Do You Even Need Thermal Paste?

Since my video on thermal paste application method I have been frequently getting suggestions to try it without any thermal compound at all. So, here it is. Do you even need thermal paste?

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0:00 Application method doesn't matter

0:33 Arctic MX-4 Test
1:37 Removing thermal paste
2:45 No thermal paste test

4:51 Some asterisks

5:41 Is thermal paste needed?

Music - Downfall by Chris Doerksen, Drop off by Chris Doerkson

Circus Of Dread: Robert Austin

[Veladus]

"What do you expect to happen?" IDK what I expect to happen, but the first image that popped into my mind was my black mage in Final Fantasy 14 casting Fire IV, the most potent fire spell.

[Kieranh]

This shows that the cold plate on your AIO has actually pretty good evenness. The temperature without thermal paste is really dependent on the unevenness of the plate, relative to the cpu ihs. If it was more uneven you would see higher temps or even dangerous temps, depending

[auntiepha]

Yes. I started up a i5 8400 with no thermal paste and a stock cooler I went into bios saw 91 C and shut it down,

[petrolhead]

New subscriber here, I really like your approach to these tests and videos. Absolutely no discrimination and 100% honest.
About to binge on all of this channel.

[three]

I'm honestly surprised it mattered as much as it did. The paste helps pretty microscopic separations connect. It's cool seeing quantitatively how impactful they are. It's definitely necessary but also not something that has to be applied in a lab setting with any level of small tolerance or specific amounts or patterns.

[turbofanlover]

This channel should have A LOT more subs. Oh, and thanks for "risking" your CPU for us. I expected a much greater temp difference.

[keithclayton]

Your thermal paste comparison videos are great! Thanks for your testing and sharing results.

[Duran]

Made me feel better about not overthinking how much paste I need exactly on my cpu.

[kostas]

OK, my prediction is 10-15 degrees higher temps. I'll continue watching the video now. :)

[venimus]

I think the real difference is the quality of the radiator when dry mount. Else, I also think that applying the paste on it (and spreading) instead of doing that on the CPU, will give slightly better result, as the CPU cap is quite smooth, while the cooler is rough and using too thin layer on the CPU will not fill up all the gaps when pressed

[WSS_the_OG]

Not what I expected! I thought it would run much hotter, and throttle heavily. Thanks for doing this test!

[anth]

If you had a perfectly flat heat spreader and a perfectly flat heat sink mount, you could probably get away with no thermal paste. However that is not the case. Never run a system with no thermal paste.

[joelatkins]

It would have been good if you set the CPU fans to a specific number, that increase of 200rpm slightly altered the results.

[isaacstoltz]

Just subscribed. This was an extremely well made video, far above some channels with 1M+ subs. You've clearly got the formula down with these videos!

[Clinthopanonymous]

Searched "no thermal paste" just out of curiosity and came across your awesome channel. I always thought the thermal paste debate was a little silly. Just dab some goop on there and move on with life. Anyways thanks for content!

[raybois]

Damn!! So this where that little voice comes from all the time... Thanks!

[itbe]

Thank you!! God, I've wanted to see this (and the application video too!) done, to see just how delicate this shit is. EXCELLENT!

[hlobert]

This reminds me of when I started building my own PC in the 90s, and we didn't use thermo paste or anything like that in the Old Days! ;-)

[somethingidk]

I am definitely not an expert but I think it mostly depends on what cooler you have, if you have a super cooler than maybe you don’t need thermal paste, but if you have something like a stock cooler than I think adding thermal paste will have a huge benefit

[faeterov..]

Next: what happens if you try to reuse thermal paste: for instance, you put thermal paste, bench your pc and find out that the heat sink isn't making propper contact. So you remove the heatsink, you confirm that it wasn't making proper contact, and then.... everybody says you need to reaply the thermal paste, but maybe just spread it again will do the trick?