Will I need to apply any thermal compound when installing the cpu?
213914
If the CPU is in new original box, the CPU fan has compound on its base. In fact sometimes you will find the compound already on aftermarket bases. You do not have to add the paste in that case. Make sure to only put on a thin layer. Some people apply too much and the CPU will actually run warmer.
213915
This comes with stock compound. But if you have good quality compound around such as artic silver or something like it, it's best if you remove the stock compound and apply your own, that will improve your temps a bit.
213916
Yes, you need to put the compound between the cpu and the heatsik/w fan to keep it from burning up.
2245256
I wouldn't use as thermal compound for different reasons. Is great for direct placement under heat sink on dye. Tried on gpu and ruined it. Does conduct electricity so be careful.
595076
Mr. Torres, it comes with all those. Thermal grease is almost always applied to CPU heatsinks these days. However, if you're technically inclined, I highly recommend getting a third-party grease like Arctic Silver 5. Only in the case when a processor is named as an OEM part or CPU Only will it be just that and nothing else. Should you replace your stock HSF unit for an aftermarket one, I recommend the Hyper 212 Plus. It's an exquisite HSF that works very well.
1078192
I believe this particular one is bare-bones, and doesn't come with any pre-applied TIM. Even if it did, I always recommend applying your own, and monitor your temps carefully, reapplying the TIM if necessary until you see satisfactory temps. Most thermal paste you could buy is "good enough" for most applications, but in your case I'd recommend Arctic Silver or some other metal-ish paste for the best heat transfer. That heatsink will work on most 95w cpu's, but will struggle with quad cores. Anything more than a mild overclock is not recommended.
942547
if it's the same model that I got, then no. It comes coated with it's own thermal paste. Hope that helps!
434482
Yes it does come with pre-applied thermal paste on the sink with fan included. you can always clean it off and use your own thermal paste but why? the cooling is sufficient. under heavy load when i play games, it never goes over 60C. just make sure your case has good cooling and/or airflow. it may get hotter if u do things such as 3d editing and etc in which others have noted so watch out for that. just use HWMonitor to monitor your temps. it's a free software.
942546
To answer your question the cpu block comes with preapplied thermo paste, but I found it works much better if you carefully remove the factory paste and use a good thermo paste like cooler master or arctic freeze; Thermo paste is critical to use without it and you will fry the cpu. Hope this helps. Also be sure to clean the residual paste completely with alcohol or such before applying new paste very thinly. More is not better. :)
1489310
Yes, I put it on mine. Keep in mind the heat output of your CPU though as this doesn't cool high temp CPUs enough.
1918872
Yes, it comes with thermal paste on it. If you're like me though you'll want to have a backup tube of the stuff handy, as I wasn't satisfied with the way I had installed it the first time and had to do some fiddling to get it just right. A small tube is cheap and handy to have around.
1653752
You need a heatsink+fan for the CPU, it will definitely fail under load and/or melt. The main thing is the heatsink, which should have come with your CPU. If you are just trying to eliminate fans, you can maybe get away with removing the fan from the heatsink but that is unlikely I would guess, unless it is a very nice aftermarket heatsink.
1126220
Yes, it comes with intel's default heatsink and thermal paste, perfectly fine if you do not plan on overclocking.
1842339
Yes. The thermal paste is preapplied on the heatsink (with cooling fan attached).
1323494
I agree with the other...you dont need any additional because there is already some there. If you messed that up, then scrape it all off and apply a small pea size on the middle of the heat sink or CPU and gently put the cooler back on and lock into place.
1141440
Yes! Be sure to use cpu thermal heatsink grease! "Caution" when using a lower grade cooler failure is at a higher risk!
1540717
Hi Rich, If you want the best performance from your processor then you want it to stay 'Cool'. It is the heart and mind of the whole system. Even if you aren't a cutting edge enthusiast who overclocks a processor to it's maximum and must use a custom water cooling system and a high performance thermal compound also.It's a very good idea to use a High Grade, highly reviewed, high performance thermal compound. This can add a lot of lifetime to your computer. There are several good choices out there including our old workhorse Arctic Silver.
2027265
The stuff conducts heat real well. Modern day CPU chips get HOT and you want to take that heat away as fast as you can. Manufacturers devised special tops to lay on top of the CPU chips to radiate the heat away. Some of these coolers (heat sinks) even have fans built into them. But ... to get the heat transferred from the CPU chip to the cooler you need this paste that helps increase the surface contact between the chip and the cooler. If this is a new build and the CPU and cooler have never been used before you just have to apply it. If either the CPU or the cooler have been used it is advisable to clean off the surface as well as you can. The shinier the better. Be sure to use an anti-static strap when handling the CPU chip. They are susceptible to even small amounts of static electricity. I used rubbing alcohol and lots of Q-Tips when I cleaned by cooler. I suggest you go to You-Tube and search there for videos on how best to apply the thermal compound. They have lots of them there. One thing I didn't see there that should be mentioned is thermal cycling the computer after the compound has been applied. In other words - run the computer as you normally would for an hour - then power it down for an hour. Repeat this at least 4-5 time letting the on time interval increase by 30 minutes each time. This heating and cooling allows the thermal compound to work it's way into the two joined surfaces.
100081
Mine came with a small packet of thermal paste. It was enough to try twice or so to get a good seal on the processor.