Thermal paste for Pentium 4 2.6Ghz Socket 478

[BobTurner]

Hey guys I have been using my system having Pentium 4 2.6Ghz Socket 478 from a long time and recently I have started facing overheating issues with it. I have asked about the same to my colleagues and they have suggested me to apply thermal paste to the processor. So here I just wanted to know which will be the best thermal paste for Pentium 4 2.6Ghz. I don’t have much idea about all these things so is there can one who can help me out with the required steps as well???

[TBina]

One should apply thermal paste to their CPU or a video card from time to time to avoid overheating issues. If you don’t do so then even a high-end heat sink won’t be able to cool maintain the temperature inside the case. As far as Thermal paste is concerned it is a heat conductive paste which is used for filling up microscopic imperfections CPU/GPU. Proper airflow is good insider the case for maintaining the temperature out there but Thermal Interface Materials are beat conductor of heat as compared to air. You should apply required amount of thermal paste, the cup or gpu won’t get cooled properly even when you apply too much thermal paste. There are different type of thermal paste in the market probably Metal based, Ceramic based, Silicon based.

Metal-based- They are the common and popular ones, they are considered as best as compared to Ceramic based and Silicon based. Metal-based paste includes little metal particles which has high thermal conductivity. It is quite good but the same paste can result in electrically conductivity as well and can cause issues.
Ceramic-based- Even they are good and there is hardly any difference between their performance say (1-3C). They have some ceramic particles with some sort of thermally conductive material. This is the safest as they do now result in electrically conductivity.
Silicon-based- These are the ones that comes pre applied when you get a new system, they are good but they does not lasts long. They are not that good as Metal based and Ceramic based ones.

I think ceramic-based paste will be the best in your case, I am not recommending you metal-based one because there are some other transistors/electrical components near the cpu and gpu and if they get spread on them then being electrically conductive it can cause issues like a short. So better get a ceramic paste for your cpu. You can get anyone from XIGMATEK PTI-G3606 thermal grease, IC Diamond 7 Carat Diamond Thermal Compound, Arctic Silver, Arctic Cooling, Cool laboratory etc. You might find them in the local electronics store, if you don’t get the same then you can get some other company ones as well but just make sure that you are getting Ceramic-based and not Metal-based. You need to have some cotton buds, ArctiClean or a Isopropyl Alcohol, Acetone bottle for carrying out the further process. So once you are ready with the same then you can follow the below steps:

Just put some drops of the Isopropyl Alcohol or on the processor and rub the surface of the chip with cotton bud till the old paste is gone. You will have to do the same till the processor gets cleaned completely. Just make sure that you are not rubbing the cotton buds hard, you have to carry out the cleaning process gently. You should not get your fingers in contact with the processor as well, it’s hard to do that but you can try avoiding till possible.
When you are done with the same then you can use the thermal paste tube and put a little drop on the processor, you have to put it drop by drop and not just once. After that spread the same and try to make it thin as you can. If you want then you can lap it with one more layer but make sure that you are not spreading it all over. If possible wear silicon gloves so that you don’t contaminate the paste while spreading it.After that you can wait for some time till it forms a layer and then install it in the board.

[Kh@LnaYak]

That was a very good explanation TBina, anyways I have checked about the same and you can either go for “Arctic Silver Arctic Alumina 1.75g Polysynthetic Ceramic Thermal Grease CPU Heat Sink Compound” from amazon for $4.40 or you can go for “Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound 3.5 Grams with ArctiClean 60 ML Kit” for $11.05. I think getting it along with the ArctiClean is a better deal. Best of luck.

[brohandy]

What is Overclocking? I'm hearing it in a lot of places in doing research on building a computer, but I'm not sure what it is.

[Common]

What is Overclocking? I'm hearing it in a lot of places in doing research on building a computer, but I'm not sure what it is.

A processor is normally designed to operate at a given frequency, that is to say the one in which its operation is certified. However, it may be advantageous to increase its frequency as it is what giving to increase the speed. It is thus possible to gain in computing power without spending money. On the other hand, it is also possible to increase the frequency of the bus of the motherboard, that is to say the speed of communication between the processor and the other elements. Generally this terms are called overclocking which is nothing but increasing the CPU frequency. You can refer to some suggestions given in the threads on how to overclock from here - Guide on How to safely Overclock your computer