Did the Nintendo 64 ever use some form of thermal compound?

I opened up a Nintendo 64 today, and after getting the large metal heat spreader off, I was surprised to find that there wasn't any thermal pads stuck to stuck to them like the PS2 and Dreamcast used. Did the N64 not use any form of thermal compound? I noticed some kind of oil on the heatsinks, so did it use a grease instead of a pad? From what I've read, some systems used a thermal pad, but mine sure doesn't.

 

Every model I've opened has had a dark grey pad under each heatsink.

 

That's what I was expecting too, but there's none to be found! These are very early French N64s, so they might be different? What would you recommend I use? I've got some Arctic Silver 5, but that seems like overkill.

Just to clarify, I'm talking about between the large heat spreader and the three blocks on top of each chip. I would imagine there would be some kind of thermal compound between the chip and the block, but that's not what I'm talking about here

 

Any electronic device with a heatsink will have used a thermal compound. White silicon grease was the most common back then - moreso than any kind of pre-prepared solution - although they did exist, of course. With the grease, it can evaporate or disintegrate with heat.

 

Hmmm, sounds like I should stick some Arctic Silver on it then. Would the N64 need the same kind of application a PC's CPU heatsink would need, or would a little be enough?

*EDIT* looking side-on at the chip and heatsink, there does appear to be a thermal pad between the two. But as to between the heatsink to the heat spreader, nothing but a greasy looking substance.

 

mine had this transparent liquid too fireaza, I just used some cpu compound instead

 

I replaced the original heat spreader with nice PC heat sinks and some Arctic Silver 5, it works just as well and makes the system much easier to work on as you don't have to deal with a billion screws getting that heat spreader off.

 

Sounds like you're using way too much on your PC!!

 

What I meant was, do I have to be careful to make sure as much of the heatsink's surface area as possible has a coating, or is it OK if there's only a little on there?

 

A thin smear is all you need.

 

Cool, thanks!

 

I use Arctic Silver, you can never go too overkill with cooling. Plus, a tube of arctic is only $5.

It may be an older model, I always find heat pads under mine. They are complete crap.