Incomputing and electronics, thermal pads (also called thermally conductive padorthermal interface pad) are pre-formed rectangles of solid material (often paraffin waxorsilicone based) commonly found on the underside of heatsinks to aid the conduction of heat away from the component being cooled (such as a CPU or another chip) and into the heatsink (usually made from aluminiumorcopper). Thermal pads and thermal compound are used to fill air gaps caused by imperfectly flat or smooth surfaces which should be in thermal contact;[1] they would not be needed between perfectly flat and smooth surfaces. Thermal pads are relatively firm at room temperature, but become soft and are able to fill gaps at higher temperatures.[1] Some, but not all, types of chip carriers include thermal pads in their design.
It is an alternative to thermal paste to be used as thermal interface material. AMD and Intel have included thermal pads on the bottom of heatsinks shipped with some of their processors, as they are cleaner and generally easier to install. However, thermal pads conduct heat less effectively than a minimal amount of thermal paste.[2]
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