thermal conductors on Earth, and so it is the actual cause and number one obstacle to dispersal in dissipating high temperatures efficiently and effectively.

 

Without thermal paste, the CPU will operate under high temperatures, from 20°C to 30°C minimum, especially during heavy workloads and loads on the processor. The purpose of the putty material is therefore to fill in the gaps and fill in the fine voids and air pockets between metallic contact surfaces to allow for better and more efficient heat dissipation. But what about the different types of thermal paste materials?

 

Types of thermal paste

 

Gray thermal paste

 

Gray paste material contains solid aluminum or silver metal particles, which makes it one of the best heat dissipation materials for CPU. This material is able to dissipate heat better than the white ceramic material at an average of 5 to 6 degrees, but this does not make it the best material used in dissipating heat in all respects, it also has many negative aspects, the most important of which is that it is a conductor of electricity, which means That if it is inadvertently spilled on the pins of the central processor or motherboard components, it will cause a short circuit or damage the components. Another downside to them is that they are quite expensive compared to other heat dissipation materials.

 

So if you want to know why Arctic Silver 5 is the most expensive and best selling CPU thermal paste on Amazon, the reason is that Arctic says it does not damage hardware and is not electrically conductive even though it contains solids of aluminum and silver.

 

But the only downside is that it may take a full 200 hours after adding it to achieve the best possible results in CPU cooling, meaning that you will not get the best result once it is added, but you need to look after 200 hours of adding it and you will find the best result for it. So in the end, if you're looking for the best thermal paste material for your CPU or GPU, you won't find it better than Arctic Silver 5.

 

white thermal paste

 

White thermal paste materials, which sometimes tend to a light gray color, are made of ceramic powder containing aluminum oxide and zinc oxide. But cheap and popular materials from it may contain silicon dioxide. Ceramic thermal paste materials are not electrically conductive, and they are completely safe even if their parts are scattered over all parts and parts of the motherboard, there is no risk of electrical damage because of them,

 

If you do spill it on any part of the motherboard, all you have to do is gently remove it from the surfaces and metal strips, and all your components will work normally again afterwards, which is exactly the opposite of what happens with gray thermal paste materials - spilling it means the part is damaged Especially the metal brackets for socket slots for RAM or processor pins.

 

And while the white ceramic putty is completely safe, it's not that expensive either, but some may be, like Cooler Master High Performance which has the ability to deliver results quite similar to Arctic Silver 5 - a difference of barely 2 degrees max. However, it is cheaper.

 

Carbon Thermal Paste

 

Most of the cooler manufacturers claim that carbon-based paste is the best thermal paste material for cooling computer processors on the planet, and for this reason it is the most expensive cooling material used for heat dissipation, as it is safe, reliable, electrically insulating, and at the same time able to dissipate heat efficiently. High.

 

Mostly it is able to provide the same experience and results that you can get from gray mineral coolers, a difference of barely 1 to 2 degrees max on average in its favour. Arctic Cooling MX-4 is one of the most popular carbon-based cooling materials and offers results exactly the same as those of Arctic Silver 5, and one of its most important advantages is that adding one of it is able to last for 8 continuous years before it needs to be replaced, which is exceptional because we need to replace materials Putty every two to three years maximum.

 

How to properly add thermal paste to the processor

 

There are many technical ways to add thermal paste to the processor, but it should be noted that most of these methods usually require applying a lot of thermal paste to the surface of the processor. This will lead to the formation of an excessively thick layer of putty, and when this occurs; Heat will not be transferred efficiently - the layer may expand and escape to the motherboard, and if the paste is conductive type, there will be many problems here such as the whole motherboard being damaged. And even if it's a non-conductive type, you definitely don't want to add putty that much.

 

The first step you must do is to turn off the computer permanently by pressing and holding the Power button for 10 seconds until the computer shuts down. After that, remove the wires connected to the case or the battery if you are using a laptop. Then remove the screws for the fan and gently remove them from the top of the processor.

 

If it's been a long time since you bought your computer or the last time you cleaned the machine, you'll find that the old thermal paste is stuck hard to the surface of the processor. Therefore, you should completely wipe off any traces of this old paste. You can do this using a cotton swab that is usually used to clean the ear, or using a certain thermal paste cleaner or using isopropyl alcohol. And it cleans not only the paste from the surface of the processor - but also the base of the heat sink.

 

Now, put a small amount in the middle of the surface of the processor, then place the heat sink directly above the surface and install and secure it via screws, then connect the wires and turn on the computer.

 

The idea behind using this method is to ensure that a thin layer of paste is applied to the processor so that it does not spread out when the heat sink is applied. Other methods of drawing an X or a vertical line and spreading it with a brush by hand, a credit card or your finger are not recommended and will result in a lack of heat transfer.

 

Anyway, after adding the new thermal paste and turning on the computer, monitor the processor temperature using the free Speccy software. Note that the temperature may be a little high for a short time due to the interruption, but it should gradually decrease after a few hours. If the temperature does not drop after a long period of time, this may be due to adding too much thermal paste, adding too little, or because the heat sink is not positioned correctly, or it may be because it is not clean.

 

It's a good idea to monitor your processor's temperature with Speccy, as when you notice a drop in performance coupled with a high temperature, it might be time to add a new thermal paste. All in all, thermal paste should last you for years, or maybe months if you play a lot of video games on your computer or overclock your processor.

 

Changing the thermal paste is important to keep your computer and processor at an optimum temperature, and this ensures smooth performance.