How much thermal conductivity should a thermal pase have?

[Light-Yagami]

It's exactly what the title says. How much thermal conductivity should a thermal paste have to be good. Units are W/mK.

 

Your answers are always appreciated.

[noisebomb44]

Short answer: 

 

lagom

 

Long answer:

 

Never mind, can't read

[KillerGamingBro]

1 minute ago, noisebomb44 said:

Short answer: 

lagom

 

Long answer:

 

 

I believe he means what conductivity should the thermal paste have, not how much should be applied.

[Stoggy26]

1 minute ago, noisebomb44 said:

Short answer: 

lagom

 

Long answer:

 

not sure you read his question right he was asking about the conductivity 

[noisebomb44]

Just now, KillerGamingBro said:

I believe he means what conductivity should the thermal paste have, not how much should be applied.

 

Just now, Stoggy26 said:

not sure you read his question right he was asking about the conductivity 

Oh sorry, I'm tired, going to bed soon

[KillerGamingBro]

Honestly, I just look for the paste with the best reviews and that I can afford.

[Mira Yurizaki]

Whatever's better than stock, if you're buying something.

[ARikozuM]

The best thermal is one that can conduct and pass heat down a gradient without retaining it. That said, physics of thermal paste will never be my strong suit. 

 

The conundrum is also faced in heatsink technology.

[Majestic]

Depends on the scenario, obviously higher is better. It lowers the delta's caused by the interfaces. Each consecutive thermal paste becomes less and less relevant. If your first thermal interface is 0.1 w/mk like Intel's new peanutbutter paste (yes hyberbole), using 40 w/mk paste on the heatsink is going to have severe diminishing returns.

 

The smaller the surface is that needs to conduct heat, the more TIM matters. 

[dexT]

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