Selecting a thermal compound...

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Hello All!

I am getting ready to start building my first scratch-built pc. However, I am a bit overwhelmed by the different types/brands of thermal pastes/compounds.

Can anyone tell me what the differences are and what to look for? Is one type or brand better than any other?

By the way, I am mounting a Pentium 4 3.4GHz Northwood in a 478 Socket motherboard.

Any thoughts on the matter or help would be appreciated.

~ Fuzzy ~
 
I think most people here use Artic Silver 5, make sure you dont get adhesive compound, then you're heatsink will be stuck for a very long time.
 
Artic Silver 5 is one of the best. I just used it today swapping out my cpu. Paid $6.00 but worth every penny.
 
Thanks for the product recommendations...

But is there a significant difference between the types and brands of this stuff? Do some perform better than others for different situations / setups and why?
 
The reason a compound like Arctic Silver 5 is better than most, is because it contains a high amount of silver. Silver is a good conducter of heat, and therefore is able to transfer more heat from one surface (CPU) to another (Heatsink) very effectively. Most cheap compounds contain either less, or no silver at all, and are therefore worse conductors of heat. As supersmashbrada said, don't get an adhesive compound, as those are made to actually stick heatsinks to a surface, which you don't want.
 
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