[BombaTwist]

ok well i watched a videos on how to install a heatsink, but i noticed the person who installed it didnt put any thermal compund on the cpu. is it recommended to put thermal compound on? is it a must? especially for an Amd Athlon 64 3000+ sckt 939 which i will get soon. k thanks.

edit:whats the difference between thermal pad and paste rather than the obvious? also, is it ok to use both?

This post has been edited by BombaTwist: 09 October 2005 - 03:09 PM

[ripken204]

what kind of heatsink was it? if it was a stock heatsink, meaning that is came with the cpu, then it has a thermal pad which is pretty much the same as thermal paste but not as good. stock heatsinks come with a thermal pad which was most likely attached to the heatsink.

and you do need some type of thermal paste or pad but never use both. for a thermal paste, arctic silver 5 is the best that is out there.

also
the paste is just pretty much a liquid paste, the pad is just a pad. that is the only real difference. the paste is better b/c it will seek into all of the little holes where the pad wont get all of them.

This post has been edited by ripken204: 09 October 2005 - 03:27 PM

[Thai3g_Eclipse]

ripken204, on Oct 9 2005, 03:25 PM, said:

for a thermal paste, arctic silver 5 is the best that is out there.

That's all you need to know. It is better to use liquid thermal paste than a pre-applied pad because of better heat conductivity and better contact between the heatsink and whatever component it's on. Having a good thermal compound is one of the easiest ways to lower the temperature, hence as long as it is applied correctly.

[BombaTwist]

ripken204, on Oct 9 2005, 02:25 PM, said:

what kind of heatsink was it? if it was a stock heatsink, meaning that is came with the cpu, then it has a thermal pad which is pretty much the same as thermal paste but not as good. stock heatsinks come with a thermal pad which was most likely attached to the heatsink.

and you do need some type of thermal paste or pad but never use both. for a thermal paste, arctic silver 5 is the best that is out there.

also
the paste is just pretty much a liquid paste, the pad is just a pad. that is the only real difference. the paste is better b/c it will seek into all of the little holes where the pad wont get all of them.

i am going to use the stock heatsink i order with my amd athlon 64 3000+. so i guess i will use the thermal pad. is the thermal pad already on the heatsink or do i have to stick it on the heatsink? also what is the temperature difference usually between using a pad and paste?

[ripken204]

it will already be on it, but you should take it off and put some arctic silver on

[Zxian]

Yet another vote for a small tube of AS5. It's the best $10 I ever spent on my computer.

[suryad]

Zxian, on Oct 11 2005, 08:52 AM, said:

Yet another vote for a small tube of AS5. It's the best $10 I ever spent on my computer.

Absolutely! Especially with modern day comps pushing over 120W just from the cpu alone, I would think with the high end AS applied, you get a noticeable amount of difference in temps of the cpu.

[BombaTwist]

Arctic Silver 5 it is =). thanks all.

[jeeva]

hmm, has someone tested the differences? I still use the pad, that came with my CPU, it's a Athlon 3000+ Venice, running at normally 1800 but overclocked to 1980 now 2007 MHz, my highest Temp is 46°C what will happen when I take off the pad and use the AS5? would it go down to ~40°C?

I have installed 7 Coolers in my Casetek C 1018, my GPU came now down in Idle from 66 to 59°C but my CPU is still the same as it was in that crappy case I had before.

[RJM]

A good site.
http://www.heatsink-...om/compound.htm

This post has been edited by RJM: 13 October 2005 - 07:13 AM

[Zxian]

jeeva, on Oct 13 2005, 04:04 AM, said:

hmm, has someone tested the differences? I still use the pad, that came with my CPU, it's a Athlon 3000+ Venice, running at normally 1800 but overclocked to 1980 now 2007 MHz, my highest Temp is 46°C what will happen when I take off the pad and use the AS5? would it go down to ~40°C?

I have installed 7 Coolers in my Casetek C 1018, my GPU came now down in Idle from 66 to 59°C but my CPU is still the same as it was in that crappy case I had before.

Yes...

I've got an Athlon XP 2000+. With the stock heatsink, I would get idle temps of about 48C and load temps of 54-56C. I bought the Zalman CNPS3100-Plus and for testing purposes, applied the included silicone thermal paste. Idle:44C, load:51C. Not bad... not bad. Then I re-installed the HS, this time with the AS5. I now get idle temps of 40C and load temps of 46C (It's running SETI@Home, so I'm sure of the load temps).

[suryad]

Nice numbers dude. AS really really works. If i wasnt scared to open up my laptop i would have installed AS ASAP!

[Zxian]

Thank you. The best part of all - my computer is **** near silent! I leave it on when I go to sleep and it's only 5m from my bed.

[jeeva]

I need that thing, and it isn't expensive at all, just 7 bucks!

[BombaTwist]

id rather just buy it from the store like compusa. its 3 bucks extra but at least you dont have to wait 2-3 days just for one little thing

[Thai3g_Eclipse]

If anyone is planning on stocking up on Arctic Silver 5's, SVC's got 'em for $4.99 for a 3.5G syringe, free shipping:

http://www.svc.com/as5-3g.html

I already ordered 10 of them.

[ripken204]

wow ur crazy, lol

[BombaTwist]

Thai3g_Eclipse, on Oct 14 2005, 06:45 PM, said:

If anyone is planning on stocking up on Arctic Silver 5's, SVC's got 'em for $4.99 for a 3.5G syringe, free shipping:

http://www.svc.com/as5-3g.html

I already ordered 10 of them.

lol nah i wont do that, besides its my first build!! . ordered all my parts already and they should come in monday. by the way, how much does 10 AS5 last you? 20 years?

[ripken204]

by then there would most likely be something new/better

[jeeva]

today I got one, was a bit more expensive, but 5mins and I had it, no problems with shipment and payment, it was 9.75$ (estimated), the cheapest store has 5.50$ (estimated, too) and now add some $ for shipment, zust for that screw size thing!

Now I applied and wait for the 200 h to reach its full efficiency, for now I have noticed I faster cool down when load -> idle. Additionaly, with everything except CPU and PSU cooler off, 'till now my system crashed with load in this setting, now the cpu goes to 50°C.

Placebo Effect? - No definately no!