Artic Silver confession

[Valafar]

My specs are below. I got the AS in the mail yesterday. I yanked my HSF off the CPU and got rid of the TIM. What was under it scared me. The sucker looked like someone sandblasted the bottom of the HSF. Uh Oh I don't have any crocus cloth and the stores are closed early on Sun. So I polished the HSF as best I could and LIBERALLY applied the AS. To my amazement, my temp dropped 12 degrees C. I couldn't believe it. So I brought SETI up the high use and the temp hit 32 and stayed. Then I ran Sandra burn in and the temp peaked at 34. Wow! I can't wait till I get my Thermoengine with the Black Delta

 

[Mr B]

A.S. is infinitely better than what hsf manufacturers use. You should lap that really well when you can get some sandpaper to do it right.

Yeah..A.S. does wonders, though.....

Mr B

 

[KeyboardCowboy]

i know this is going to sound stupid, but where can i buy/order artic silver???

 

[Valafar]

I got my A.S. from http://www.3dfxcool.com

 

[William]

well we all know silicon is only a semiconductor and that Sivler is a great conductor and Zinc is decent too. Just Makes sense that this would help. Now, I am just waiting for that Silver core heatsink to come out....

 

[dimmreaper]

dunno260 (Mar 19, 2001 06:40 p.m.):
well we all know silicon is only a semiconductor and that Sivler is a great conductor and Zinc is decent too. Just Makes sense that this would help. Now, I am just waiting for that Silver core heatsink to come out....

Make your own silver core heatsink. Find a local machine and ask the to mill a 3/16" deep 1.5x1.5in square in the base of your heatsink (it'll be cheap). Then go to a coin store and buy a few bars of pure silver. Melt the silver down in an iron laddle using a propain tourch. Also heat the heatsink up a little (not so hot that the aluminum crystalizes). Then poor the silver in to the base of the heatsink, let it over runn a little. let it cool back down to room temperature. Then lapp the base of the heatsink smooth, and enjoy

 

[batboy]

On the homepage right here at overclockers.com is a link to "vendors specials" where they have some good deals on Arctic Silver. Minor point...arctic is being misspelled (in case you're doing a search).

There is a new CPU cooler out now that has a solid silver base. Oddly enough, it's called the Silverado. Tomshardware.com had a review on it recently.

 

[LimeyGreg]

I'd be interested in your temps with regular thermal compound compared to AS. I believe AS is best in situations where the sink has not been lapped. After lapping could you do some tests with regular thermal compound and AS ? I don't believe you will see much of a difference, if any, between temps of the lapped HSF.

 

[Just shoot]

I agree Limeygreg, I run a homemade watercooler, all of copper, and found with the surface like a mirror there is so little a difference between Artic Silver and Radio shacks cheap cheap stuff. With a Peltier on the same setup it does run 4'f cooler using AS , it deppends on the setup.

 

[Just shoot]

I agree Limeygreg, I run a homemade watercooler, all of copper, and found with the surface like a mirror there is so little a difference between Artic Silver and Radio shacks cheap cheap stuff. With a Peltier on the same setup it does run 4'f cooler using AS , it deppends on the setup.

 

[Hoot]

Ditto Just Shoots and Limey Gregs observation. The better the finish on your HSF baseplate, the less of an improvement in AS over Dow 3140 (white stuff).

Hoot

 

[Colin]

You want to see a drop in temps? Lap your HS. Rinse it. Get a fresh piece of 2000 grit paper and use Artic Silver instead of water to lube the emery paper. Then rinse and install the HS using Artic Silver. Your temps will drop.

The reason you ask? Artic Silver will be combined with aluminum in the microscopic surface imperfections of your HS instead of just aluminum. Trust me, it works. I tried it and I thank Nevin for giving me the idea.

 

[Hoot]

Okay, you got my interest up Colin. Question is will it do likewise with a copper based HS? My MC-462A has a mirror finish on the bottom of the baseplate and before I compromise the effort that went into producing it, I'd like to learn more. IE Scientific evaluation versus anecdotal. did Nevin reference an article or something?

Hoot

 

[Hoot]

On an aside, I've got some silver plating, rub-on compound I use for RF amplifier construction. It only lays down a few microns of deposite, but it would be neat to try. It doesn't effect the finish. Hmmmm...

Hoot

 

[Colin]

Hoot,

The same process will work with copper. Just substitute the copper for aluminum in my previous post. I did this with a FOP32 on the bench. Try it and you will believe. BTW, Nevin did not need to reference an article, it seems he is writing the book!

Colin

 

[Tachyon]

Colin (Mar 21, 2001 11:32 p.m.):
Hoot,

The same process will work with copper. Just substitute the copper for aluminum in my previous post. I did this with a FOP32 on the bench. Try it and you will believe. BTW, Nevin did not need to reference an article, it seems he is writing the book!

Colin

Nevin definately is someone to heed!!

Terry

 

[@crilicM@n]

http://www.arcticsilver.com/dealers_and_distributors.htm For an extensive A.S. price comparison...

Hy Jeff! I don´t believe you have made that silver base! Tell me, is there anything in overclocking that you havent done he he!