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