Going from AS3 to thermal pad = 7°C drop in temps

[Mark Larson]

thermal grease is good for testing because it is convenient, period

Agreed. There's nothing worse than having to spend quality time with acetone and Q-tips trying to get the pad off the heatsink base more than a few times while testing. (comes off the CPU easily enough though)

The best part is that it eliminates two major problems - "Q: why are my temps so high?" A: remount block, reapply AS3", and, to a lesser extent, crushed cores because the thermal pad is softer than a layer of grease (is this even true?)

 

[macklin01]

Interesting thread. There are indeed many variables to consider.

I will recall that when I first got my v6cu, I used the thermal pad (phase change) and got surprisingly good results, considering. I later switched to ASIII (lapped to get rid of the thermal pad to the best of my ability) and saw maybe 2-3C difference, which, as many rightly point out, may have been statistically zero difference.

Perhaps now that I've had more practice at spreading ASIII the difference is more real, but those thermal pads are nice for their ease of use and consistent performance.

-- Paul

*edit* the pads are down to $20 now, eh? Hmm ...

*edit* Here's one you can buy separately:

http://shop.store.yahoo.com/tai-sol/chompadt7.html

if anybody's interested. I might actually give that a try for my wife's stock celeron ... -- Paul

 

[SiliconX]

Originally posted by BillA
"fill in any possible minute gaps created by not having the block mounted 100% perfectly flat"
wrong
learn how to mount the wb, the grease is to displace the air from surface irregularities

be cool

Ah ok, thanks