Tech Topics - Thermal Pad vs Thermal Compound

Hello again I'm Rodney Reynolds from 3DGameMan.com, this next question is what is the main differences between a thermo pad and thermo compound, which should you use and are there any performance differences between the two? Well a thermo pan is as it sounds, is just a small sheet of thermo material, thermo compound though is actually a compound use for this out of the tube. Installation of a thermal pad is really simple as supposed to, thermo compound which can be messy and a little bit harder to install.

Clean up though on both is pretty much the same although I've found that clean up of a thermo pad can be a little bit harder to do over thermo compound. Which should you use, well that really depends on what you are going to be doing. If you are not over cocky on your CPU and if you are not going to be replacing your CPU and your cooler a lot, a thermo pad should be fine. Otherwise go with thermo compound, generally speaking if thermo compound is applied correctly.

It will perform better than a thermo pad and the main reason for that is generally a thermo pad is thicker than a good thin application of thermo compound. And you get better contact with the CPU and the heatsink so therefore you get better temperatures. The variation can be as much as between two to 10 degrees celsius. Personally I would go with thermo compound. I hope that answers your question and keep your questions coming.


Transcription by: Scribe4you Transcription Services