Today's CPUs generate a lot of heat, especially when they're working at 100% processing work units. To help conduct this heat away from the CPU, we install a heat sink over the CPU, in contact with it. On top of the heat sink, we install a fan to blow cool air through the heat sink, cooling it.

The purpose of thermal grease, thermal compound, or Arctic Silver is to facilitate the exchange of heat from the CPU to the heat sink. Your CPU thinks of it as that cool, wet washcloth your mother used to put on your forehead. The Intel processors do not generally require thermal compound.

Some great information on lapping a heatsink, can be found here and here

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by KeysCapt edited by lilhurricane
last modified: 2008-12-19 08:52:12