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Corsair's Thermal Interface Material

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notarat

Member
Joined
Nov 11, 2010
SO who has one of the Corsair watercooling kits and used the TIM that came already applied to the heatsink? How were your temps? Did you go back later and replace it with aftermarket stuff like AS?

When I installed the H70 onto my previous build I scraped it all off and applied AS5, which has done a "good-to-very-good" job over the last 10 months or so, but...

When I completed a new HTPC/backup gaming rig build last night (specs below), as I was installing the H80 I couldn't remember where I put my AS5, (haha that looks like I said I couldn't remember where I put my ***) so I just used the OEM Corsair TIM already on the heatsink.

I'm just wondering if it will be better to rip the system back apart before I power it up to apply AS5 (once I find it, lol) or continue using the OEM stuff unless my temps suck.

The computer was previously running at 4.7GHz at 47°C (realtemp) at idle on an open bench with only the single Xigmatek heatsink fan, which is why I upgraded to the H80...

Specs for those who care about these things:

Corsair Carbide 400R
Corsair TX650
MSI Z68A-GD55
i5 2500K
XFX Radeon HD 6850
8GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3
Crucial M4 128GB OS Drive
(4) 2TB WD Caviar Black
Asus DVD+-RW
Akasa FC.6
(7) Cougar CF-V12HP fans
Hauppauge HVR-1800
Win7HP 64bit
 
According to a corsair rep, see post here and here post 143, the H80 and H100 come with a new Dow Corning tim, that is better than shin-itsu, hence would certainly be better than AS5. The H50/70 still comes with Shin-itsu G751, which performs on par with AS5 according to skinneelabs testing (both 1-2C worse than mx2. But on H80 and H100, I definitely would use the pre-applied tim over AS5.
 
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Here's the link to skinnee's results too. I would definitely stick with the stuff that came with it after seeing the results of AS5.
 
Thanks for the information and links, guys!

I feel much better about using the OEM stuff now...

I'm anxious to get home and check all my connections one more time then fire up that puppy and shoot for 5GHz
 
I saw pretty damn good results with the pre-applied tim on the H80 when I reviewed it. Too bad they don't give you a small tube of it or retail that tim material, because it works well.
 
Given corsair's rep description, it is likely Dow Corning TC-5026 or newer TC-5600, see slides 11, 12, 13 for 5026 performance vs shin itsu and here TC-5600 with higher bulk conductance.

It is touted as being one of best tim's since once of lowest contact resistances....but dont know anyone that sells it to individual users...wish they did, would like to try it.
 
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I just ordered an H80, but forgot to get thermal paste with it, so this thread was suuuuper helpful. Thanks gents and thanks OP!!
 
Here's a "Mostly done with the build" pic...
img0891as.jpg


I installed the rest of the drives and my TV Tuner, then installed the OS and all patches and started playing around with overclocking it.

If I knew what limits to remain under for the various voltages, I'm pretty sure I could get 5+GHz out of this thing...I was at 4.9GHz last night using 1.35v and 35°C but I don't know much about CPU PLL Voltage, System Agent Voltage, and VDroop Control...
 
Looking good! What brand are the orange fans?? They're sweet..
As for voltages.. I have a 2500k at 1.432v Vcore and I'm sitting at 4.85GHz. You shouldn't have any trouble taking your rig past 5GHz within reasonable temps.
Nice build.
 
Looking good! What brand are the orange fans?? They're sweet..
As for voltages.. I have a 2500k at 1.432v Vcore and I'm sitting at 4.85GHz. You shouldn't have any trouble taking your rig past 5GHz within reasonable temps.
Nice build.

Cougar CF-V12HP 12cm fan. Below is a pic of 2 of the 7 I have installed and connected to my Akasa FC.6

• Bearing Type: Hydro-Dynamic
• RPM: 800-1500 RPM
• Air Flow: 70.5cfm/119.8cmh max
• Noise Level: 17.9dB
• Power Connector: 4 Pin PWM
• Color: Orange (Ichigo-kun!)
• Dimensions:120 x 120 x 25mm
• MBTF: 300,000hrs

cougarcfv12hp.jpg
 
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