If the CPU cooler is covered with a lot of dust, it will cause the CPU temperature to be too high, leading to a series of computer problems, such as blue screen, automatic restart and other symptoms. The silicone grease has dried. For friends who do not have silicone grease in their hands, imaginative users may use toothpaste instead of silicone grease, so can CPU silicone grease be replaced by toothpaste? Let’s take a look at the popular science at the home of installed machines.

What is the role of CPU silicone grease?

CPU silicone grease plays a role in accelerating heat conduction, increasing the contact area, and filling the gap between the CPU and the heat sink.

Can the CPU not be coated with silicone grease?

Because the surface of the CPU and the heat sink base are filled with gullies, if silicone grease is not filled, the gap between the heat sink base and the CPU is large, and the contact area is small, so that the CPU cannot quickly dissipate the high temperature and the CPU temperature rises. It will cause computer blue screen, automatic restart, crash, CPU frequency reduction and other reasons. CPU silicone grease has good thermal conductivity, temperature resistance, and insulation capabilities. It is an ideal dielectric material for heat-resistant devices. It will not cause corrosion during use and will not affect the metal in contact.

Can CPU silicone grease be replaced with toothpaste?

The choice of CPU heat dissipation material mainly depends on the thermal conductivity, temperature resistance, electrical insulation, non-metal corrosion, non-curing, and low volatility melting properties of the selected material. CPU thermal grease uses organosilicone as the main raw material, and adds materials with excellent heat resistance and thermal conductivity. Good silicone grease contains a lot of metal. Some high-quality silicone greases contain silver, lead, tin and even gold to provide Better thermal conductivity.

We know that the main components of toothpaste are friction agents, such as calcium carbonate (to remove dirt), calcium hydrogen phosphate (to increase brightness), aluminum hydroxide (to remove smoke), etc. It also contains surfactants, adhesives, wetting agents, Spices, sweeteners, etc., some toothpastes added fluoride can combine with the hydrogen apatite on the tooth surface to form a harder fluoroapatite, which can prevent dental caries. Among them, fluorine is corrosive. If used for a long time, it is not impossible to corrode the surface of the CPU and the base of the CPU radiator. In addition, toothpaste is conductive. Improper application or long-term use may cause short circuits. Therefore , it is not recommended to use toothpaste instead of CPU grease.

In fact, some people tested toothpaste instead of CPU silicone grease a few years ago. What are the results? It was unexpected at first, but in the end the “nature” of toothpaste was exposed.

Using silicone grease, the CPU temperature is 61-62 degrees.

Using toothpaste as the heat transfer medium, the temperature of the CPU stabilized at 62 degrees at the beginning. It is actually almost as effective as silicone grease. It is really incredible. Do you think it can be used instead of silicone grease? Don’t rush to continue testing.

After a period of time when the roaster was fully loaded, the CPU temperature basically maintained around 60 degrees. After 50 hours, the CPU temperature rose to 67 degrees. After 65 hours, the temperature rose more significantly, reaching 77 degrees, gradually increasing the temperature. High, the CPU started to run at reduced frequency.

After removing the CPU radiator, it was found that the toothpaste was completely dry, leaving behind calcium carbonate, which became a thermal resistance material and could not perform the role of heat conduction at all.

However, the copper-bottomed radiator base has been found to have been corroded by toothpaste, as shown in the figure below.

Disadvantages of replacing CPU silicone grease with toothpaste:

1. Fluoride in toothpaste will corrode the surface of the CPU and the base of the CPU radiator;

2. Due to the adhesive contained in the toothpaste, the CPU and the CPU radiator base will be difficult to separate for a long time, and a little carelessness will cause physical damage, especially AMD processors.

3. Toothpaste has conductivity, improper application or long-term use may cause short circuit.

Summarize:

Toothpaste will be baked for a long time, as the moisture evaporates, its thermal conductivity will drop sharply, and it is corrosive. Generally, we do not recommend long-term use of toothpaste instead of silicone grease. Besides, silicone grease is very cheap and unnecessary. Go save this little money. In fact, if you don’t have thermal grease available for the time being, you can use toothpaste instead. It can achieve the same effect as silicone grease in a short time, but it shouldn’t be too long. It’s best to replace it with thermal grease within 24 hours.