Good ole Thermal Grease

Norbert_A_beaver · Jul 9, 2004

I am taking an old CPU out of motherboard and moving it to a different motherboard. Do I need to clean off the old thermal grease (or paste as some say) and apply new thermal grease? Also what is a good thermal grease?

The CPU is a AMD Athlon 1800+ XP

Thanks

peteroy · Jul 9, 2004

Artic silver

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?description=35-100-201&depa=0

<A HREF="http://www.clan-chaos.com" target="_new">clan CHAOS</A>

endyen · Jul 9, 2004

Yes, you will need to clean the old thermal pad off. Isopropal alcohol does a good job.
Artic silver is a good brand of thermal goop.

o1die · Jul 9, 2004

In a pinch, I use a single edge razor blade and spread the old thermal paste over the die. It's ok to reuse it if it's still pliable. The good stuff doesn't dry hard. As long as you have a thin layer covering the whole die area, your ok.

Zeekfu · Jul 9, 2004

If you need to clean it the directions are on the artic silver website:
<A HREF="http://www.arcticsilver.com/arctic_silver_instructions.htm" target="_new">http://www.arcticsilver.com/arctic_silver_instructions.htm</A>

There is a sort of edit concerning the artic silver 5 which is sort of a gap in the instruction (ie "tinting") but otherwise the directions are step by step. (The artic silver 5 is too thick to spread with the sandwich bag on finger thing-it won't really drag. So I just spread it with the blade like on the core then wiped it off) You can probably get the 99% (I found 91%) isopropyl alchohol near where you find the regular 70% isopropyl alcohol in the store. It dries much faster and presumably has less contaminants. It is also a much better solvent for cutting through the residue of an old thermal pad than the regular. I can't imagine using "goof off" on my computer. That crap is deadly. The 91% alcohol does the trick nicely and is the one step solution as if another solvent is used the instructions say to clean up behind it with the alcohol.

yippie ki ya, m..........

Crashman · Jul 9, 2004

You probably don't need to remove the old thermal material and replace it. It's a good idea, but I've seen situations where it didn't matter, simply because the sink lined up very closely to where it was before on the die.

Radio Shack has some decent thermal paste, it's called Silicon Heatsink Compound or something like that. I've tested it extensively against Artic's products and came to the conclusion that Artic's products aren't worth the extra money.

Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!
Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!

phsstpok · Jul 9, 2004

I came to the same conclusion and the Radio Shack stuff is only $2 or $2.50 per 6.5 gram tube.

The Radio Shack thermal compound is also easier to clean up.

56K, slow and steady does not win the race on internet!

phsstpok · Jul 9, 2004

I prefer dragging a credit card flat across the die. You get an thin and even coating in just one or two passes.

56K, slow and steady does not win the race on internet!

Norbert_A_beaver · Jul 9, 2004

I was looking at the die and the heatsink today and I noticed that there was thermal grease all around the edges of the die, including a very thin layer on the die I didn't install the CPU, and I was was wondering isn't it a bad thing to have thermal grease any where but the die? It wasn't just a little amount of thermal grease it was quite a generous amount compared to what was on the die.

Crashman · Jul 10, 2004

I don't think anyone should bother with a credit card or anything. I always just dab on a little bit, the heatsink flattens it out. You CAN'T have it on "too thick" because all the excess will get squished out with the newer, low viscosity thermal compounds. But to minimize the mess, I only dab on a little bit.

Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!
Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!

Crashman · Jul 10, 2004

Most compounds don't conduct electricity, so it's probably not hurting anything, but I'd clean all the excess off anyway.

Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!
Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!

Zeekfu · Jul 10, 2004

I was swapping cpus back and forth troubleshooting a system the other day and I found I was getting it on the razor blade and spreading it all over the chip like a baby eating peas... that stuff it too danged thick to fight with imo. I just left it after a while. I realized once I slap the heatsink on there the excess is just going to run off and do the same thing. And yea, i actually use it very sparingly because a. that is what the directions say and b. that crap is expensive.

Hey, I read somewhere that substances such as toothpaste will transfer heat almost as well. The strength of the arctic silver products is that they hold up over time and don't harden up and dry away like toothpaste and other common substances would. Has that radio shack stuff been tested for long durations regarding remaining viable or just quick tests for heat issues?

