# Thermal Paste or Grease?



## _GTech

I'm just curious, which would transfer heat between the core & the mounting plate on a cooler better, Thermal Paste or Grease?

I would think the grease would transfer heat better than paste, does anyone know for sure?


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## Cepheus

Let me dig out an article from Custom PC magazine for you:

Thermal Grease: This is your basic, bog standard TIM, and it's thermal conductivity is usually less than 1W/mK.

Basic thermal 'pad'. The thermal conductivity of these pads an be up to 1.5W/mk. Strictly speaking, however, they aven't been 'pads' for some time, and have since been replaced by a form of thermal gease that's screen-printed onto the bottom of the heatsink.

Ceramic thermal compound (such as Arctic Alumina). This is a solid ceramic thermal compound based on aluminium oxide and boron nitride. It's thermal conductivitiy will be around 4W/mK.

Copper thermal compound (such as FrozenCPU Copper). This contains copper particles in a gel. Copper has the second best thermal conductivitiy after silver, and TIM of this time will have a thermal conductivitiy of around 4.5W/mK.

Silver thermal compound (such as Arctic Silve 5). This contains silver particles with particles of zinc oxide, boron nitride and aluminium oxide in a polysynthetic gel. Silver has the highest thermal conductivitiy of any metal, so these thermal compounds have a thermal conductivity of around 8W/mK.

Liquid metal (such as CoolLaboratory Liquid Metal). This is an alloy that remains liquid at room temperature, so it can easily be brushed onto surfaces, and flows like a paste. This has high thermal conductivity, but it also has high electrical conductivity.

*Note: This article was from April 2007, so a lot of the newer ceramic pastes such as OCZ freeze and the diamond one are not shown*

Essentially, thermal grease is just a silicon based grease that fills the gaps between the CPU and the heatsink, whilst higher-end pastes contain particles of an element or compound with a high thermal conductivity.

Scientifically, thermal grease, thermal paste, and TIM are all interchangeable, although in an enthusiast community such as this you will be flamed if you suggest putting thermal grease on a CPU without mentioning at least a brandname. Better to call it thermal paste, and ignore the word grease altogether.


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## billbartuska

The terms thermal paste, thermal grease, thermal insulation material, and TIM are all used interchangeably to describe anything put between a heat source (CPU, GPU, etc) and a heat sink.

Your question should be which, of the many TIMs available, is the best.

These (80) were recently evaluated here:
# Antec 77063 Formula 5 Silver Thermal Compound (1)
# Antec 77064 Thermal Grease (1)
# Arctic Cooling MX-1 Thermal Compound (0)
# Arctic Cooling MX-2 Thermal Compound (0)
# Arctic Silver II Silver Thermal Compound (2)
# Arctic Silver 3 Silver Thermal Compound (3)
# Arctic Silver 5 Polysynthetic Thermal Compound (4)
# Arctic Silver Alumina AA-14G Thermal Compound (0)
# Arctic Silver Ceramique (5)
# Arctic Silver Lumiere (0)
# Cooler Master HTK-002 Thermal Grease (0)
# Cooler Master PTK-002 Thermal Grease (0)
# Cooler Master NanoFusion R9-GE7-PTK3 (0)
# Cooler Master ThermalFusion 400
# CooLaboratory Liquid MetalPad (0)
# CooLaboratory Liquid Metal Pro (7)
# Coolink Chillaramic (0)
# ESG Associates Nanotherm (0)
# Evercool STC-01 (0)
# Evercool STC-02 (0)
# Evercool Cruise Missle STC-03 (0)
# FrozenCPU Copper Thermal Compound (0)
# GC Electronics Silcone Z9 10-8108 (0)
# GC Electronics Type 44 Non-Silicone 10-8120 (0)
# GC Electronics Water-Soluble HTC 10-8132 (0)
# GC Electronics HTC 10-8135 (0)
# Gelid GC-1 (0)
# Gelid GC-2 TC-GC-02-A (0)
# Gelid GC-Extreme (0)
# Innovative Cooling Seven Carat Diamond (6)
# Jetart CK4000 (0)
# Jetart Thermal Compound (0)
# Kingwin White Freeze WF-2 (0)
# Laird Technologies T-grease 880 (0)
# Laird Technologies T-grease 1500 Non-Silicone (0)
# Laird Technologies T-grease 2500 (0)
# Masscool Fanner-420 (0)
# Masscool AK-100 Stars Heatsink Compound (0)
# MG Chemicals 8463 Silver Conductive Grease (0)
# MG Chemicals 860 Silicone Heat Transfer Compound (0)
# MG Chemicals 8610 Non-Silicone Heat Transfer Compound (0)
# Noctua NT-H1 (0)
# OCZ Freeze OCZTFRZTC (0)
# ProlimaTech PK-1 Thermal Compound (0)
# Rosewill RCX-TC001 (0)
# Rosewill RCX-TC050 (0)
# Rosewill RCX-TC060 Nano Silver (0)
# Scythe Thermal Elixer SCYTE-1000
# Shin-Etsu MicroSi G751 (0)
# Shin-Etsu MicroSi Silicon Compound (0)
# Shin-Etsu MicroSi X-23-7762 (0)
# Shin-Etsu MicroSi X-23 7783D (0)
# Shin-Etsu MicroSI X23-7774-4 Thermal Gel (0)
# SIL Heatsink Compound (0)
# Stars 612 Copper Grease (0)
# Stars 700 Silver Grease (0)
# Startech Silver Grease (0)
# SYBA CL-PTSL-COOL Silver Cool (0)
# Thermalright Chill Factor (0)
# Thermaltake Grease A2014 (0)
# Thermaltake Grease A2150 (4)
# Thermaltake CL-O0027 TG1 (0)
# Thermaltake CL-O0028 TG2 (0)
# Thermolab Thermal Grease (0)
# TIM Consultants T-C Grease 0098 (0)
# TIM Consultants T-C Grease 0099 (Copper) (0)
# TIM Consultants T-C Grease 0099NS (Non-Silicon) (0)
# Titan Technology Royal Grease TTC-G40030 (0)
# Tuniq TX-2 (0)
# Tuniq TX-3 (0)
# Ultra Thermal Compound (0)
# Ultra Thermal Gel ULT40124 (0)
# Xigmatek PTI-G3801 (0)
# Zalman ZM-TG2 Thermal Grease (0)
# Zalman ZM-STG1 Super Thermal Grease (0)
# Zalman ZM-STG2 Super Thermal Grease (0)
# Zaward HSC-W (0)
# Zaward HSC-G (0)
# ZEROtherm ZT-100 (0)


