Thermal Compond necessary? SK-6...

[Poonanny]

I just got my AMD 1.4ghz CPU, Thermalright SK-6, and Everflow 7000RPM hs/f.

I did not get instructions with the HS, so I have searched around the web. The Thermalright website
makes no mention of using thermal compound.

With my SK-6, I got two "pads", one Gelvet with a black top and white (must be glue of some sort underneath) bottom.
The other is blue, with a red see-through "tail". Not sure what that is for.

So, how much a difference will the thermal compound make vs. the stock setup, which I assume has the Gelvet pad
stuck onto the bottom of the Sk-6, with the black part touching the CPU.

Thanks!


P.S. This is my first AMD system, so be easy on me! :) Plus, I cannot afford to fry anything!

[killem1x1]

I would never use a "pad" on a chip, even as a temporary solution. Think of this, if you read through the arctic silver website (http://www.arcticsilver.com) you will see that they don't want you to even touch the core with your finger, much less leave the "residue" that a pad can leave. What happens is that the pad will fill the "microscopic voids" that the thermal compound should be filling, and when you do actually use a decent compound you will not be able to clean out these voids, in turn the heat will not be transferred as well. I would wait, and get some good stuff, or ateleast some Radio Shack "goo". Hope this helps, and welcome to the forums.

[Dunga Bee]

Hello and welcome to the forums :)

Using some arctic silver II (ASII), will definitely help the performance of your SK6. Probably somewhere in the range of 4 - 8 degrees C. But, that's not a guarantee, could be more or less. I don't have an SK6 so I do not have actual numbers but from seeing other peoples results from all types of heatsinks, that's a good guess.

If you are planning on overclocking, definitely invest in the ASII and put it on there. Even the thermal grease from a local Radio Shack will be better than the stuff that comes with the SK6.

[Poonanny]

Thanks mon!

So, if my local computer shop doesn`t carry the ASII, what do you specfically suggest as an alternative.

I am in a big rush to get this together, cause it's my main system, so I can`t wait much longer if I had to order some.

I read at a few places that the ASII is not as simple as just spreading some around the CPU core, but a bunch of other stuff.

[ymNA]

you can use the pad for now, put u'll have to sand the bottom of the hs to get rid of it when you want to change to AS.

[Dunga Bee]

If you can't get ASII, get the Radio Shack stuff.

It is decent.

If you can wait a few days, get ASII.

Then, read up on overclocking and get that thing past 1.4 :D

[Poonanny]

Thanks for all the advice!


I just called a local computer shop and they have a Startech brand of thermal compound. Ever heard of this?

Otherwise, if you guys say that the even the radio shack stuff is better than the pad, I`ll go that route.

[Dunga Bee]

Here (http://forums.overclockers.ws/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=33788&highlight=Startech) is a link where someone got some of that Startech grease. He also got other cooling stuff, but the grease must have been decent to allow those improvements.

Sounds like it did a good job.

[killem1x1]

I've used the Startech stuff in a pinch, it is better than the shack goop, and a whole lot better than a pad.

[Thelemac]

*Moved to "Cooling"*