Do new CPUs generally come with thermal compound applied or included?

S

SmoothJK

Geek Trainee
I'm thinking about ordering this:

Newegg.com - AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ 3.1GHz 1MB L2 Cache Socket AM2 89W Dual-Core Processor - Processors - Desktops

And I'm wondering if I need to include thermal compound with the purchase. I've read places that sometimes, it comes with it already applied from the factory. In other cases, I was hoping it would come with the package. (With this particular CPU purchase, the heatsink and fan are included.)

Do I need to pick some up on the way home (maybe from RadioShack?) or is it something I don't need to worry about?
 
Normally they come with either a tube of paste for you to apply or with the thermal paste already applied. Either way, the paste is "average" in keeping your cpu temps low.

If your willing to buy a good thermal paste that'll slightly lower your temperatures, check the links below. They range from 5 to 10 dollars and are definitely worth the purchase.

Newegg.com - Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - Thermal Compound / Grease

Newegg.com - Arctic Silver AA-14G Thermal Compound - Thermal Compound / Grease
 
Thanks, picked up some Artic Silver on the way home at Radio Shack. Cost me like 9 bucks for a tiny tube. Ouch. ;)
 
Yes, and Arctic Silver is not worth $9 in my opinion, it will lower your temps 2C maybe 3C degrees compared to the normal grease or heatpad.

-The best you can do for your CPU is to apply whatever paste correctly, that will lower your temps more than anything else.

Things to keep in mind:
-Cover Entire Surface that will touch the CPU (cover only one of them, the CPU or the HS)
-Paper thin layer, or even thinner.
-After applying everything, twist the heatsing on top of the CPU a TINY bit fourth and back once and then lock it in.

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Post # - 58
 
jaggy said:
Yes, and Arctic Silver is not worth $9 in my opinion, it will lower your temps 2C maybe 3C degrees compared to the normal grease or heatpad.

-The best you can do for your CPU is to apply whatever paste correctly, that will lower your temps more than anything else.

Things to keep in mind:
-Cover Entire Surface that will touch the CPU (cover only one of them, the CPU or the HS)
-Paper thin layer, or even thinner.
-After applying everything, twist the heatsing on top of the CPU a TINY bit fourth and back once and then lock it in.

__________
Post Count:
Post # - 58
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That is a good point but to hardcore gamers loosing 2-3 degrees is well worth $9 or maybe even more.
 
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