Correct thermal compound application saved me 10C!

[Bloated]

I have just re-applied some Artic Silver on my Alpha Pal 6035 because I had justed dusted out the case, and decided to apply it very, very thin on the chip this time around. What a difference. I had a drop in Temp. from 44 idle to 35, and a drop from 62 to 50 running Prime. It does pay to apply this crap as thin as humanly possible guys. These temps are with my Falcon Mach V in a cpu cradle with only the side of the case tilted open. In the open, the temps would surely fall a lot further. (I also have a Card Cooler ball bearing fan blowing down on my cards)

[Hoot]

Are you sure you didn't just have a bad mount job the first time. That sounds a bit extreme for just reapplying the compound. Air pocket? I say that because once I remounted an HSF and my temps went up like yours. I removed the HSF and inspected it and the core with a 10x loupe. a small speck of who knows what or where it came from, had fallen on the core some time between when I applied the compound, inspected it and mounted the HSF. It was much smaller than a grain of sand. Could have fallen from beneath my fingernail, whatever. Anyway, it prevented the surfaces from mating tightly. It is a game where microns matter, grease or not. I can't think of anything someone could report doing wrong here that I haven't done myself in my 30 years of electronics / 17 years in PCs.

Hoot