Artic Silver 5

[Clown]

You aren't meant to spread it out? What?

 

[SawTooTH]

Nice start but doesnt really explain what you want to know.

Most Arctic silver Ive bought comes with a sticky template that you place on the bottom of the heatsink. This has a window that gives a stencilled area where the cpu comes into contact with the heatsink. You apply the artic silver and scrape it evenly with the applicator across the window (its about 1/2 mm thick) provided so it is level with the sticky template surface. Remove the template and you should have a box of compound that looks spookily like the ones you normally get with heatsinks with pre-applied thermal paste.

Sit the heatsink carefully down on the cpu.

Ive seen faqs where people have just put a sloge on the cpu but thats not a very controlled way of applying the paste. You could make a stencil out of say a cd cover (thin plastic sleeve thingy) possibly grease proof paper.

For best heat transfer lap the heatsink first but many come pre-prepared anyway so this isnt probably neccesary.

Anyway hope this is what you wanted to know. Hard to say really but hell I gave it a shot.

Sawtooth

 

[Clown]

I read that splodge technique
I always used to put a small blob and spread it with a card or something...

 

[Covenant]

I read that splodge technique
I always used to put a small blob and spread it with a card or something...

The Manual!

Probably the best method of doing it, but immensely fiddly. Worth it if you're building large server-style units or are fanatical about your cooling.

 

[.Wilier.]

Ive always put a blob on the bottom of the heat-sink, then taken said blob with the corner of a credit card and smeared a very thin layer across the CPU. Rub the remainder of the blob into the base of the HS with a lint free cloth and then clamp the bitch down.

Always works for me

 

[MrBlack]

Sellotape comes in handy as a mask. The thickness of the tape is roughly how thick you want the paste to be, too. I tend to mask out an area just slightly larger thatn the die. The trick is lining it up with where the CPU is going to be. The splodge method means it goops up around the edge of the CPU die, especially with Ahtlon XPs, which is bad, apparently. I'm also told that a 1/2" chunk of asbestos between the heatsink and the die does wonders for its lifespan.

 

[leggy]

I'm also told that a 1/2" chunk of asbestos between the heatsink and the die does wonders for its lifespan.

I can't tell what way you are being sarcastic. The thing about thermal compound is this:

It's not supposed to be a thermal insulator (which asbestos is to a degree). It is there to provide good contact between the die and the HS. Hence it should be a thermal conductor (or thermal semi conductor :/). Putting a layer of asbestos inbetween would render the heatsink useless.

If this is what you were referring to I appologise.

 

[Mr.Monkey]

Erm, I'm not really in any doubt as to what mrblack meant...



But tbh, I spend alot of time messing around with my heatsinks, and I've not noticed any difference from the careful layering to the "wang a bit on the cpu and smoothing it a little using a business card" method.

Really depends how much you can be arsed. (but avoid putting tons of the stuff on, as it's a fucker to clean when it gets down the side of the die).

 

[Xavier]

Smoothing a fine layer onto the CPU correctly makes a HUGE difference in terms of temperature. If you've never noticed it then that means even when you're trying to do it properly, you haven't.

When we benchied the Extreme Edition 3.4Ghz the reference HSF, from Intel came with a shin-etsu based TIM which was pretty poor compared to the paste, so after a quick clean with some citrus based TIM remover we reverted to proper shin-etsu goo, giving a 7C drop... but it was still pretty hot. After removing the cooler a second time and scraping out most of the paste, the rig was fired back up and ran a further 4C cooler, or so.

When applied properly, thermal paste doesn't need to even obscure the entire surface you're cooling, remember it's only meant to help imrpove the interface between two surfaces to conduct the heat away from the CPUs core, not create a third one. When you remove the heatsink, you should be able to see the die or IHS shape printed onto its base evenly with goo, but without any excess and none needs to run off the edges of the chips thermal surface.

 

[Xavier]

Oh, and on the note of TIM remover, etc - if you use any of those citrus products to clean your heatsinks or CPUs, make sure you clean the surfaces after with isopropyl alcohol to remove the residue of citrus oils which they leave. Otherwise when you apply fresh thermal material, the oils can begin to break them down, massively reducing their thermal efficiency in a matter of weeks.

 

[Wij]

I just splodge and hope. If the temperature looks OK after that I leave it well alone

 

[Mr.Monkey]

Smoothing a fine layer onto the CPU correctly makes a HUGE difference in terms of temperature. If you've never noticed it then that means even when you're trying to do it properly, you haven't.

:kissit: Ermmm, whatever.

If you are getting 10degrees C difference with the same paste, then you've managed to get an air pocket in it (that's bad, ok?)

 

[fatbusinessman]

I just splodge and hope.

Yeah, so we've heard

 

[MrBlack]

Oh, and on the note of TIM remover, etc - if you use any of those citrus products to clean your heatsinks or CPUs, make sure you clean the surfaces after with isopropyl alcohol to remove the residue of citrus oils which they leave. Otherwise when you apply fresh thermal material, the oils can begin to break them down, massively reducing their thermal efficiency in a matter of weeks.

I find IPA is pretty good at getting goop off anyway.

 

[Mr.Monkey4]

Some useful opinions here (and some pretty pictures as well)

http://www.lanwar.com/forumsh/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=11526&#97510