How does thermal paste work?

[richodude]

I get it's supposed to help with thermals but what about the non-conductive thermal paste? Isn't the whole point so that the paste fills in the gap and efficiently conducts heat to the cooler? Why does the paste work so well compared to other liquids like they did in that one ltt video?

[Moonzy]

3 minutes ago, richodude said:

what about the non-conductive thermal paste?

when they say non-conductive, they mean electrically

 

3 minutes ago, richodude said:

Why does the paste work so well compared to other liquids like they did in that one ltt video?

probably because of vicousity, and conformity

and thermal conductivity

[SSI Jake]

Thermal paste works as a thermal conductor from one surface to another. In the case of a CPU the thermal paste transfers heat from the CPU to the fan heat sync to allow for cooling.

[richodude]

1 minute ago, SSI Jake said:

Thermal paste works as a thermal conductor from one surface to another. In the case of a CPU the thermal paste transfers heat from the CPU to the fan heat sync to allow for cooling.

Thanks! one more thing. what about thermal pads? same thing different story? Does them being thicc bois make them worse?

[Moonzy]

4 minutes ago, richodude said:

Thanks! one more thing. what about thermal pads? same thing different story? Does them being thicc bois make them worse?

depends on surface smoothness and height (mainly height)

 

but... thicker is always worse given the same thermal conductivity, so paste is normally better if you can get good contacts

pads are used because of uneven surface and surface height (like 1 vram chip to another), so pad allows some leeway and still do an okay job at conducting heat

 

using thermal pad on a die instead of paste is a bad idea

[SSI Jake]

6 minutes ago, richodude said:

Thanks! one more thing. what about thermal pads? same thing different story? Does them being thicc bois make them worse?

Thermal paste is more conductive than a pad, you will get better performance from a paste, however with some configurations and/or hardware pads are used with decent success.