Why do people make such a big deal about thermal compound?

[Jebonia]

Like seriously? I just watched Linus' video on NCIXCOM and the comments are full of people that think they have a PHD of some sort? They act as if you apply it a certain way you will kill a ton of people? They are building a computer! Not a spaceship going to mars with thousands of people in it. Am i missing something here?

[LIGISTX]

Everyone just has their own style. Honestly, no, its not a HUGE deal. as long as you do it decently, it will be fine. And you use decent compound. Which there are many of...

[Jebonia]

Everyone just has their own style. Honestly, no, its not a HUGE deal. as long as you do it decently, it will be fine. And you use decent compound. Which there are many of...

exactly my point. It really isnt that important!

[nishank93]

YouTube comments still surprise you!?

[Morpheus]

it's youtube, just watch the videos and look at the top 2 comments, ignore the rest lol

[Glenwing]

Lol.  People tend to get caught up in things, and forget how significant it actually is.  Reminds me of people screaming in all caps not to defragment your SSD, or warning against X or Y monitor because the response time is like 1ms higher than the other one, so the gaming experience will be super blurry all the sudden... It is usually how you can tell when people have any actual experience, or whether they are just looking at numbers and charts with no experience to tell them what amount of difference will actually have noticeable effects, and what is only different on paper.

[JordanMac]

I usually just go for the cheapest major brand at the time when i need some, at the moment i'm using some artic silver 5 just becuase overclockers uk was selling it cheap at the time.

[ofr057]

I use noctua thermal paste because it makes my system that little bit more silent :P

[Overl0rd]

Pfff I used to care about "correctly" applying thermal paste, but after having tried all the possible techniques I can say that it really doesnt matter.

[Guest]

You can even use none. :P

 

it's thermal paste, not a heartbeat.

[Flynn]

Because, a lack of thermal compound mixed with incorrect application causes global warming.  To illustrate.

 

Johnny went to the store and while buying an apple saw Sally.  Sally was wearing a great sun dress with flowers on it mixed with little green stripes, looks amazing.  Johnny noticed that the flowers reminded him of high school when they went to do a controlled weed burn out in a field to help keep fires from cropping up and destroying homes.  This was because the flowers screamed as they burned.

 

Moral of story, use thermal compound, don't burn the flowers.

 

(Many flowers were harmed in this pointless illustration, deal with it.)

 

​

IMPORTANT: This post is intended for the use of the individual(s) named above.  If you are not the intended recipient, any dissemination, distribution or copying of this post is not authorized (either explicitly or implicitly) and constitutes an irritating social faux pas. Unless the word "absquatulation" has been used in its correct context or in an insegrevious manner somewhere other than in this warning, it does not have any legal or grammatical use and may be ignored. With the single exception of that one dinosaur, no animals were harmed in the transmission of this post, and any judge in the land would agree with my defence that he ‘had it coming’.  Those of you with an overwhelming fear of the unknown will be gratified to learn that there is no hidden message revealed by reading this warning backwards, so just ignore that Alert Notice from Microsoft.  However, by pouring a complete circle of salt around yourself and your computer, you can ensure that no harm will befall you or your pets (unless your pet happens to be that blasted Terrier next door).  If you have received this post in error, please add some nutmeg and egg whites, whisk and place in a warm oven for 40 minutes.  Otherwise your computer may contain some form of an error, at which point it may be prudent to quickly place said computer in a large container of jell-o, let it set, then place on an ant-hill and allow them to free your computer to an existence better suited to that of a paperweight.  If you are viewing this message on a Mac, you would be better off submitting to your computer’s will now, as by 2045 it will most likely rule your household anyway.  Void where prohibited.  Conditions may apply.  For a limited time only. Seriously, you can stop reading this now.

[Deleon.David]

because if not applied properly, you will destroy your cpu or even your mobo

[Art Vandelay]

Well, I've had cases where I've applied it improperly before, and it made the temperature raise fairly significantly. That said, it is pretty hard to apply it improperly. As long as you don't do anything stupid like seat the heat sink, then take it off and put it on again, or prespread it over the heat spreader, it won't be too bad.

[LAwLz]

Lol.  People tend to get caught up in things, and forget how significant it actually is.  Reminds me of people screaming in all caps not to defragment your SSD

Defragging your SSD is very bad though. It adds significant wear and does absolutely 0 to the performance. It's one of the worst things you can do to an SSD.

