[DDM]

Quick question:

Should I buy a thermal compound (like Arctic Silver), or is the compound that comes pre-applied good enough? I'm not intending to oc, but I may in the future.

CPU: i7 920
Mobo: GIGABYTE GA-x58
Gfx: Sapphire HD 5870

[bda1967]

IMO you should keep a tube of this handy at all times. Does the retail i7 920 heat sink come with pre-applied thermal paste?

[ou_phidelt]

Keeping a tube around is a good idea. Even a small tube is good for several applications. Even if you are going to use the stock heatsink I would replace the junk that comes on it with some good aftermarket stuff. Personally I am still a fan of AS5 with MX-2 being next in line. Picking up some cleaner is also a good idea but rubbing alcohol will do in a pinch as well.

[Old Thrashbarg]

If you're not overclocking, you don't need any fancy thermal paste. (Even if you are overclocking, you probably still don't need anything fancy.) I'd recommend just going with something cheap... this stuff should do you just fine, for example.

The problem with the pre-applied stuff that comes on heatsinks is not so much the quality of it, but that it's often too thick, and that by itself is reason enough to replace it.

[DDM]

As far as I know, the i7 does come w/ pre-applied paste.
Any guidelines for how to clean it off? Links to vids would be most appreciated.

[ajrettke]

no video's, but it's painfully SIMPLE!

Paper towel at min...not ideal but it works.

Idealy, a cloth or shirt you don't care about with a little bit of rubbing alchohal (shirt or cloth that won't leave threads behind).

Honestly though, I doubt the metthod used (heck even your finger nail vs lint free cloth and rubbing alchohal) will make a difference in your overlock!

But as for thermal paste, www.svc.com has awesome prices and shipping is usually just postage!

It's worth the 5 bucks to have a tube handy at all times, I'd recommend a non conductive paste, AS5 is good...they;re many others, but grabbing one and having it on hand is always nice.

[doz]

Originally Posted by Old Thrashbarg

If you're not overclocking, you don't need any fancy thermal paste. (Even if you are overclocking, you probably still don't need anything fancy.) I'd recommend just going with something cheap... this stuff should do you just fine, for example.

The problem with the pre-applied stuff that comes on heatsinks is not so much the quality of it, but that it's often too thick, and that by itself is reason enough to replace it.

If you are overclocking, you DO need fancy stuff. IMO, its a small price for better temperatures, even stock.

I went from Arctic Silver 5 to Shin-Etsu and it lowered my temps a decent amount (I have a thread somewhere, I think it was like 3c??). Thats just going from one good thermal paste to a better.

Results have shown that AS5 beats out generic/preapplied pastes by up to 8-10c. So you are talking a possible 11-14c difference in temperature just by buying some premium paste.

Maybe he should just run the stock cooler overclocked as well?

[jaymz9350]

Originally Posted by ajrettke

no video's, but it's painfully SIMPLE!

Paper towel at min...not ideal but it works.

Idealy, a cloth or shirt you don't care about with a little bit of rubbing alchohal (shirt or cloth that won't leave threads behind).

Honestly though, I doubt the metthod used (heck even your finger nail vs lint free cloth and rubbing alchohal) will make a difference in your overlock!

But as for thermal paste, www.svc.com has awesome prices and shipping is usually just postage!

It's worth the 5 bucks to have a tube handy at all times, I'd recommend a non conductive paste, AS5 is good...they;re many others, but grabbing one and having it on hand is always nice.

Coffee filters are a good thing to use as well which won't leave fibers behind. I usually use a paper towel and alcohol to get the majority of the paste off and the coffee filter and alcohol to finish up.