Seems like Artic Silver 5 is not the best thermal paste anymore. The king is dead and the crown is handed to the Tuniq TX-2, which is better by about 2-3C and cheaper by $5.
Seems like Artic Silver 5 is not the best thermal paste anymore. The king is dead and the crown is handed to the Tuniq TX-2, which is better by about 2-3C and cheaper by $5.
Just thought I'd share this with you guys. I know this article isn't exactly new, but many people doesn't seem informed about this.
AS5 has been dead.
Shin-Etsu X23 is also better from what I've heard. Comp had a link to the shootout but I'm not sure where it is.
I have AS5 on mine right now because it's "good enough." I have a tube of MX-2 because I like how easy it is to spread (used it on a couple other guys stuff) and it's non-conductive.
Hopefully though this might dispell some of the AS5 = King stuff that gets thrown around.
Maybe because the Tuniq TX-2 takes less time to completely fuse giving better results at first? You never know.
Was reading through it again and saw this:
"While I have always used a 3-day rule of thumb, the Arctic Silver website indicates it could take as much as 200 hours (just over 8 days) to properly cure."
If you aren't going to even test it via manufacturer's specs this is kind of a stupid test. I've seen temps drop another 1-2 C from 100 -> 200 hours on mine. The fact that he is saying he used a "72 hour rule of thumb" is just rediculous. MX-2 does not, however, require a cure time.
"While I have always used a 3-day rule of thumb, the Arctic Silver website indicates it could take as much as 200 hours (just over 8 days) to properly cure."
If you aren't going to even test it via manufacturer's specs this is kind of a stupid test. I've seen temps drop another 1-2 C from 100 -> 200 hours on mine. The fact that he is saying he used a "72 hour rule of thumb" is just rediculous. MX-2 does not, however, require a cure time.
Exactly my point. Consumers reported temperatures dropping by as much as 5-10 Celsius after 200-400 hours of use with AS5.
"While I have always used a 3-day rule of thumb, the Arctic Silver website indicates it could take as much as 200 hours (just over 8 days) to properly cure."
If you aren't going to even test it via manufacturer's specs this is kind of a stupid test. I've seen temps drop another 1-2 C from 100 -> 200 hours on mine. The fact that he is saying he used a "72 hour rule of thumb" is just rediculous. MX-2 does not, however, require a cure time.
It was stated as "as much as", indicating that you can get the best performance under 200hours. Maybe you didn't use your pc as much, that's why it decreased further from 100->200. Or maybe the weather changed, as it is very possible in 100 hours.
Exactly my point. Consumers reported temperatures dropping by as much as 5-10 Celsius after 200-400 hours of use with AS5.
Could be that the temps drop due to weather, etc. I'm not saying you're wrong, but there might be too many lurking variables involved to say this. What we need is an experiment, which is exactly what tweaktown did. Well, then again, I agree they should have used it longer than 3 days.
--------------- "Nvidia, the Way It's Meant to be PAID Played! - Corrado
*Lesbian Lover Club* - founder Assman
It was stated as "as much as", indicating that you can get the best performance under 200hours. Maybe you didn't use your pc as much, that's why it decreased further from 100->200. Or maybe the weather changed, as it is very possible in 100 hours.
No, unlike the guys who tested it.. I actually take ambient air readings from the exact same spot every single time I do temp testing. Then rather than saying it ran at 60C core I say that the core had a dT of X in relation to the ambient air.
Props to them for atleast maintaining a 23C ambient air temp for the entire test.
And yes, it says "as much as" which to me doesn't say you will get your best temps under 200 hours. It says it may take "as much as" 200 hours of curing to get the best temperatures. To me, this means it might take 200 hours for it to cure. I don't see how that could possibly mean anything other than that.
Also, this PC runs F@H 24/7 when I'm not on it, it never sees less than 50% usage unless it is restarted. This is on a Q6600. I don't consider 200 hours to be "200 hours of sitting on the heat sink." It's 200 hours of the paste acting as a TIM (which means power on) and going through heat cycles. Which I also do when I run the regular F@H while I game and the processor is all over the place.
i dunno abt as5 but the thermal paste i had with my opteron hsf the gray compound was cooler at room temperature compared to the artic silver mx2 i have now though the artic silver keeps the pc at a constant of 37degrees centigrade at idle and 45 at load whereas the stock thermal paste with my opteron made my cpu run @ 34-35 but it idled at 48-49.doesn't really make much of a difference does it?
Maybe 1 or 2C from CPU compound, okay. Maybe.
5 or 10C cooler because of compound? LoL. Heheh...
AS5 is far better than most of the heatsink crap you see in use, but I will keep my eyes open for new stuff when my tube quits. So thanks! Regards
---------------
ABit AB9 Pro (P965)
Intel Core 2 Duo E6420 @ 2.4GHz
2x1GB Corsair C4 @ 600MHz, 3-4-4-10
ATI Radeon X1900XT (512MB)
Okay, so Artic Silver isn't performing as well as it should be. I understand that you have to let the paste cool and heat up to maximize performance.
I use Artic Silver in my pc, but I never noticed any temperature change after 3 months. That is when I use Prime95 to stress test my cpu, using the same settings, it always reaches 59C. It's been like that since I put it on.
Okay, so Artic Silver isn't performing as well as it should be. I understand that you have to let the paste cool and heat up to maximize performance.
I use Artic Silver in my pc, but I never noticed any temperature change after 3 months. That is when I use Prime95 to stress test my cpu, using the same settings, it always reaches 59C. It's been like that since I put it on.