Thermal paste required or not?

[KayeNg]

Hi guys. I have desktop computers that use Asus H81M-D and MSI H81M-P33 motherboards. I'm just wondering if thermal paste is necessary because I didn't apply any. They've been used for months and everything seems fine.

I did install additional exhaust fans though.

Thank you.

[Bucky Ball]

? Depends what processors you put in them. It's not about the motherboard. Did the processors have a thermal pad on them? The question is really do I need thermal paste on *** CPU? rather than the motherboard.

If you needed thermal paste you'd know about it as your computer would have shut down months ago. Checked the temperature lately? You can do that in the BIOS.

PS: 100 thermal fans would not make a jot of difference. You are talking about metal on metal pressed together, the processor mashed against the motherboard in the CPU slot and then locked inside a little enclosure. Ain't no fan blowing in, out, or through there. The only thing that would make any diff is a CPU fan fitted directly on the back of the CPU, and even that is not going to do a lot if you have metal against metal with the CPU and motherboard.

[howefield]

Most cpu coolers have thermal paste pre-applied to them so there is no need to do it yourself unless the cooler is being used "second hand". The thermal paste only helps fill in the gaps between the two surfaces (cpu/cooler) so as to maximise heat transfer to the heat sink, but most likely doesn't appreciably keep the cpu cooler, perhaps 3-5 degrees.

Over time the paste will dry and becomes less useful.

If you are not seeing any issues, then you are fine. Probably ;)

[KayeNg]

Thanks guys! Anyway, It's intel processor G3260.

[Bucky Ball]

See here under 'Package Specifications' (http://ark.intel.com/products/87356/Intel-Pentium-Processor-G3260-3M-Cache-3_30-GHz). Came with thermal paste in the package by the looks so I'd say it's on there.


Thermal Solution Specification PCG 2013C

Also says likes the inside of your case to be 72C at the back of the CPU fan so all those other fans you have in there will be helping that. :)

As mentioned previously, if it's not shutting down, you are good. I would check the temp in the BIOS, though, if you're suspect and/or curious. Is the back of the case or any part of the case hot? Fans constantly on?

[denter2]

i think thermal paste is always necessary, but a) it's possible to put on too much and b) preapplied thermal paste does not necessarily look like any kind of "paste" at all: http://www.buildcomputers.net/images/xpre-applied-cpu-thermal-paste.jpg.pagespeed.ic.MfMbQalQVK.jpg (random example)

[frostschutz]

It's intel processor G3260.

Brand new, boxed with heatsink? It comes with a thermal pad so you can just pop it on. ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMU5IH-0ObU&t=1m30s )

If you ever take it off for any reason (dead motherboard, whatever) you have to clean it off and apply fresh paste (does not matter which brand - you only need a small drop betwixt CPU and heatsink).

Without paste your temperatures will be significantly higher than normal. A low power CPU might survive, but if it's already hard to cool it might die.

[HermanAB]

Thermal paste is rather last century. Phase change thermal pads are better than paste and not messy.

[mcduck]

See here under 'Package Specifications' (http://ark.intel.com/products/87356/Intel-Pentium-Processor-G3260-3M-Cache-3_30-GHz). Came with thermal paste in the package by the looks so I'd say it's on there.



Also says likes the inside of your case to be 72C at the back of the CPU fan so all those other fans you have in there will be helping that. :)

As mentioned previously, if it's not shutting down, you are good. I would check the temp in the BIOS, though, if you're suspect and/or curious. Is the back of the case or any part of the case hot? Fans constantly on?

The "Case temperature" in processor specs refers to the processor casing, not the computer case. In other words, it's the temperature measured from the processor's heat spreader (versus core temperature which would be measured from the chip itself, which is pretty difficult to do apart from cracking the heat spreader open or trusting the built-in sensor)

The CPU can easily reach that temperature, and above, without you feeling anything odd at the back of the computer case. Especially if the heat sink doesn't have good contact to move that temperature from the CPU into air... Also any modern CPU will automatically throttle it's speed to avoid overheating, so even if the computer isn't reaching crazy temperatures and crashing because of bad cooler contact, you will likely loose performance if it's not properly cooled.

Assuming the heat sink had pre-applied thermal paste or a thermal pad, then things are of course fine. Those are sufficient enough for normal computer use. However if there's absolutely no thermal paste between the CPU and the sink, you are really, really lucky if the contact really ends being good enough for the sink to keep the CPU cool under high load (without the CPU throttling to protect itself). So if that might be the case, I would definitely recommend taking the computer apart again and adding thermal paste or pad.

[slooksterpsv]

From an A+ standpoint, mcduck is absolutely correct.

The thermal paste helps bridge that heat dispersion to the heat-sink. It does so by removing air gaps that may exist between the heat-sink and CPU. If there isn't any, the potential for the CPU burning out is higher.

Hopefully you have either a thermal pad that was already on it. If not, you absolutely should apply the thermal paste.