Thermal Pad by Thermal Grizzly. In computers and electronics, Thermal Pads are pre-formed rectangular pieces made of solid material (often wax-based or silicone) that are typically placed on the underside of heatsinks to assist in transferring heat from the component being cooled (such as a CPU or another chip). They are an alternative to thermal paste used as a thermal interface material. AMD and Intel have included thermal pads on the underside of heatsinks accompanying some of their processors, as they are easier to install.