Thermal paste for CPU ,do you use it? (GPU mining rig)

[netspherecyborg]

The subject says it all. Do you use thermal paste on your cpu in your gpu mining rig? I dont want to....please share your opinions.
Thanks!

[1714005514]

1714005514

[TigTex]

Any CPU needs some kind of thermal compound, even if you use a low power cpu like intel ATOM.
So, of course everyone should be using it, and if possible an high quality one.

[HagssFIN]

Of course you use the thermal paste.
This is a stupid question and a stupid thread.
Sorry.

[Undefined31415]

Yeah, just about everyone has some kind of thermal compound between their CPU and the heatsink.

Even though you don't want to, I strongly recommend that you make use of it. At the microscopic level, the contact surfaces of the CPU and the heatsink are not all that smooth, so the gel/paste form of the thermal compound helps compensate for that, rather than having some air trapped between the CPU and copper/aluminum heatsink.

For 24/7 operation, you definitely need to make sure that you dissipate heat from the CPU as efficiently as you can, and although fancy aftermarket coolers may not be part of your budget, thermal paste is relatively cheap.

Many stock heatsinks come with thermal paste already applied to the base of the heatsink.

Technically, every time you remove the cooler and break the "seal" (thermal compound tends to harden after a while) between the CPU and heatsink, you *should* clean the paste off of both surfaces and reapply new thermal paste, but most people don't do that.