What Is Thermal Grease?

If you’ve delved into the world of PC building, or just tinkering around with your computer at home, chances are you have come across Thermal Grease. Often sold in small tubes with a shovel-like applicator, it’s applied between the processor and the heat sink to improve the thermal transfer between them. Despite its humble origins, the little tube of paste is a vital piece in making sure your CPU operates properly and coolly.

Thermal grease is composed of a mixture of thermally conductive fillers, such as aluminium oxide and silicon dioxide, suspended in a base oil, usually a silicone fluid compound. They are ideally used as Thermal Interface Materials between the heat sink and high power electronics such as CPUs, IGBTs and LEDs to help transfer the heat from the semiconductors to the cooling devices such as the heat sink or cooler fan. These materials also have electrical insulation properties to prevent shorting of the components.

Some of the more popular types of Thermal Paste include metal based compounds. They are typically more expensive than traditional silicon based products, but are often praised for their superior performance. These types of Thermal Paste are a bit trickier to apply as they must be handled carefully because they conduct electricity and can fry your motherboard if they make contact in the wrong place.

Liquid metal compounds like Arctic Silver 5 offer a safe and foolproof application experience while offering high performance. They are a bit more viscous than their silicone based counterparts and require slower consistent pressure on the syringe plunger during application. They offer a wide use temperature range and good stability during use.Ps4 thermal Paste