Arctic Silver 5 [pic]

[Guest]

Hey guys, I recently used the line method as described by arctic silver 5's user manual to apply it between my i7 quad core and my v8 heatsink. I used the pc for a week, and then later removed the heatsink to view the results.

Attached is the picture from the CPU. Does this look good or bad?

 

[Ubrales]

My rough guess is that this CPU has about 65% contact with the HS. The contact area must be increased. Try polishing the base of the V8 HS. I managed to lower the CPU temps by 5 degs to 8 degs C by polishing (lapping) the heavy base of my V8 HS. I left the CPU alone because the CPU heat spreader is a shallow drawn sheet metal part, and the expansion characteristics are unpredictable.

CM HAF 932 - EVGA 141-BL-E760-A1 Classified - Intel i7-920 DO @ 2.66 GHz (OC to 3.35 GHz) - CM V8 - Corsair CMPSU-850HX 850W RT - EVGA 896-P3-1171-AR - GTX 275 R (GeForce) - Corsair Dominator DDR3-1600 – (6x2GB) 12GB Model CMD12GX3M6A1600C8 - Windows 7 – 64-bit - Seagate 1TB x3 (2 of these are in RAID1 for data) - ST31000528AS - Two R/W DVD - Linksys WMP600N Wireless dual band PCI card - Scythe Fans Controller - Logisys Multi card reader - Dell 2208WFP 22” LCD Monitor - Bose Companion II Speakers - External backup: Seagate 1TB

 

[Henry Chinaski]

The corners are clean. That is not a good signal (but I can't see how the cooler is and maybe the rest of the paste is still there...). To put a quantity of paste in the center of the cpu and set the cooler and press is not the way at all.

I have just found this video which it's very well done. Here you can see the correct way to apply the thermal paste:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7rPqCvCt0g

He is a young guy but He knows well what he is doing.

 

[Guest]

The corners are clean. That is not a good signal (but I can't see how the cooler is and maybe the rest of the paste is still there...). To put a quantity of paste in the center of the cpu and set the cooler and press is not the way at all.

I have just found this video which it's very well done. Here you can see the correct way to apply the thermal paste:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7rPqCvCt0g

He is a young guy but He knows well what he is doing.

Really? Wrong! Watch this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=EyXLu1Ms-q4

 

[Henry Chinaski]

Really? Wrong! Watch this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=EyXLu1Ms-q4

Most of the thermal paste goes with the plastic film and there is no paste at the corners of the micro. I woudn't do that. But if it works for you I don't have much more to say...

 

[Henry Chinaski]

the majority of the heat comes from the center of the CPU so you don't have to paint each corner with a fine brush, not that its bad thing either.

Doing that you are not using properly all the contact surface to transfer the heat out from the cpu.

 

[Guest]

the majority of the heat comes from the center of the CPU so you don't have to paint each corner with a fine brush, not that its bad thing either.

right, but according to the video we can see that doing this creates massive air bubbles

 

[Guest]

yeah, I just recall reading an article that stated (i believe, its been a while) the heat from the CPU would help with getting rid of the bubbles. Which was why I would like to have seen what effect a hot CPU would have on the compound.

interesting. So air bubbles are no longer a factor

 

[Guest]

"I just recall reading an article that stated (i believe, its been a while) the heat from the CPU would help with getting rid of the bubbles"

...where do I state they are not factor?

Well, which method do you use?

 

[SV_Bubbles]

The cross application appears to be the best, however I painted my CPU thinly with AS5 and dropped the temps slightly from the rice grain method. I also baked the CPU for about a week, loosened the heatsink's fasteners and without losing the bond between the HS and CPU, moved the heatsink from side to side attempting to flat out any air bubbles (the compound was still soft at this point).
Temps have been great for months fsr.

 

[Guest]

I guess I'm just wondering if its optimal to have thermal compound cover the entire CPU. From what we saw, the rice method, cross method, line method, and so on does not cover 100% of the CPU, but only covers from middle to outward. I understand that less is more in this case, but a thin layer across the whole CPU seems like the optimal idea guaranteeing full contact, except for the fact that it may create massive air bubbles and thus deteriorate the entire process.