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Find High Performance Thermal Paste for Your Components

Thermal paste, also known as thermal compound paste, thermal grease, and heat sink compound, is an essential substance for regulating heat in almost any kind of computer. It is a high viscosity paste filled with a combination of various metals or mineral compounds with high thermal conductivity and low thermal resistance, such as zinc oxide or silver. A gel solution, usually silicone, holds everything together and provides consistency and durability.

The basic function of thermal paste is to act as a thermal interface material, making it easy for the microprocessors in your CPU to transfer heat to their heatsinks. Tiny air gaps between the processor and its heatsink make direct heat transfer between the two inefficient. Instead, PC builders dab a little bit of thermal paste onto the processor’s integrated heat spreader (IHS) - the heat conductive metal plate where the heatsink sits on top of it. The paste fills in the tiny gaps between the two, and the thermal conductive material facilitates fast and efficient heat transfer.

Many types of thermal paste now include an easy application tool that makes it simple to apply an even coating of paste to your processor. Whether you have an air cooler, an AIO liquid cooler, or even a custom cooling solution, it is now a snap to apply CPU thermal paste when you need to take your cooler off. While GPU coolers also use thermal paste, most are designed to last the life of the graphics card, meaning the majority of people will never need to replace them.

Thermal pastes come in a variety of formulas, many of which include liquid metal compounds. These metallic pastes also have high electrical conductivity, so it is important to avoid spilling compound on your motherboard or other computer components. Most users will want to choose a thermal paste with an electrically non conductive formula, which will work just as well for all except extremely high performance computers designed for heavy overclocking. Finally, note that it is critical to avoid confusing thermal compound with thermal adhesive, which is meant to stick parts together permanently.

What About Thermal Pads?

In pure performance terms, thermal paste is a better option than thermal pads. Thermal paste offers greater thermal conductivity and is much better for handling the extreme heat levels that powerful CPUs and GPUs can generate. If you are assembling a robust gaming PC or workstation, especially if you plan to overclock your processor, thermal paste is definitely the way to go.

We offer a full selection of the best thermal paste brands like Thermal Grizzly, Cooler Master, Arctic Cooling, Corsair, and more. Shop our full selection of high quality thermal paste now, or see all of our cooling solutions for the latest in awesome CPU coolers, both liquid and air based.

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