Thermal Paste - Which is Best?

Xeon · Nov 15, 2003

Hello,

I'm at a place in my O'Clocking experience that I'm starting to look at details of this nature. I haven't had to previously because the Heatsink I've purchased had thermal paste come with it, but now I need to go shopping.

I'd like to hear which Thermal paste is best to use and why, so if you have the inside scoop on this I'd love to hear it.

Rickster · Nov 15, 2003

AS3 i suppose

shiyan · Nov 15, 2003

I'd say AS5 actually...

but there are other good ones too. Shin Etsu G751 I think.

(this thread should have been posted in the cooling section actually)

Xeon · Nov 16, 2003

OK, I'll check them out.

And the reason why they are best is?

(yeah it was a toss up for posting here or cooling, so I flipped a coin)

JigPu · Nov 16, 2003

Well, what makes a thermal paste good is it's ability to both effectivly mate your CPU and HS together, and it's good thermal conduction.

There are several "good" pastes out there, but if I had to choose a best I would go for AS5. Gave a little drop over AS3, and I'm happy with it

JigPu

Xeon · Nov 16, 2003

Thanks for the reply JigPu.

This is the kind of question that needs to be asked when you can't find any data to support a good answer. I did a few searches on google and couldn't find ANY articles that tested these compounds to find out which stood not only the test of time but also provided the best conductivity.

If you know of any such articles I'd love to see them as well.

BTW, it's good to see another Oregonian out here JigPu

JigPu · Nov 16, 2003

Sure thing

Just note that I haven't read any of these reviews (...except for the first) so I don't know how good they are

Arctic Silver 5 Reviews:
http://www.overklokking.no/annet/arctic_silver_5/eindex.html
http://www.ksbrainstorms.com/ArcticSilver5.htm
http://www.xbox-connection.com/hostedsites/hotlinesrc//reviews/arcticsilver5.php

Arctic Silver 3 Reviews:
http://www.mikhailtech.com/articles/tim/arcticsilver3/
http://www.exhardware.com/reviews.php?Id=60
http://www.2fastcpu.com/arcticsilverIII/page1.html
http://www.earthv.com/articles.asp?ArticleID=400

This site seems to have quite a few different pastes they tested, including the Shin Etsu.

JigPu

unreal · Nov 16, 2003

welcome to the forums!!!!

and artic silver 5 would be good

Xeon · Nov 16, 2003

Wow, Ask and you shall receive!!

Thanks a lot JigPu! I'll give them a good reading.

This just proves that us Oregonians are some of the most helpful!

Xeon · Nov 16, 2003

unreal said:
welcome to the forums!!!

LOL, thanks unreal!

Tyberius · Nov 16, 2003

I used to be an oregonian....but wasn't there a paste roundup that only showed like a 1 degree difference between the highest end stuff and the lowest end stuff?

Xeon · Nov 16, 2003

Tyberius said:
I used to be an oregonian....but wasn't there a paste roundup that only showed like a 1 degree difference between the highest end stuff and the lowest end stuff?

Heh, I use to be a Washintonian as well, lived there for 17 Years. Ever heard of Lake Stevens near Everett?

At any rate, yes there is one of those roundup's it's the first link that JigPu provided above. At least I think it's the first one. I've looked at so many of them I can't remember LOL.

Xeon · Nov 16, 2003

Tyberius said:
I used to be an oregonian....but wasn't there a paste roundup that only showed like a 1 degree difference between the highest end stuff and the lowest end stuff?

Maybe it was this one you were talking about.

http://www.overklokking.no/annet/arctic_silver_5/eindex2.html

I do find it interesting that we see such a difference between reports/articles on results. In one of these tests they showed a difference of 7C which is a pretty large gap.

I question some of the results of a couple of these articles but there is a clear trend for a few of them that out perform the rest no matter which Article you read so I think it's safe to say which ones a person should probably consider using.

Arctic Silver 5
Shin Etsu G-751

I believe are clear winners for consideration.

Due to the lengthy application method you have to use with Shin Etsu, I personally will probably go for the AS5 primarily just due to the ease of use.

Xeon · Nov 16, 2003

I have one final point that I thought was important which I gleaned from reading these articles. I think it's important enough to mention because I believe that it does play a role in how well ANY of these work when you apply it.

