Do I need to put thermal grease on the mobo chipset?

[akassasin]

I know you can put it on the processor/video card, but does thermal grease go on the motherboard chipset too?

mobo: Chaintech vnf4 ultra (Nforce4).

edit: by the way the grease is AS5, if that makes a difference.

 

[Matthias99]

You should use some sort of TIM (Thermal Interface Material) between the chipset and the heatsink/fan unit for it. Otherwise, it will not make good contact and will overheat.

Note that if the heatsink does not bolt onto the motherboard, you will need to use thermal tape or conductive epoxy. AS (even Ceramique) or regular silicone grease will not hold a heatsink on there by itself.

 

[akassasin]

Hmm, looking at the fan, it looks like its held on by 2 white plastic stub things with springs around them. The current stock heatsink on there uses the same type of attachment and is very loose, i can bend and push it up and down a bit due to the springs..

 

[Amaroque]

Originally posted by: akassasin
Hmm, looking at the fan, it looks like its held on by 2 white plastic stub things with springs around them. The current stock heatsink on there uses the same type of attachment and is very loose, i can bend and push it up and down a bit due to the springs..

You have to squeeze the clips from the back of the MB to remove the HS. So if your MB is screwed into the case, you will have to remove it to do this. A lot of chipset HS/HSF still don't use any TIM at all, which defeats the purpose of having a HS on there in the first place. I always remove the chipset HS on a new MB and check it for any TIM before I install it into a case.

 

[akassasin]

Would my arctic silver 5 "TIM" work in this case, or do I need some special kind?

 

[Amaroque]

AS5 will work fine. Just be sure to clean any previous TIM off the chipset, and HSF, before the new application.