Thermal Paste
pcA thermally conductive compound applied between a heat source and a heatsink to improve thermal interface conductivity.
expanded
Thermal paste, also known as thermal compound or thermal grease, is used in computing devices like personal computers to enhance the thermal transfer between the CPU (Central Processing Unit) or GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) and their respective heatsinks. The compound fills microscopic air gaps and imperfections on the surfaces of the heat source and heatsink, which could otherwise impede efficient heat transfer, ensuring more effective cooling of high-performance components.
examples
Applying Arctic Silver 5 thermal paste with a thermal conductivity of 8.9 W/mK to a CPU.
Commonly used when installing a new CPU cooler or replacing old thermal compounds in desktop computers to maintain optimal operating temperatures.
Using Noctua NT-H1 thermal paste, which does not require a curing time, on a GPU before overclocking.
Typically applied in scenarios requiring consistent thermal management under heavy computational loads, such as gaming or rendering workloads in custom PC builds.