I mean I agree totally that paying $4 to get a 3.5 gram tube is pretty bogus but all in all $12 didn't seem like a lot to get the best imo. :>)

Just wondering if the competition stands up to the test of time.

I think I accidently forgot to plug up my cpu fan on my old 700 duron the other day I was switching parts out of. The only thing I can see that kept if from being ruined was that arctic silver 5, not so much that the compound disipated *that* much total heat..but perhaps it spread the heat out evenly enough that there wasn't one super hot spot on the die that just went up like "paper and fire"

On the other hand maybe I unpluged the fan when I shut it down and pulled the video card out cause that is when I noticed it. If it was unplugged though it was unplugged like all day in about 75 degree f ambient temp (overcast summer day-windows down in 3rd (top) story apartment.) Is that even possible the thing was unplugged for hours and didn't overheat?

yippie ki ya, m..........

Crashman · Jul 10, 2004

I've had AS dry out. I've had Radio Shack paste dry out. They both dry out. But it's not the liquid that does the conduction, it's the powder. And the stuff between the die and heatsink doesn't dry out completely because it's not exposed to air.

Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!
Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!

phsstpok · Jul 10, 2004

True, the excess squishes out but with practice using a credit card all the excess is captured on the card and it's easy to clean up.

56K, slow and steady does not win the race on internet!

Crashman · Jul 10, 2004

On the other hand, I've seen it spread so thin it didn't fill all the irregularities in the cooler's mating surface.

Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!
Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!

phsstpok · Jul 10, 2004

With polished finish HSFs I put it on just the die. On a really scuffed heatsink I apply it on both surfaces. If I have too much left on the credit card after applying the compound to the die then I put some of the excess on the heatsink anyway.

56K, slow and steady does not win the race on internet!

Zeekfu · Jul 10, 2004

I just followed the instructions, albiet I did a sloppy job. After cleaning and old thermal pad off and applying/reapplying arctic silver 5 to two different cpus and heatsinks several times while troubleshooting two old systems I realized I didn't need to keep reapplying it to the heatsink. As that arctic silver 5 was already in the microsopic cracks and holes. I think it is a good idea to do some version of the heatsink tinting step although I guess it could be totally omited with the newer compounds. That was the portion of the instructions I didn't quite understand. Did it mean totally skip that step or just skip the sandwich bag step because it is too thick to spread that way? I spread it with the razor blade just like on the cpu and then wiped it off the heatsink with an old pair of skiveys.

The instructions do say not to squeeze the stuff straight out of the tube onto the die for some reason so the heatsink winds up being a waypoint in the process at any rate as far as I am concerned.

At any rate I am impressed with the shitz and since a tube should last the average person through several builds I think I will stick with the best in this case since it is only a matter of $10 either way. :>) As cheap as I am it did chap my arse that new egg charged me $4 to ship a $7 tube that weighs 3.5 grams in a box with $600 of components, lol.

yippie ki ya, m..........

phsstpok · Jul 10, 2004

I don't even recall if I read the instructions. It was a few years ago. It was like $20 per syringe back then (including shipping).

I didn't find any improvement vs silcone thermal compound. (Maybe I should have read the instructions LOL!! Do they really mention using a sandwich bag? LMAO)

Anyway, I have no qualms about using the cheap stuff.

56K, slow and steady does not win the race on internet!Edited by phsstpok on 07/10/04 00:52 AM.

Zeekfu · Jul 10, 2004

yea it is kinda like a rubber to keep the stuff from contaminating one's hands. I'll go fetch the link. :>)

yippie ki ya, m..........

Zeekfu · Jul 10, 2004

<A HREF="http://www.arcticsilver.com/arctic_silver_instructions.htm" target="_new">http://www.arcticsilver.com/arctic_silver_instructions.htm</A>
I spread the stuff with the blade and wiped it away to tint it. The "this step can be skipped" kind of threw me off beat. Now that crash and you guys mention it I guess it could be totally skipped. I took it to mean just the spreading could be skipped but I did it with the blade and wiped it off anyway. I wanted to do an uber good job. :>)
yippie ki ya, m..........

Cybercraig · Jul 10, 2004

I ran out of silver, so I tried Spectra-Cool polymer on the new IS7 board. You cannot re-use this stuff. It's like caulk! :lol:

"I am become death, the destroyer of worlds. Now, let's eat!

Good ole Thermal Grease

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