Thermal Pad of the company Laird Connectivity. In computers and electronics, Thermal Pads are preformed rectangular solid material (often based on paraffin wax or silicone) usually located on the bottom side of heat sinks to aid in the heat dissipation from a cooled component (such as a CPU or other chip). They are an alternative solution to thermal paste used as a thermal interface material. AMD and Intel have included thermal pads on the bottom of the heat sinks that accompany some of their processors as they are easier to install.