My heatsink and cpu look as if they don't need thermal paste.

[darkstuarez]

I just replaced my amd Athlon 2200 for a new one, and need to know if I need to put some on. It looks like it has some, but with a plate on top(is this lapping?).

You can tell on the heat sink where there is a tiny square mark from the cpu, which also has a tiny square, that there was never any compound in the first place. But should I put some on anyway?

 

[howard_hopkinso]

That plate on top is the heat spreader.

Yes, you need to use thermal paste. Clean off the old thermal paste from both the heatsink and cpu die, then apply a very thing layer of new thermal paste to the cpu die and reattach the heatsink. See HERE for instructions.

Regards Howard

 

[darkstuarez]

Wait, ok, so just clean off the heat spreader and the heat sink, and put paste on both? What is the die?

The new CPU also has paste around the spreader.

 

[howard_hopkinso]

The cpu die is what`s in the middle of the cpu. In other words, the heat spreader. After cleaning, you would only apply a very small amount of thermal paste to the cpu`s heatspreader, then attach the heatsink.

If you click on the instructions I gave you, you`ll quite clearly see where you need to put the thermal paste.

Regards Howard

 

[darkstuarez]

Yeah, thanks for clearing that up.