Thermal paste... is it a must for new builds?

[simonfitba]

As the title says really.

Hopefully this is the right forum. It's sort of hardware related.

[kalniel]

No. The CPU heatsink will come with all you need.

[dave87]

Depends, if you are going for the maximum overclock, you may want to use an aftermarket paste. Otherwise the stuff included will be fine

[Zak33]

I'd buy some anyway.....if you're ordering yo umight as well. And then IF you need to remove and replace the Heatsink a few times...you can reapply

But as said, for moderate overclocks, the stuff pre-appled is good.

[IAmATeaf]

Yep I always get a tube when I think about upgrading, should cost less then a fiver for a tube of AS5.

[silentphoenix]

Either way, having a small tube of artic ceramic/silver5 is always a good thing - just incase you ever decide to remove the cooler (i got a huge 30g tube of AS5 just lying about waiting to be used.. or eaten!)

IF you do get a tube/bottle of paste you may as well use it instead of the generic stuff.

[Clunk]

Definately buy some, its only a fiver for Arctic silver 5 and the stuff that is on the stock heatsink is garbage. Other heatsinks will vary.

[aidanjt]

5g of AS5 will last you 4-5 builds too, if you use it properly.

[johnny02004976]

my new X2 chip has just arrived and the heatsink has some pre-applied - do you think its worth me using TIM clean to remove it then apply some arctic silver?

[Clunk]

5g of AS5 will last you 4-5 builds too, if you use it properly.

I get around 20, and thats including chipsets, gpus etc. Goes a long way

[CrazyMonkey]

5g of AS5 will last you 4-5 builds too, if you use it properly.

Reseated my heatsink 3times and done my gpu with just 5g of Arctic Silver 5.

Still feels like i have plenty in there although the tube is tiny.

[aidanjt]

I get around 20, and thats including chipsets, gpus etc. Goes a long way

The tube I got 3 years ago still has a drop in it, and I've lost count of how many times I've cracked it open.

[DecomposingStar]

Basic verdict: Useful stuff.

[moogle]

dont forget to get some cleaning liquid too. if i were buying thermal paste id get Coollaboratory Liquid Pro, its better than arctic silver although its liquid. but you only need a drop to cover a cpu, and the container is a needle syringe so you can apply the tiniest amounts.

http://www.coollaboratory.com/en/product_pro.shtml

check out the reviews, it beat arctic silver too. only problem is you need to have a non aluminium heatsink. if you bought a 3rd party one then you can use it.

[aidanjt]

Yeah, there's something about a liquid metal in my computer that disturbs me somewhat

[moogle]

Yeah, there's something about a liquid metal in my computer that disturbs me somewhat

only need a drop smaller than a raindrop to spread it all over the cpu. its not all like water. anyway you should only be worried if your clumsy. and also if you do spill it you can suck it back up with the syringe.