You may be unfamiliar with thermal paste. In fact, thermal paste/gel has penetrated into every corner of your life. For example, thermal paste is used in computers, as well as in refrigerators and TVs.
Keep in touch with it.
Today we are going to discuss about thermal paste and the following questions related to it:
- What is thermal paste?
- What are the main components of thermal paste?
- What are the good thermal pastes available?
- How long does thermal paste last on the CPU?
- What are the benefits of using thermal pastes?
- What happens if we run CPU without thermal paste?
- How to use thermal paste correctly?
- Why should we use thermal paste/gel in the CPU?
- How to judge the performance of thermal paste?
- How will you know if the quality of thermal paste is good or not?
- And other questions as well.
Note:-Thermal paste,Thermal gel and Thermal grease are different words but same thing.
What is thermal paste?
Thermal paste is a semiconductor which interfaces between heat sources and heat sinks .
Thermally conductive paste can also be called thermally conductive silicone grease, which is a gap-filling material. This material does not have any adhesiveness and is very viscous. It can adhere to the surface of the substrate and does not fall off easily. The electrical appliances can be kept at a working temperature level after using the thermal paste, even if the heat emitted by the electrical appliances is transferred, the service life is prolonged and the stable use is ensured.
What are the main components of thermal pastes?
Thermal pastes are made up of different variety of compounds especially:-
Silicone
Copper
Zinc oxide
Aluminum
There are too many types of gels but most commonly we use silicon made gels .Thermal conductive silicone grease is a kind of heat dissipation material, which can improve the performance of the heat sink and achieve the effect of auxiliary heat dissipation.
Note:- Mostly we used are made up of silicon
What are good thermal pastes available right now?
There are a lot of thermal pastes or gels available in market among them best known are:
1.Arctic mx-4
2.Mastergel Maker
3.Arctic silver 5
4.Arctic mx-2
5.Thermal grizzly conductonaut
6.Arctic Pad
7.Thermal grizzly kryonaut
8.Noctua Nt-h1
9.Innovation cooling graphite
10.Thermalright silver king
How long does thermal paste last on the CPU?
Generally it depends on the quality of thermal paste you use, mostly the good quality gels have their lifespan 3 to 5 years.
What are the advantages of using thermal paste?
- There are many advantages of thermal conductive paste. When used in electrical appliances, it can not only achieve thermal conductivity, but high-quality products also have electrical insulation and impact resistance. Electrical appliances can also achieve a good shock absorption effect during the shock process.
- The heat-conducting paste has moderate consistency and good construction performance. It is convenient for construction whether it is machine construction or manual operation. After being used in electrical appliances, the heat resistance performance is good, high temperature does not merge, low temperature does not solidify, such thermal paste can be widely used, not only can focus on the research of thermal paste, but also provide customized thermal paste application solutions, which have a wide range of uses. It can be used in new energy, military, medical, aviation, shipbuilding, electronics, automobiles, instruments, power supplies, high-speed rail and other industries.
- The thermal paste does not contain toxic and volatile substances, and has no effect on the substrate and electrical appliances after use. The electrical appliances will not release volatile substances to pollute the air due to high temperature during operation.
What happens if we run our CPU without thermal paste?
Eventually it will not fail the system like in 2 or 5 days .But it will take a little bit time to fail but too much longer period like those are using thermal pastes.
How to apply thermal paste
Thermal paste is a material used to fill the gap between the CPU and the heat sink. After this material is applied, it can achieve heat dissipation performance, and can ensure that the local temperature of the CPU is maintained at a stable level, and it will not burn due to excessive local temperature. damage.
The correct method of applying thermal paste is as follows:
- First, use a knife or scraper to gently scrape off the thermal paste remaining on the CPU cover and the heat sink until the surface is clean and flat;
- Then put the CPU into the motherboard, lock the card slot to fix the CPU on the motherboard;
- Take an appropriate amount of thermal paste and apply it to the four corners and the center of the CPU, and apply it evenly with a spatula or brush;
- Install the heat sink and snap the buckle. Assemble the case, start it and run for 20 minutes to heat up, and check whether the CPU temperature is normal through the software.
