Arctic Silver 5 Question

[p5200]

I plan to reuse the cooler/fan I have now on my new Intel i5 4670k processor would this be at least, as good as the paste that came pre- applied on the stock cooler? This is the cooler I plan to use and looks to be more efficient than the stock cooler. Thanks! 🙂 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835186134

 

[lehtv]

Freezer 7 Pro comes with thermal paste, there's no need to buy it separately. However I would step it up a bit and get the Hyper 212 Plus for $30 ($20 after rebate).

 

[Insert_Nickname]

If you have some available, then by all means use it. If you have to get new TIM, the Arctic Cooling MX-4 is slightly better (if only for the shorter cure time).

With AS5, the usual caveat apply:

Important Reminder:
Due to the unique shape and sizes of the particles in Arctic Silver 5's conductive matrix, it will take a up to 200 hours and several thermal cycles to achieve maximum particle to particle thermal conduction and for the heatsink to CPU interface to reach maximum conductivity. (This period will be longer in a system without a fan on the heatsink or with a low speed fan on the heatsink.) On systems measuring actual internal core temperatures via the CPU's internal diode, the measured temperature will often drop 2C to 5C over this "break-in" period. This break-in will occur during the normal use of the computer as long as the computer is turned off from time to time and the interface is allowed to cool to room temperature. Once the break-in is complete, the computer can be left on if desired.

 

[lehtv]

Yet if you consider that coolers are bundled with paste, it makes no sense to buy a $25 cooler and use $10 on the paste when you could buy a $35 cooler to begin with

 

[p5200]

The cooler I linked to is the one that I'm using on my system now so It will have to have new paste put on it when it's placed on the new processor. I do, have a tube of Zero Therm paste in my icebox I bought about 3 years ago if it's still good it's not dried up or anything and it seemed to work pretty good before. I will be getting the motherboard next week I'll check into the other coolers mentioned and will probably upgrade to one of them later and use this one for another build. Thanks folks! 🙂

 

[mfenn]

You're correct in your assumption that you'll need to apply fresh thermal paste after moving the HSF. Make sure to clean the base of the cooler thoroughly with some isopropyl alcohol after you remove it.

The Zero Term paste you have should be fine assuming since it has been stored in a dark, cool place. Make sure you let it come to room temperature before you use it, otherwise it may have ice crystals inside.