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## walker450

I am going to assume you meant thermal adhesive instead of thermal paste. Paste is usually used interchangeably with grease, so there would be no difference and no reason for a question...









I believe thermal grease (compound) would transfer heat better because it does not require any adhesive. Thermal adhesive is basically half thermal compound and half adhesive, similar to JB-Weld. I have made my own thermal adhesive by combining the two, and have seen others make it by combining thermal compound and super glue with success.

Thermal adhesive is only needed when there is no clamping force available to hold a heatsink onto the heat source.


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## gre0481

TIM. Thermal interface Material. There you go







And not all brands of similar types perform the same.


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## _GTech

Thanks guys, this helped make it clear what to use is...

I'll go with the grease, cause I do use clamps..


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## jimibgood




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## alexmics

I bought Thermal Grease and spread it thinly over the heat sink.I have put everything together, switch on power at socket, green light on mobo lights up, and all that happens is the Heatsink fan plus rear fans spin then stop.Nothing else works.Any ideas. Bear in mind the PSU was tested when the other mobo stopped working n it was ok.


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## allenkane

Quote:


Originally Posted by *alexmics* 
I bought Thermal Grease and spread it thinly over the heat sink.I have put everything together, switch on power at socket, green light on mobo lights up, and all that happens is the Heatsink fan plus rear fans spin then stop.Nothing else works.Any ideas. Bear in mind the PSU was tested when the other mobo stopped working n it was ok.

Sounds like your 4/8pin from the PSU isn't plugged in. Make sure it's in and secure.

For reference: it's best to start a new thread for problems like this.


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## luffy

Hello, do you know how long a good quality thermal paste will last? I'm planning to buy this.


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## Nick911

stop with ocz freeze and AS5! Go with MX-2/ MX-3! It is very good and easier to spread and is completely non conductive and no cure time! I used AS5 and it was just crap and didn't work out and I don't recomend the IC7 either due to the fact its even thicker and really hard to spread.

Paste is always better then grease.

Last forever unless you used it all up.


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## allenkane

Quote:



Originally Posted by *luffy*


Hello, do you know how long a good quality thermal paste will last? I'm planning to buy this.


In what regards? How long it'll last in the tube unused or how long it'll last while it's being used?

@Nick911 - You know you're not supposed to spread OCZ Freeze right? And it's non conductive and has no cure time


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## Nick911

??????????? I spread all my time for a clean flat paper thin line. Most efficient and gets the job done. All paste spreads BTW just how you apply it.


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## Tatakai All

Ocz extreme freeze works really well for me. You don't have to mess around with spreading it and curing it.


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## Cepheus

Quote:



Originally Posted by *Nick911*


??????????? I spread all my time for a clean flat paper thin line. Most efficient and gets the job done. All paste spreads BTW just how you apply it.


The manufacturers of no thermal paste recommend this. Most recommend that you either draw a single line with the thermal paste








or that you apply a spot the size of a BB in the middle.










Using this makes sure the thermal paste gets into the places where it is needed the most.

You can spread the TIM with your finger (in a plastic glove) but this only works well for setups where the heatsink is very flat but very rough, and is not the best method for every cooler. It can also lead to uneven application.


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## allenkane

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Nick911* 
??????????? I spread all my time for a clean flat paper thin line. Most efficient and gets the job done. All paste spreads BTW just how you apply it.

OCZ actually instructs you not to spread it. I've even seen benchmarks showing that spreading it results in worse temps.

http://www.ocztechnology.com/display...zeInstructions


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## luffy

Quote:



Originally Posted by *allenkane*


In what regards? How long it'll last in the tube unused or how long it'll last while it's being used?


How long will it last while it's being used in a i7?


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## Cepheus

Quote:



Originally Posted by *luffy*


How long will it last while it's being used in a i7?


My C2D temps have not risen in a good 2 years.

Most people like to replace at about the one year mark, though OEMs obviously don't replace their TIM and it lasts for a very long time (dells etc).


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## Nick911

some regards of spreading it can be worse but depends on the paste and how well you spread it or how thick it is and how flat the CPU is and the heat sink. For me, spreading it thin or spread it thicker always gave me the best from a pea size witch doesn't cover 100percent of the chip.


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