PCA Forums

Anybody ever use the thermal pad that comes on the retail hs/fan ? I ran out of artic silver and am putting a system together and and thinking about using the stock hs/fan with the thermal pad it comes with.

Since I will not be overclocking, you think it will be OK?

I use them all the time for non-oc systems. 99% of the time the temps are just fine (less than 38*C at full load).

eGo

Sounds good, thanks

Ditto. The pad on AMD retail HSFs is actually more like a thick paste - very much like a thicker artic silver. It's actually very good stuff.

once you pull off the protective tape from the thermal pad, try to put it down square on the chip, don't move it around too much and once it touched the chip, try to not take it back off..

also, once it is installed burn it in for a day or 2 (folding, of course ) that stuff reacts to heat and you may see it running a bit hot at first, but when the thermal material goes through its initial chemical change(heat is the catalyst) you should see temps drop off and stabilize.

Thanks, I guess I will be saving some cash. I have been using artic silver on every new build. :

Man I bought a small tube of AS 7 years ago and I STILL have some left in it.

Of course the new Athlon64s use a lot more with that big-ass core.