Thermal pad (computing)

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In computing and electronics, thermal pads are commonly found on the underside of heatsinks to aid the conduction of heat away from the component being cooled (such as a CPU or chip) and into the heatsink (usually made from aluminium or copper).

As an alternative to thermal grease (sometimes called thermal transfer material), AMD favour the use of thermal pads on the bottom of heatsinks used with many of its processors, as they are cleaner and generally easier to install. However, thermal pads rarely can compete with the thermal dissipation capabilities of heatsinks that use thermal grease.