Thermal paste upgrade any difference?

[AT0MAC]

I was reading in another thread about a guy who changed thermal paste in his mini, because he thought that was the reasson for it to get really hot.

I did it myself when I build a version 2.1 Mac Mini into a black chassis, making a real beast out of it with a much better heatsink that made it much more low-noise. Compared to the newer minis it's not possible to change the cooling system due to the size, but the paste applied can be changed.

Anyway...


Would it make any sense to change the Apple applied thermal paste for a better performing one, would the CPU be cooler and would it make any real difference to noise levels or performance?


Just wondering as I am soon going to outrig my newly orderes i7 mini with much more RAM and two SSDs... If it makes sense to change thermal paste I might as well do that when I'm in there anyway.
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[macmanmacman]

no need if you are purchasing a new mini.

the new mac mini's run on a lower voltage processor and don't produce much heat so there wouldn't be a real change in temp by just the thermal paste i have heard people swearing across multiple forums and i asked the same question to several macintosh users and most of them that have tried this guess what happened..

processor death because they used the wrong thermal paste and it kept the temp inside the processor not really a cool thing and if you ask anyone who has done this ask them if they still own that machine you might notice that the machine might have failed a few months later due to the processor overheating that usually means something was wrong with the machine if the processor was getting hot.

[Smithcraft]

There are two things to consider.

The performance of the thermal paste. Some time ago, there was a discussion that Colgate toothpaste was a better thermal transfer material than the stock thermal paste. I know someone who tried it, and he said it ran great. So a better thermal paste will most likely provide a benefit.

The application of the thermal paste. Improper application of thermal paste can be just as bad as, well, it's not good. It seems that many times at the factory it's just blobbed on at certain points, so cleaning it up and applying it correctly can be a beneficial change.

SC
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Grumpy old man of computing.

[Desktop] G4 mini - 1.5Ghz 1GB 80GB HDD - Newer miniStack v2 500GB - 10.5.8

[Media System] Intel i5 mini - 2.33Ghz 8GB 500GB HDD - 4 x Hitachi 2TB HDD in a qBOX-SF - 10.7.5 (Thanks Phil!)

Make sure it has pins!

[Ben Tex]

I've read the same thing about toothpaste. I tend to stick with Artic Silver 5 though. The most important thing with thermal paste is the amount you use. You want to go light over the processor in the pattern they suggest. Too much is just as bad as none at all. Personally, I would probably let well enough alone. I mean, unless your temps are insanely warm.

[MJL]