[anthonyla65]

hello there, i've got my new cpu ( Celeron Northwood 2.3GHZ SKT 478) 1 month ago but when i was cleaning my HSF last night i realised my cpu had no thermal paste but there was some kind of old paste on my HSF. I just wanna know if its safe to run a cpu with no thermal paste ? i've run cpu stress test for 12 hours it performed fine ( OverClocked to 3.2GHZ ) at 65C ? But when i had my old Pentium 4 (Willamete 1.7GHZ CPU SKT478) it was about 40C on full load. I'm worrying that i'm damaging my cpu. And will thermal paste give better performance to my CPU ? If so i'm gonna get some thermal paste .Any Replies will be appreciates

[Hybr!d]

Yeah it's fine, so long as good contact is being made and the CPU isn't overheating.

It's just there to conduct heat from the CPU to heatsink.

[MJM]

I'd recommend thermal paste. Basically between your CPU and your heatsink there will be tiny air bubbles. Air is horrible at transfering heat. The thermal paste however is great at transferring it. If applied correctly it will fill in these air bubbles and allow a better transfer of the heat, if applied incorrectly it will hinder the copper's (better heat conductor) performance.

If you do not want to spend much cash, go for Tuniq TX-2, otherwise go for Arctic Cooling MX-2. The first is better than Artic Silver 5 (old standard) when run on load (tie idle) and the second is better idle and load.
You should be able to drop the temperature by a few degrees. Typically switching from the standard garbage stuff they stick on stocks to proper thermal paste gives three to four degrees, so going from none to some could nudge it more.

[thingie2]

Yea, like stated above, with those temps, it seems fine, they aren't the best temperatures, but for that OC it's pretty good, with thermal paste though, it could bring the temps below about 60C, and those temps are fine for that CPU, it's not damaging it, those most CPU's go to 70C+ before any damage has begun.

[anthonyla65]

Thx for all your replies I'm gonna get some thermal paste soon then sorry for the late reply though, i've not had much free time lately

[thingie2]

Sounds good glad we could help.

[The New Guy]

Yeah listen to Thingie2, he helped me knock of a few degrees off of my CPU.
The heatsink also comes with some stuff on it, that's why you haven't noticed too high temps yet.
If you get the Artic Silver 7, then follow this tutorial to apply it. I would've totally messed up the application if i didn't read this. So make sure you read it.


<Broken Link>

[anthonyla65]

Well, I've only got a Single Core, But, So I need to clean of the old thermal paste off my HSF, I'm getting some Antec Thermal Grease, Are they good enough ? But basicly, I'll need it all around my CPU right ?

[The New Guy]

Originally Posted by anthonyla65

Well, I've only got a Single Core, But, So I need to clean of the old thermal paste off my HSF, I'm getting some Antec Thermal Grease, Are they good enough ? But basicly, I'll need it all around my CPU right ?

No you don't need to put it all around.
Read the PDF. It has a picture illustration.
I only put a thin line of Artic Silver 7.

Do a google search to see if there is a application manual for the one you are planning on getting. It's worth the hassel.
Trust me, you DO NOT want to put too much paste because that can be as bad as not having any paste.

[The New Guy]

Sorry the thermal paste is called ARTIC SILVER 5 (not 7)