arctic silver Vs radioshack brand? and what local store sells arctic silver

[Cow Hunting]

well i need something. i dont really feel like waiting a week to get arctic silver shipped to me, so i was wondering if it can be bought at any major chain stores like compusa or something. i checked the websites of bestbuy, compusa, circuitcity and radioshack and the only thing i found was radishack's Silicone Grease. (I live in Rhode Island)

so i was wondering if anyone has had both of these 2 compounds and could tell a difference.

Another thing i could do is recycle what i have now because i plan on removing my heatsink to connect the L1 bridges, could i just leave the grease there and reaply the heatsink?

[Illah]

Definetely replace the old grease. I'd say go with the Arctic Silver 3. Last I checked www.case-mod.com had it for $5.99 with free shipping, and since you're out of state no tax. The radio shack crap would be like what, $3 + tax? Spend the extra $2.50, wait three days, and get the AS3. I mean, even if it's only a 1 or 2 C difference for only $6 you can't beat it. It's the best temp to dollar value in the overclocking world.

--Illah

[WinFlex]

Just gimped out on spending the $8 for some nice AS3 plus shipping and went to Radioshack and picked up their silicone based "Heat Sink Compound"

IT SUCKS.... the thermal pad that was previously between the HSF and the CPU ran only 1 or 2 degrees C hotter than the Radioshack brand thermal compound. I am certain that some nice AS3 would lower temps by another 5 to 10 degrees celsius.

[Cow Hunting]

thanks for all the help :)

[ZeroAquaduct]

I'm not familiar with Rhode Island, but in my area, if you're interested in purchasing Arctic Silver locally, you have to go to a smaller computer store. However, I recommend purchasing online, especially if you're located in the US. You'll probably get a better deal online.

Most people here would probably recommend that you apply new thermal paste instead of recycling old thermal paste already on the CPU and HSF.

[Cow Hunting]

just thought i would say i found a friend with some arctic silver 2, not that it did much good since i ruined my CPU while fooling with it some how :( just my luck. i think i'm through with trying to modify my computer from now on. i will stick to what i can get through programing

[JokerHCG]

Make sure you lap your heatsink(and possibly your CPU core) very well because the thermal pad leaves some parrafin wax in between the microscopic crevices and will not come out unless you remove the bottom layer of the heatsink.