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Using Thermal Paste on VRMs???

jumbo9i0
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image.png.17be973f28b24762416e4c04fd4a1877.png

is that something necessarily? 

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Never seen this being used. though if a vrm has a heatsink, it will have a thermal pad. 

I'm not sure how this affects vrm temps.

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normally VRMs use thermal pads not thermal paste because they're affixed to the VRM with less pressure than like a GPU or CPU cooler, which means the paste isn't spread as much

 

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Thermal paste and pads are used to transfer heat. If applying a heat sink, there needs to be a medium. 

 

Long story short, non conductive paste will do if pads aren't available.

 

But instead of sinking the VRMs, you can put a fan right on them and still run them cool despite missing a heat sink. Same goes for memory kits.

 

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14 minutes ago, ShrimpBrime said:

Long story short, non conductive paste will do if pads aren't available

The problem is that the VRM consists of a bunch of separate components, all of which may be a wee bit higher or lower in comparison to the others with regards to the PCB, in which case paste would not work, there'd be gaps between the heatsink and the components in some places. Thermal pads are used because they are thicker and can compress a reasonable amount, therefore avoiding these gaps. Even a sub-millimeter gap between the component and the heatsink is a bad idea.

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4 minutes ago, WereCatf said:

The problem is that the VRM consists of a bunch of separate components, all of which may be a wee bit higher or lower in comparison to the others with regards to the PCB, in which case paste would not work, there'd be gaps between the heatsink and the inductors in some places. Thermal pads are used because they are thicker and can compress a reasonable amount, therefore avoiding these gaps. Even a sub-millimeter gap between the inductor and the heatsink is a bad idea.

Thermal pads are crap for  "good" heat transfer. 

 

Competitive overclocking, heat sinks are often removed from memory. Not so much on boards, VRMs can handle some pretty high temps.

 

But I fully agree, pads would be better. 100%.

 

Or just put a fan on the VRM package area. The heat sink is over rated.

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