One thing that is often forgotten about when buying a CPU is the thermal paste you need to apply to it. However, if you are buying a new CPU does it come with thermal paste?
The CPU itself doesn’t come with thermal paste, but most CPUs are bundled with a CPU cooler that already has thermal paste pre-applied. That means if your CPU is bundled with a CPU cooler then it will come with thermal paste. However, not all CPUs come with CPU coolers.
After looking at a few CPUs I have bought or looked at I was able to find out that most CPUs come with a cooler that has pre-applied thermal paste. Read on to know which CPUs have it and which don’t.
Do AMD Processors Come With Thermal Paste?
Most AMD processors come with a CPU cooler that has pre-applied thermal paste. These CPU coolers include the Wraith PRISM, Wraith SPIRE, and Wraith STEALTH.
When you are buying an AMD Ryzen processor for the majority of people their CPU will come with the pre-applied thermal paste CPU cooler, but for people looking to get a higher-end CPU such as a Ryzen 9 or even sometimes a Ryzen 7, then a lot of the time these CPUs don’t come with there own CPU cooler.
This means that you will have to buy your own CPU cooler and possibly thermal paste.
Do Intel Processors Come With Thermal Paste?
The only time an Intel CPU will come with thermal paste is when it is bought alongside the stock Intel CPU cooler that comes with pre-applied thermal paste. Most Intel CPU models will come with the stock cooler, but a lot of high-end Intel CPUs don’t come with a stock cooler so, if you are looking to buy a higher need CPU you should also consider that you need to buy a third-party CPU cooler as well.
How Good Is Pre-Applied Thermal Paste?
If you are running your CPU and are using pre-applied thermal paste at normal speeds then the pre-applied thermal paste will work just fine. However, if you are looking to overclock and increase your CPU speeds, then you need to buy a third-party thermal paste that will absorb heat better.
Do All CPU Coolers Come With Thermal Paste?
Most CPU coolers do not come with pre-applied thermal paste the only coolers that come with pre-applied thermal paste are the stock coolers you get when you purchase a CPU. However, some CPU coolers will come with extra thermal paste that you can apply by yourself manually. Here is another article I wrote that talks about How Often You Should Replace Your Thermal Paste and How To Apply It.
When looking to purchase a CPU cooler you should check the description of the cooler to see if it comes with its own thermal paste because if not you will have to buy your own.
Is Thermal Paste Necessary?
Thermal paste is very necessary for your CPU because it is a heat conductor. It absorbs heat from your CPU and transfers it to your CPU cooler. Without thermal paste, the heat from your CPU would not be able to transfer fast enough to your CPU cooler to keep your CPU cool.
Without thermal paste, your CPU would overheat and you will experience random shutdowns or even CPU damage or failure.
For more information check out Does The Type of Thermal Paste You Use Really Matter?
