Letting AS3 set.

When I first put AS3 on, do I want to run my CPU hot or cold?

cold. you want it to settle... then after a few days go aheard and heat it up

Nico3k said:

cold. you want it to settle... then after a few days go aheard and heat it up

Click to expand...

I went ahead and fired it up as soon as I finished (ok attached the waterblock etc.)

I put it on and fired it up and did what I always do.

I put it on (then the HS of course) and fire it up. I do observe a gradual cooling of the cpu under load for a few days. Typically a couple degrees C as I remember.

just run it at full load, not overclocked for a few days on 100% load

AS3 requires a minimum of 72 hours before it reaches its optimum performance. In many cases, the compound will not be at its best until several hundred hours have elapsed. Pressure on the thermal joint and the vibration of the fan facilitates the break-in. Since a water based system will only have a small amount of vibration from the case fans, the break-in period can last much longer than with air cooling. Some people with water-cooled systems report that their temperatures did not reach their lowest point for several months.

Also, running a program that stresses the CPU has no effect on the break-in time. The additional 10C or so higher temperature at the thermal joint will not shorten the break-in period. The relevant factors are pressure and vibration, not temperature.

The computer does not have to stay on throughout the break-in period. With an air-cooled system, the compound will take 3 days to 8 days to break-in if you leave your computer on all the time. If you only turn on the computer for 1 hour per day, the compound would take 72 days to 200 days to break-in.

We have been tempted to mix up a special short-term silver compound for reviewers to use for testing heatsinks so that they do not have to wait for the AS3 to break-in. We have prototypes here that beat AS3 by 3 or 4 degrees on a hot processor when first applied, but then the AS3 catches up with the prototype in a week or so. A month or so later, temperatures with the AS3 are lower than the short-term use prototype as the performance of the prototype begins to deteriorate.

Ultimately, we believe that long-term performance and stability is much more important that how the compound works fresh out of the tube, hence the break-in period.

Nevin House
Arctic Silver, Inc.

i usually just spread it on and run it hot from there. Instructions say to run it for 72 hours as said above. Then it will start to work better.

i was just trying to say what nevin said

I wonder if holding a vibrator against a waterblock would speed up the time it takes AS3 to settle (but honey,my computer needs love too!)

Freeloader,

WAAAAYYY too much vibration. That would probably wear the edges off the core and kill the chip like a bad out-of-balance heatsink fan.

If you can think of something with much less vibration like a fan, you may be on to something.

I can see it now...

The Freeloader Water Cooled Thermal Interface Optimizing Accelerator

(Batteries not included.)



Nevin

I think that name has a nice"ring" to it (or is that a"vibration")

Nevin,

What about squirting Arctic Silver in my belly button. How long will it take that to settle in?

Simon