When you apply this compound I think it's important that you DON'T spread the grease onto the surfaces. It adds air bubbles to the compounds and thus reduces the affectiveness of the application. You should put a dab of the compound in the center and allow the contact and pressure of assembling the units together to spread it out onto the surface.

It showed a clear increase in performance when applied this way.

My current installation of grease on my system was applied using the credit card method and I plan to reinstall some grease on my current system using the above method to see if it makes a difference in my Temps.

I'll keep you posted on my results.

At any rate, thank you all for your help and guidance, especially to you JigPu, the articles you provided were a big help!

Silversinksam · Nov 16, 2003

Xeon said:
Maybe it was this one you were talking about.

http://www.overklokking.no/annet/arctic_silver_5/eindex2.html

I do find it interesting that we see such a difference between reports/articles on results. In one of these tests they showed a difference of 7C which is a pretty large gap.

I question some of the results of a couple of these articles but there is a clear trend for a few of them that out perform the rest no matter which Article you read so I think it's safe to say which ones a person should probably consider using.

Arctic Silver 5
Shin Etsu G-751

I believe are clear winners for consideration.

Due to the lengthy application method you have to use with Shin Etsu, I personally will probably go for the AS5 primarily just due to the ease of use.

That is exactly what I would say and recommend (did someone get a sample of my DNA and clone me?

Xeon · Nov 16, 2003

So that's why I love chemistry and test tubes so much!!!

I should have known!

LOL!

perinator · Nov 17, 2003

I just got a 2800+ barton. In the installation instruction that came with it from who i bought it from, It clearly states that
and I quote

"NOTE: Monarch Computer does not recommend using Arctic Silver or any metallic thermal compound to install processors. Arctic Silver is a superconductive thermal paste that is conductive under certain conditions. Monarch recommends using non-metallic heatsink compound. AMD and Monarch warranty will be voided if you use Artic Silver."
Unquote

This is the reason that I went ahead with the Grey foam goo that was already applied to the stock heatsink.

What are your thoughts on this? What Im afraid of using Arctic Silver is that I put it on the die directly and either the die does not make full contact with the heatsink thus causing a meltdown or I put too much on and short the thing out.

I do need to cool that thing down more than what Im getting on the grey goo but just afraid that Ill be shelling out more dough for another cpu.

Tyberius · Nov 17, 2003

What lengthy application method do you have to use with Shin Etsu?

Xeon · Nov 17, 2003

perinator said:
I just got a 2800+ barton. In the installation instruction that came with it from who i bought it from, It clearly states that
and I quote

"NOTE: Monarch Computer does not recommend using Arctic Silver or any metallic thermal compound to install processors. Arctic Silver is a superconductive thermal paste that is conductive under certain conditions. Monarch recommends using non-metallic heatsink compound. AMD and Monarch warranty will be voided if you use Artic Silver."
Unquote

This is the reason that I went ahead with the Grey foam goo that was already applied to the stock heatsink.

What are your thoughts on this? What Im afraid of using Arctic Silver is that I put it on the die directly and either the die does not make full contact with the heatsink thus causing a meltdown or I put too much on and short the thing out.

I do need to cool that thing down more than what Im getting on the grey goo but just afraid that Ill be shelling out more dough for another cpu.

Wow, now that's an interesting piece of information. I honestly couldn't answer that but I do know that a lot of people using AMD processors are also using Arctic. Heck, just read the articles above and you will see that they are.

I would say that you should just follow their instructions unless you know for a fact that it's going to do your processor more good than harm.

Others who have AMD processors will probably have to chime in here and give you some advice. I also know that a lot of companies recommend Nanotherm PH+ for the AMD processors, much like Thermalright does with their Heatsinks but with the data I read above about Nanotherm, I'm not sure that's such a great Idea either.

Sorry, I know this isn't the help you were looking for but I would highly recommend you read the Articles above if you haven't already. I foudn them to be very informative and helpful.

Xeon · Nov 17, 2003

Tyberius said:
What lengthy application method do you have to use with Shin Etsu?

It has a minimum 3 Day cure date, so it's not really the application of it that's hard, it's the cure time.

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