Note:-the thermal paste cannot be applied too thick or too thin. If it is too thick, it will increase the burden on the CPU and reduce the heat dissipation performance; if it is too thin, the heating elements and heat dissipation facilities in the electrical equipment cannot be fully filled, and the heat dissipation performance will also be Not obvious. It is recommended to fill the gap when applying, and the thickness should not exceed 3 mm.
Why should we use thermal paste/gel in the CPU?
Air is a poor conductor of heat. If the heat sink and the surface of the CPU cannot be in complete contact, the heat dissipation will be poor. Therefore, the thermal paste is used to remove the air. The thermal paste itself has better thermal conductivity.
How to judge the performance of thermal paste?
- A good thermal paste has insulating properties, which can ensure the safety of electrical appliances and improve the insulation performance of electrical appliances.
- A good-quality thermal paste must have the characteristics of low volatility and low oil separation, so as to ensure that the thermal paste will not be cured for a long time, and still ensure good thermal conductivity.
- Good quality thermal paste needs to be environmentally friendly, so that it can be used in various industrial appliances or household appliances.
- If the thermal paste will corrode the metal materials of electrical appliances during use, the quality of the thermal paste is not good. Can not be used in electrical appliances manufacturing, it will reduce the service life of electrical appliances.
How will you know if the quality of gel is good or bad?
There is no need to worry if your CPU gets overheated suddenly. It means the gel you have purchased is not having good quality if the CPU takes too much longer time as compared to suddenly getting warm it means your gel is good.
What will happen if I apply bad quality thermal pastes ?
It’s the role of thumb the bad quality things are harmful for us so in that way bad quality gels will also affect the the performance of CPU. So quality also matter if you want good results.
The relevant content of the thermal paste is the above. In fact, the thermal paste is a relatively common thermal conductive material. The main raw materials are silica gel and mica. It is mainly used in electrical appliances to enhance the heat dissipation effect of electrical appliances.
What is the role of thermal grease/gel?
The role of the thermal grease is to fill these gaps. But the thermal conductivity of thermal grease is only 1 to 6, which is somewhere in between. Therefore, it can only play a supplementary role in this, and cannot be used as the main force of heat dissipation. Someone applied a thick thermal grease between the electronic components and the radiator, which can only hinder the conduction of heat. The standard method of using thermal grease should be to apply silicone grease on both sides of the device and the heat sink, and then press to squeeze out the excess part so that the metals that can be contacted are as close together as possible. The thermal grease is only used Fill in the gaps that cannot be closed so that the best heat dissipation effect can be achieved.
In fact, the thermal conductivity of thermal grease is not very good. Its main advantages are insulation, anti- corrosion and non-solidification. Someone has tested it with toothpaste, conductivity is even better than ordinary thermal grease. But it does and its thermal does not possess the above three advantages of thermal grease, so don’t use toothpaste to replace thermal grease.
What could be the limit of thermal conductivity in thermal pastes?
The thermal conductivity time and life of the thermal grease is related to the brand. The high-quality thermal grease has the same performance for many years. Even if it dries up slightly, it will maintain good thermal conductivity. It can not only focus on the research of thermal grease, but also provide customized thermal grease applications. The solution has a wide range of uses and can be used in new energy, military, medical, aviation, shipbuilding, electronics, automobiles, instruments, power supplies, high-speed rail and other industries. Poor-quality thermal paste has a limited service life. After a period of use, the surface will crack and become severely dry, and the thermal conductivity will decrease in all aspects, or even no thermal conductivity. At this time, the thermal paste needs to be replaced to regain the thermal performance.
Do we need to change thermal pastes every month?
The answer should be no, mostly thermal pastes have life like 3 to 5 years . We don’t need to change every month.
Have a good day
