The Tech Bench

MacBook processor getting new thermal grease.

Thermal grease is a paste like substance that is used to aid a components heat transfer to a heat-sink.

In other works, thermal grease helps get the heat from a chip onto a heat-sink. The heat-sink then sends the heat to a fan or dissipates (spreads) it out.

Overheating can lead to component failure so making sure processor and graphics chips stay cool is very important. If thermal paste is not applied properly, chips can overheat and fail.

Here are a few good tips to keep in mind:

1. If you remove a heat-sink from a processor to perform a repair or upgrade, always clean the old thermal grease off (using rubbing alcohol) both the chip and the heat-sink and apply new thermal grease when re-assembling. This makes sure you have a fresh tight seal (no air pockets) and good conductivity.

2. Buy the good stuff. Different thermal greases have different heat transfer properties. Silver compounds transfer heat better and keep chips cooler than standard silicon. Cheap grease can also dry our faster and lead to higher temps. We use Arctic Silver 5.

3. Cover the surface of the chip (that makes contact to the heat-sink) but don’t apply too much. Too much thermal grease will keep the heat from getting where it needs to go (the heat-sink.) Spread the grease flat so they’ll be no air pockets.

4. Some of the higher end thermal grease contains metal which conducts electricity as well. Make sure that any excess grease is cleaned off of the logic board to avoid shorts.

FYI – Thermal grease is also commonly known as thermal paste & heat-sink compound.

Mactracker is a free OS X/Windows app that provides detailed info on every Mac and Apple product.

Want to know how much RAM your MacBook can take? When was the first Newton released? Mactracker provides all sorts of technical specs, marketing info, links to support docs, history and benchmark tests.

We’ve been using Mactracker for years and the info is incredibly useful and accurate (sometimes more accurate than the official Apple specs.) If you’re an Apple fan, this app is fun to browse. If you’re a tech, you probably already have it.

[ Mactracker ] BTW, the first Newton came out in ’93.