Do CPUs Come With Thermal Paste? Is the Paste Pre-Applied?

CPUs that come with a cooler in a bundle have thermal paste pre-applied or in a tube. Separately sold CPUs generally don’t provide thermal paste with it.

Do CPUs Come With Thermal Paste? How to Know?

Thermal paste is a silvery-gray substance to apply to a processor before installing a cooling solution. It fills in the microscopic imperfections between the CPU and the heatsink, that otherwise trap air particles preventing the CPU from adequately cooling. 

Thermal pastes are never attached directly to the CPU itself, for a bundle that comes with a CPU cooler usually comes with thermal paste. However, most modern CPUs come with a stock CPU cooler, but some models (both Intel and AMD) are unequipped.

Do All CPUs Have Thermal Paste?

As some CPUs don’t ship with a cooler, they do not come with any thermal paste. For both AMD and Intel, if the CPU is boxed together with a CPU cooler it will include a thermal paste. So, the stock heatsinks do come with a pre-applied thermal paste with the cooler.

Do New CPUs Need Thermal Paste?

If not pre-applied, every cooler needs thermal paste. Without it, CPU temperature may rise up to even 100 degrees Celsius which is alarming. Temperature above 70 to 70 degrees Celsius may cause the processor to throttle causing the PC to stutter, freeze, or even shut down. 

Thermal pastes fill in the microscopic imperfections between the CPU and the heatsink. If you want to find out if your CPU has pre-applied paste, check the bottom of the base plate. You can also try water blocking your CPU cooler that attaches to the CPU.  

If you intend to tinker around with your PC such as overclocking, upgrading, or custom building, having a tube around is a good idea.

Do Intel CPUs Come with Thermal Paste?

Most Intel CPUs don’t come with thermal paste. Even the gaming CPU of Intel named “Alder Lake” doesn’t come with any stock cooler meaning they don’t come with thermal paste.

However, the Intel CPUs with ‘K’ in their SKU identifiers such as Intel Core i5-12600K, Core i7-12700K, and Core i9-12900K come equipped with thermal paste.

Though the 65W CPU of intel doesn’t have ‘K’ on its SKU identifier, it still comes with a stock cooler means come equipped with the thermal paste.

Do AMD CPUs Come with Thermal Paste?

Like Intel CPUs, the AMD CPU that comes with a stock cooler also comes with the thermal paste.

Though most CPUs of AMD don’t come with thermal paste, only the two latest Zen 3 CPUs of AMD named Ryzen 5 5600X and 5600G come with Wraith Stealth cooler; which means they come with thermal paste.

Is Thermal Paste Mandatory?

Many new PC builders think that thermal paste is a mandatory component for the CPU. But it isn’t true. The thermal paste helps to keep a CPU cool. But as a cooling fan can handle about 80% of overheating issues with the CPU, thermal paste isn’t a mandatory component.

However, if a CPU gets overheated and a cooling fan can’t handle the overheating issue, then the thermal paste is mandatory.

Does CPU Need Thermal Paste If It Already Comes with Some?

If the new CPU comes with thermal paste, then you should not apply more to your CPU. If the thermal paste is conductive and you apply more thermal paste on your CPU, then it might go to your CPU pins and can damage the CPU even the motherboard.

However, if the thermal paste goes dry, then you need to remove the thermal paste from your CPU and apply new on it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do Motherboards Come With Thermal Paste?

No, motherboards do not come with thermal paste. Only CPUs with a bundle that comes with a CPU cooler usually come with thermal paste. Unless you buy the OEM version of the CPU, you’ll get thermal paste within the box and can apply it.

Do Ryzen CPUs Need Thermal Paste?

Ryzen CPUs with the cooler comes with thermal paste pre-applied, but normally you don’t get an additional tube of it. And if not, getting a new cooler comes with the paste with it. 

Pre-applied paste works pretty decently, causing no problem whatsoever. However, applying from a separate tube works best. If not pre-applied, you need to apply thermal paste to avoid overheating.

Can You Use Toothpaste as Thermal Paste?

Even though toothpaste is an excellent substitute for thermal paste its’s structure decays after a few days. However, toothpaste drops the temperature by 20 degrees. For arctic silver 5 drops it by 29 degrees at most. The structure decay increase if the operating temperatures are high.

Is Thermal Paste Sold with CPU?

Yes, thermal paste is sold with CPUs. The thermal paste come in a small syringe-shaped tube that can be found where you are buying the CPU. You can also get the thermal paste online.

Does the Intel Core i7 12700 K Come with Thermal Paste?

Intel CPUs normally don’t come with thermal paste. But the CPUs with the latter ‘K’ in their SKU identifier always come with thermal paste. As Intel Core i7 12700K has the latter ‘K’ at the end of the SKU identifier, that means it comes with the thermal paste.

Does the i9 12900 K Come with Thermal Paste?

Yes, the Intel core i9 12900K comes with a stock cooler and the thermal paste is pre-applied on the surface between the CPU and the stock cooler. So, you don’t need to buy or apply any extra thermal on the Intel Core i9 12900K CPU.

To Conclude

Not using thermal paste causes the entire system to overheat as it will generate more heat than it is designed to handle. So if not pre-applied, look for the tube that comes with the CPU bundle or buy separately. Also, make sure to get a good thermal paste to apply to the CPU as it is the most important component of your system.