Do Coolers Come with Thermal Paste?

Almost all the coolers come with the thermal paste pre-applied to them. So it does not matter if you are using the stock CPU cooler that came with your processor, or if you have got an aftermarket CPU cooler for better performance. But that does not mean that you can not apply thermal paste to your CPU if you have a CPU cooler. 

As the CPU cooler might have been on the shelf for a long time, the efficiency of the paste might have been reduced a bit. So applying thermal paste might bring you better results. To know whether coolers come with thermal paste and more, keep digging further.

Do Coolers Come with Thermal Paste?

Thermal pastes are also called thermal compound, conductive grease, or thermal grease that is applied to the newly installed CPU to keep it cool. And as the paste is heat conductive, it works quite great in conducting the excess heat between the CPU and the heat sink. 

Later on, the excess heat gets out of there by the fan or some other cooling components. As you might already know, the CPU temperature can go up to 100 degrees Celcius and might cause the PC to freeze, shutter, and even shut down. Although your CPU has a dedicated cooler to keep the temperature in control.

Yet sometimes, if there are any issues with the installation, or if you run a software or a game that is not suitable for your PC, it might cause an excessive rise in the temperature. 

However, you might be planning to apply thermal paste to your old processor or the processor you are using right now. And one thought might come to your mind, if you have to do so, or if your PC is just good enough without it.

As far as your old CPU is concerned, even if you have applied thermal paste before, it might not be able to maintain a decent temperature against all those heavy uses after all these years. In that case, applying thermal paste to that might provide a great outcome. 

And when it comes to your newly built CPU, many experts will suggest you apply thermal paste just before the first installation and some of them might not. But consider this, your processor does not have thermal paste applied to it. Instead, the thermal paste is applied to your CPU cooler. 

And that CPU might be on the shelf for months or even years. So the effectivity of that thermal paste might not remain as good as new. Besides, with both AMD and Intel, the processor does not always offer a CPU cooler with it. Although it might not be that common.

Do I have to remove the old thermal paste before applying the new one?

There is a reason why you can not apply any kind of paste to your processor. Because the paste should withstand and keep working as a thermal conductor for a decent period. And no other component or paste is capable enough to perform equally as the thermal pastes.

But that does not mean that thermal paste lasts forever. Sadly, there is an expiry time for the thermal pastes as well. You will have to keep changing the thermal paste every once in a while. And after that, you will have to remove that old thermal paste before you start applying a new one. Be careful with that. You do not want to cause damage to yourself or the PC.

Do I need thermal paste if my cooler has it?

Almost all processor requires a proper thermal solution to provide decent performance. And that is why the cooler must have thermal pastes applied to them before the installation. Although many CPU coolers have it pre-applied when it comes to your hand. Yet some might not have this advantage.

But even if you have that advantage, you still might have to apply thermal paste. Because you do not know how long the CPU cooler was stored on the shelf, waiting to be sold. And after all those times, the efficiency of the thermal paste might have decreased. So applying thermal paste newly to your CPU would be the best for you.

Does Ryzen cooler come with thermal paste?

It would be weird if there is no thermal paste pre-applied to the CPU cooler. And as far as popular brands like AMD and Intel are concerned, some of their processors might not come with a CPU cooler. But if that particular model of the processor features a CPU cooler, the thermal paste should be pre-applied on it. And you should find it at the bottom of the heatsink.

Now you might wonder whether you have to re-apply thermal paste to the CPU. Well, it depends on your preference. Applying thermal paste during the installation is much easier than it is after a couple of months. Then again, you might want to try the stock performance of your newly installed CPU. And you might have to consider spending the extra few bucks as well.

Is thermal paste that comes with CPU cooler good?

Whether your CPU cooler has come with your processor or you may have bought it separately. That particular cooler has pre-applied thermal paste to it. And you might be wondering whether that is good enough to maintain a decent temperature and operate at a higher efficiency or you should scrap that off and apply a better paste on your own.

In almost all the cases, the pre-applied thermal paste works just fine, compared to other aftermarket thermal pastes. Also, the pre-applied thermal pastes are applied more correctly than any other non-professionals can do. But if you are considering maximizing the cooling efficiency and up for spending some extra to get the best thermal paste for the CPU, then you will have many options ahead of you.

Do all AIOS come with thermal paste?

Yes, just like any other CPU cooler AIO or All In One CPU coolers also come with pre-applied thermal pastes. As a result, you will not have to worry about applying the thermal paste to the CPU cooler by yourself. 

So whether you want to maintain a good temperature for your CPU or a low noise performance, AIO’s cooler can fulfill all your requirements.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do you need thermal paste if you’re liquid cooling your CPU?

All the processor requires thermal paste. It does not matter whether you are liquid cooling your CPU or not. Because nothing about the heat transfer interface is changed there. So if you are using a passive, air cooling, or liquid cooling mechanism for your CPU, you will still have to apply thermal paste to your processor. 

Can I use toothpaste as thermal paste?

Although both the toothpaste and thermal paste has the word ‘paste’ in them. Their purpose is all different. However, you might be able to reduce the temperature a little by applying toothpaste to your processor. But as the high temperature of the CPU will burn the toothpaste, you will have to remove and re-apply the paste too frequently. So that does make toothpaste the best alternative to thermal paste.

Conclusion

No matter what CPU cooler you use on your CPU, it will have a pre-applied thermal paste on it. And that does not mean that you can not apply any more thermal paste to your processor. 

And now that you know if the coolers come with thermal paste or not, you can decide whether you should reapply thermal paste to your CPU or if you are good without it.