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Now I am planing to upgrade the CPU of my early 2006 iMac. I am buying all the tools that are needed during the upgrade. But the thing that I don’t understand the management of the thermal paste! I have no idea how is applied where it is needed to apply, and I cannot find it on “Installing iMac Intel 20” EMC 2105 and 2118 Logic Board" if it is needed when I do change the socketed processor thanks
Thermal paste is hugely important. Whenever you separate a heat sink from a processor, you must replace the thermal paste with brand new paste. We have a guide for applying thermal paste, and we sell Arctic Silver, an industry favorite.
Thermal paste eventually dries up and fails. When it loses its viscosity it can big problem leaving huge gaps in between your cpu and heatsink. AMD recommends you use pads over paste. Thickness varies for example thin pads are used in notebooks. However if you frequently remove your heatsink you should use thermal paste on laptop or desktop.
You should use thermal pads since thermal paste is meant for temporary use. It can be tricky on laptops since pads are pretty thick. You dont want a pregnant notebook.
BS Thermal Paste needs to be supplied to rough surfaces to allow heat transfer. In the Imac the rough surface is that copper mess of tubes. The actual processor is smooth like glass and should need none. But, as it is in direct contact with the rough copper, it has to be there. The connectors to the x1600 need to be solid as well.