 

 

You can even use none. :P

 

it's thermal paste, not a heartbeat.

That would be a bad idea.

 

 

because if not applied properly, you will destroy your cpu or even your mobo

Well it can do that, if it's one that's conductive and it overflows and/or you spill it, but that's usually not what people scream about when talking about thermal paste.

[aaronu]

well only one way i object from what he displayed was the finger method. that would leave open for thermal compound with bubbles or un even gaps so it means your thermal compound wont work as effective. other than that i approve all other methods. What i do is rice grain method and then put tiny amount on the heatsink and spread it around in think layer on the heatsink. then i plop it on the heatsink on cpu and give the heatsink a few wiggles so the thermal compound on cpu will spread.

[ShearMe]

Snake oil's a dangerous business.

[the_devil52]

Because, a lack of thermal compound mixed with incorrect application causes global warming.  To illustrate.

 

Johnny went to the store and while buying an apple saw Sally.  Sally was wearing a great sun dress with flowers on it mixed with little green stripes, looks amazing.  Johnny noticed that the flowers reminded him of high school when they went to do a controlled weed burn out in a field to help keep fires from cropping up and destroying homes.  This was because the flowers screamed as they burned.

 

Moral of story, use thermal compound, don't burn the flowers.

 

(Many flowers were harmed in this pointless illustration, deal with it.)

 

​

IMPORTANT: This post is intended for the use of the individual(s) named above.  If you are not the intended recipient, any dissemination, distribution or copying of this post is not authorized (either explicitly or implicitly) and constitutes an irritating social faux pas. Unless the word "absquatulation" has been used in its correct context or in an insegrevious manner somewhere other than in this warning, it does not have any legal or grammatical use and may be ignored. With the single exception of that one dinosaur, no animals were harmed in the transmission of this post, and any judge in the land would agree with my defence that he ‘had it coming’.  Those of you with an overwhelming fear of the unknown will be gratified to learn that there is no hidden message revealed by reading this warning backwards, so just ignore that Alert Notice from Microsoft.  However, by pouring a complete circle of salt around yourself and your computer, you can ensure that no harm will befall you or your pets (unless your pet happens to be that blasted Terrier next door).  If you have received this post in error, please add some nutmeg and egg whites, whisk and place in a warm oven for 40 minutes.  Otherwise your computer may contain some form of an error, at which point it may be prudent to quickly place said computer in a large container of jell-o, let it set, then place on an ant-hill and allow them to free your computer to an existence better suited to that of a paperweight.  If you are viewing this message on a Mac, you would be better off submitting to your computer’s will now, as by 2045 it will most likely rule your household anyway.  Void where prohibited.  Conditions may apply.  For a limited time only. Seriously, you can stop reading this now.

 

That's the best post I have ever seen ever. Seriously. 

[mr moose]

Snake oil's a dangerous business.

 

I heard genuine snake oil is one of the best thermal compounds money can buy.

 

But if you can't get hold of that, I did hear that a mayonnaise and toothpaste combination would suffice.  Personally I use blu-tac, it also secures the heatsink if you break the fasteners.

[montyrule]

cause they are nerds and they can

[Guest]

Defragging your SSD is very bad though. It adds significant wear and does absolutely 0 to the performance. It's one of the worst things you can do to an SSD.

 

 

That would be a bad idea.

 

 

Well it can do that, if it's one that's conductive and it overflows and/or you spill it, but that's usually not what people scream about when talking about thermal paste.

Well you can still do without it., :x

 

I did once for several days.

[LAwLz]

Well you can still do without it., :x

 

I did once for several days.

Defrag your SSD? You should never do that. I hope you don't still do it.

 

All it does is wear out the finite numbers of read/write cycles you got on the flash, and it doesn't increase performance whatsoever, unlike on a HDD. SSDs has a fairly long life cycle anyway, but the point is that it only does harm, no good at all.

[Guest]

Defrag your SSD? You should never do that. I hope you don't still do it.

 

All it does is wear out the finite numbers of read/write cycles you got on the flash, and it doesn't increase performance whatsoever, unlike on a HDD. SSDs has a fairly long life cycle anyway, but the point is that it only does harm, no good at all.

NONONONONO I meant running my CPU without thermal paste. :P