Super glue vs. Arctic alumina

[SantiMun]

I need a strong adhesive to attach my Iceberg 4 PRO fan to my GPU because I can't mount it (has no mounting holes). Some people tell me I should use Arctice silver or alumina (whats the diff?). But some people tell me I can use super glue. I'd rather use super glue since I don't know any stores that sell the "arctic" stuff except for online. Are there any stores out there (best buy, circuit city) that sell this arctic stuff??

 

[CrashOveride]

Arctic Alumina/Silver Adhesive (epoxy) is what you SHOULD use. You can you superglue but it doesn't transfer heat as well and will somtimes just sorta come off.

 

[arabarabian]

Definitely go for the Artic Silver Adhesive. From my experience super glue does not conduct heat at all, therefore you would be cooking your GPU.

 

[FLG]

Either Arctic Silver or Arctic Alumina thermal adhesive will work (make sure its "Thermal Adhesive" or "Thermal epoxy" not "thermal compound")

Just make sure you follow the directions on Arctic Silvers website.

 

[SantiMun]

Are there any stores out there (best buy, circuit city) that carry this stuff? I'd hate to have to order some online and pay shipping + wait a week just to run my 9100.

 

[CrashOveride]

No, they usualy don't carry it, you will have to order online unless you have a good local computer store:/

 

[SantiMun]

I just ordered some arctic silver adhesive. But I don't want to wait. So, I was thinking of using electrical tape to keep the fan to the CPU. What I mean is one end of the tape to the top of the Fan and the other end onto the top edge of the graphics card. That way not much of the tape will be actually touching the card itself. I'm not going to overclock it so the card itself shouldn't get THAT hot. The thermal grease is actually sticking now but I still don't feel too safe about it so I'm going to use the electrical tape to keep it secure. Should that be fine until the adhesive arrives (within a week)???

 

[Mr.Radar]

It might work, but I really wouldn't feel safe with my GPU cooler being held on by tape.

 

[FLG]

What card is it? When i had an older Nvidia card the fan adhesive stoped sticking after the card would heat up, i managed to keep it on with zip ties and (well i dont have it anymore) but a buddy does and to this day it still works and still has the zip ties on it. Now if this was a newer card, lets say Radeon 9600, then id just not put it on the side for few days until the epoxy comes.

 

[SantiMun]

well right now it seems fine. Again, I'm not going to try to do anything that might heat up the card. I just hope this tape lasts a week I don't want to keep changing it. The fan is great though, its an Iceberg4 Pro and its quiet as hell. Does anyone know any programs I can get that displays my computers temp and what not?

 

[mtb856]

What we mean by using superglue is not using it as a thermal compound. What we do is use a compound like Arctic Silver,which is not a permanent adhesive, on the GPU and then put super glue on the corners of the GPU HSF to hold it on. Some people have had trouble with the super glue holding b/c they don't use enough of it. It takes more glue than you would think to hold a HSF on the chip. I see that you already got the AS alumina, but just keep that in mind if you want to use it on your ramsinks or something like that.

 

[Korndog]

i used to mix superglue with articsilver 3 for my gpu waterblock, because my old gpu didn't have mounting holes, worked fine, no overheating, no nothing, but ofcourse, the thermal conductivity of the AS was restricted by the superglue.

 

[SantiMun]

Can I use arctic alumina for the ramsinks or should I just stick with the thermal tape?

 

[devilscow22]

alumina will perform better, if you have it use it.

 

[mtb856]

Sure, you can use the alumina if you want. Just be warned, it involves some strange tactics to remove the ramsinks after the alumina is applied though. ( You end up sticking your card in the freezer and then popping the ramsinks off.)

 

[SantiMun]

Thanks a lot guys

 

[flapperhead]

some guys put a dab of artic silver in the middle then carefully use superglue on the edges, this seems to work well.

 

[Dukemurmur]

yep it work very well in fact i ran a card like that fore a little over a year.

 

[Big_Baller]

Yes one popular method is simply putting a small ammount of super glue on the corners and using a standard tim (arctic silver) on the rest of the chip. I have done this and it has worked moderatly well for me in the past. I did however attach my ram sinks with arctic alumina and I am pleased with it.

If I were you I would try the super glue approach 1st. If it dosn't work you can always take it off and sand away the super glue then apply the arctic silver alumina.

 

[a c i d.f l y]

Fry's carries Arctic Silver products... for about $1 more per tube than online...

-Frank