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#1
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Intel thermal pad or Arctic Silver?
On Thu, 26 Jun 2003 00:06:05 +0200, "Zink" wrote:
Can anyone tell me out of his experience if it is worth using arctic silver thermal paste on a boxed intel Pentium4 cpu ? It'd make removing the 'sink later, a bit easier, except that AS requires more effort to clean off. Thermally there's not near as much different on a P4 due to it having the heat-spreader. If you already have a syringe of AS you might go ahead and use it but I wouldn't buy some just for a P4. Dave |
#2
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w_tom enlightened us all with these words of wisdom:
With each medium change is a sharp increase in thermal resistance. The best thermal interface is CPU direct to heatsink. Therefore better heatsinks machine their CPU interface surface. Cheaper heatsinks have found it easier (and more profitable) to, instead, apply a thermal pad. CPU to thermal pad to heatsink means inferior thermal conductivity. But too many computers builder's never bother demanding a 'degree C per watt' specification. Numbers would demonstrate the point. The most critical parameter for a CPU heatsink fan assembly is 'degree C per watt'. Any heatsink assembly that does not provide this critical parameter is suspect. Thermal compound improves thermal conductivity by replacing air in microscopic holes with 'the grease'. Thermal compound is superior to thermal pads or thermal tape because CPU is almost completely in contact with the heatsink (assumes too much thermal compound not applied). Thermal compound causes so little increase in thermal conductivity that CPU temperature is only reduced by single digit degrees. If thermal compound results in greater thermal conductivity, then heatsink quality is suspect or something may be wrong with how heatsink is held onto CPU.. Almost all heat is transferred from center of CPU to heatsink. Therefore thermal compound that is effective is only in the center one half of the CPU. If too much thermal compound is applied, then thermal compound squeezes out to the outer half of a CPU. Even worse, if thermal compound gets out into CPU pins, then intermittent CPU failures can result. Examples of CPU to heatsink interfaces are demonstrated in experiments in: http://www.dansdata.com/goop.htm This author also makes an important point: More grease is, at best, wasted. At worst, it gets in the way of direct chip-to-sink contact and impedes heat transfer. Arctic Silver is hype. Just about any thermal compound is equivalent to the so expensive and overhyped Arctic Silver 3. AS3 like any thermal compound is applied only for single digit temperature decreases. Advantage by any thermal compound is insignificant to a CPU used in normal operation if heatsink was properly machined up front - therefore no thermal pad or tape necessary. Thermal compound may result in a minor temperature improvement maybe permitting an overclocker to run a CPU a touch faster. But thermal compound is not the major improvement factor hyped by myths. If heatsink was properly machined, then thermal compound only causes single digit temperature improvement. However thermal compound can demonstrate quality of that heatsink surface. Too much temperature reduction when using thermal compound says the heatsink was defective by manufacturer. Which begs the question - did that manufacturer even bother to provide a 'degree C per watt' parameter? Just looked at seven different heatsinks manufacturers. Only one provided that spec. Many heatsinks are sold on hype and myth - especially when they forget to include that 'degree C per watt' parameter. snip Ummm, nope. I disagree, yet again Einstein. I have used many, many compounds and arctic silver is by far the most effective when used properly, and single digit decreases is a load of hooey. I have dropped temps by 15 degrees or more, just by using AS with a good copper heatsink. As for you're properly machined heatsinks- they don't exist. If you have ever tried to machine metal (alloy or not) you would know that perfection is nest to impossible, even when machined using the latest technologies. That is why compounds were produced. In order to rectify the small, natural abnormalaties present. Try using a lathe sometime, see how perfect you get that pole. You'll see what I mean. |
#3
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I have now tried the thermal pad on a pentium2.6 800fsb, and the peak
temperature was 51-52 degrees. On a pentium 2.6 533fsb with arctic silver, the temperatures never got over 50°. The 800fsb system had also higher motherboard temperatures at full load, around 40 degrees. The 533 fsb MB was always at 36°. These differences might be given by the 800fsb chipset, or software bugs in the temperature reporting utility used (asus probe). I do get the feeling that with arctic silver the cpu cools down faster, however note that the thermal pad is already installed and saves alot of time and acetone. |
#4
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On Fri, 4 Jul 2003 00:59:43 +0200, "Zink" wrote:
I have now tried the thermal pad on a pentium2.6 800fsb, and the peak temperature was 51-52 degrees. On a pentium 2.6 533fsb with arctic silver, the temperatures never got over 50°. The 800fsb system had also higher motherboard temperatures at full load, around 40 degrees. The 533 fsb MB was always at 36°. These differences might be given by the 800fsb chipset, or software bugs in the temperature reporting utility used (asus probe). I do get the feeling that with arctic silver the cpu cools down faster, however note that the thermal pad is already installed and saves alot of time and acetone. It is good to see this followup... too often you see inquiries, but the final result is never mentioned. IIRC, the P4 on a 800MHz FSB will use a very slight bit more power, not enough to even consider except in a very controlled, precise experiment. Asus' PCProbe can/does report inaccurate temps, I have an Asus Athlon system here that's confirmed to report 6C over actual temps, though that means little as to how accurate it is on your board. Right now I have a stock of generic (but fairly good) silicone-zinc thermal compound (Circuitworks I "think"), AS Alumina, and AS3... I would use the generic compound on a P4, it makes negligible difference but is still easy to clean compared to AS3 or the stock pad. Dave |
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