"kony" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 22 Dec 2004 15:50:40 -0000, "Christo"
wrote:

i think its tme to renew this stuff

is it easier to buy a new hs/fan with pre applied thermal compound or use
current hs/fan

Either is pretty easy, unless there's some unique situation
you're not disclosing.


i had pre applied thermal compound on it and its now very rouch and a bit
messy, temp is idle at 57 C on Socket A 2600+ not overclocked (previously,
when compound was new and hs/fan was new 42 C idle, it is a stock amd
cooler)

To anyone inquisitive enough to ask, I suggest removing the
original thermal compound, never using it. THEN, if
heatsink base is very rough, either replacing the 'sink or
lapping it a bit... not necessarily till it's like a mirror
but at least uniform, smooth.


which is far too hot

so should i sand the bottom of the hs to get rid of the messy thermal
compound

No, clean it off first with a plastic scraping tool (like
credit card) and petroleum solvent on a paper towel. Cheap
old silicone thermal compound can be used to buff out the
remaining bits of it.


and r apply some arctic silver?

Sure, or whatever... there's only a couple degrees
difference, primarily the benefit of the synthetic compounds
is that they're more resistant to heat, won't need reapplied
as often on a small, high-heat density core like an Athlon
XP.



what about the compound still on the core of the CPU, can i cleanr that
off,
or should i leave?

Definitely clean it off.


with all this in mind would i not be better off buying a new hs/fan with
some more pre applied compound, hat with the arctic silver 5 costing and
the
cost of a hs/fan with pre applied compound it may be cheaper to buy a
whole
new hs/fan with pre applied compound

whats the best route to take

Clean off the original compound even on a new heatsink. If
you buy similar heatsink you'll get similar results
(assuming same thermal interface method), so either buy a
better heatsink than the original else there's no point to
it.

A different heatsink with 80-92mm x 25mm low-RPM fan would
be the quietest alternative, a stock-speed Athlon XP2600
isn't producing so much heat that it can't be cooled near
inaudibly with minimal effort, provided you use the right
fan. Usually that means buying a fan separately, but IIRC
Thermaltake's Silent Boost comes with a ribbed variant of a
Panaflo L1A which is pretty quiet to begin with but might
still be undervolted a bit.

Since you already have the original heatsink you might first
try cleaning it off, lightly lapping it, and applying
(whatever happens to be handy, that you already have)
heatsink grease. If the temps aren't low enough then
consider purchasing additional supplies. If you don't have
any higher-end thermal compound you might consider Arctic
Alumina or Ceramique, it's close enough in performance,
synthetic so it won't pump or dry out, and due to being
non-capacitive it'll be more useful for other heatsinking
like video card or motherboards, etc... Not to mention that
it's less expensive and easier to clean up.



thanks great deal of help there, it should set me on the right track, like
you say larger fans would be quieter, which is an issue here too

I have been looking at a whole new hs/fan that being the Akasa AK-825

it isnt pretty but it sounds like it might be good enough for me, i
especially like the fact i can adjust fan speed which will allow for noise
lowering, to suit my requirements

Thanks kony