3 Questions, need answers, thanks.

[jaspap]

1 - Is the stock cooling fan that comes with the cpu ok to use, or should you always go for a aftermarket one?

2 - How is the thermal paste that is already applied to the cpu? Worth leaving on, or should you always go for a aftermarket one?

3 - I have been told conflicting stories on how to properly apply thermal paste, should you just put one dab in the middle, or glob it on then spread it out evenly, or make a X pattern?

Any help would be great, thanks. This web site rules.

[CMetaphor]

Originally Posted by jaspap

1 - Is the stock cooling fan that comes with the cpu ok to use, or should you always go for a aftermarket one?

2 - How is the thermal paste that is already applied to the cpu? Worth leaving on, or should you always go for a aftermarket one?

3 - I have been told conflicting stories on how to properly apply thermal paste, should you just put one dab in the middle, or glob it on then spread it out evenly, or make a X pattern?

Any help would be great, thanks. This web site rules.

1- If youre not overclocking, its fine.
2- Same as above, not exactly quality stuff, but it can handle stock speeds - thats what its designed for.
3- Methods may vary, but so long as you end up with a thin small coating that does fall off the edges, youre golden.

[HalifaxPete]

Regarding your third question, this thermal paste application guide helped me.

[sswilson]

What processor are you looking at? As already stated above, the stock one will be fine if you're not OC'ing, but, depending on the temps inside your case might be a bit loud.

From personal experience... if you're going with a Quad / Hexacore AMD, do yourself a favour and pick up a third party cooler. The stock one looks great, but in all honesty barely keeps the proc below recommended temps under load.

[AkG]

As other have said the stock CPU cooling solution is adequate at stock levels...usually AND as long as you dont mind a buzz saw fan when it ramps up and stays there during heavy usage (ie for joe 6 pack it is OK, not great...but OK) With that being said...spend twenty bucks do yourself a favour and get a CM 212+ Hyper. Killer good value combo. GOOD fan that idles VERY quietly and doesn't get loud until it NEEDS to. Thats what I do even for my budget builds for customers as they appreciate the LOW noise systems I build for them ;)

The Thermal Interface Material that comes with the 212+ is better than the OEM that comes with your stock cooler...does it really make all that much dif...not really (couple degrees dif) BUT its free. I wouldnt spend the couple bucks on say MX-2 if you are going to stick it on the stock cooler as that would be...well better than the totally stock setup but not worth the hassle factor. :)

For solid based coolers I like the pea in the middle method. For HDT coolers (like the 212+) the double line on the base of the COOLER works better. This is just personal pref and as others said its not going to be HUGE dif in most cases (exception being HDT coolers which dislike the pea method). The object is to use as little as possible and STILL get an even coverage of TIM. Too much TIM is almost as bad as too little (and sometimes can be WORSE).

YMMV but Id spend the 20-30 bucks and enjoy a silent'ish system as silence is golden to me. ;)

[Soultribunal]

Personally, i7 systems are hot, and using the stock cooler is loud for those who value silence. the BE AMD chips are much the same way. Under ideal conditions they don't make noise, but once you start working the system they are annoying.
Aftermarket cooling is something I always upgrade on client builds.

ST