Arctic Silver 5

[CharlieR]

I recently removed the thermal patch which came with my P4 3.6 GB ?Prescott? and replaced it with Arctic Silver 5. I removed the bulk of thermal patch with a credit card. I then rubbed the remains off, multiple times, with 91% Isopropyl Alcohol. I followed this with multiple cleanings of the CPU and heat sink by rubbing them with ?Goof Off?. I then used the alcohol and made multiple cleanings as a final step.

I applied the Arctic Silver 5 per their web site instructions. Upon reassembling my system, my CPU is now running 6° C hotter than before (it was running at 48°). Per Arctic Silver, the temperature should drop by 2°-5° over the course of 8+ days. If so, my CPU will be running hotter than it was before I applied Arctic Silver 5.

Does anybody know if this is normal?

?Intel P4 3.6 ?Prescott?
?Thermalright XP-120 w/ Panflo 120mm medium speed fan
?Enermax 600 WATT ?Noisetaker? power supply
?Asus P5AD2 Premium
?2 GB Corsair XMS2 DDR2
?2 Maxtor 250 GB SATA (RAID 0)
?Inexpensive PCIe graphics card (while the market matures)
?Antec P160 case, modified by adding four additional 120mm Enermax fans. The case now has 5 intake and 1 rear exhaust.

 

[Mucker]

Doesn't sound right. You may want to try cleaning and re-seating the heatsink again. Make sure to establish the thinnest layer of AS5 as possible between the sink and the CPU. The goal is to only fill in the irregular metal surfaces so that they are perfectly flat when they touch each other. The layer should almost be opaque on both surfaces before lockdown....

I have heard of a couple of different ways to apply the AS. One way is to put a drop in the middle and clamp down or the way I like to do it, spread it over the entire CPU metal surface (trying to match the area on the sink). I have had very good luck doing it this way but you must keep the layers as thin as possible.....

m

 

[Tiamat]

Also, you having that much intake will increase your temperatures. You probably want something more balanced like 1 exhaust, 1 intake, or 2 exhaust 1 intake.

 

[drpootums]

not to hijack your post, but does every thermal paste get better over a few days?

 

[Waylay00]

You have to wait for the AS5 to burn-in. This period is like 1-2 weeks till you notice temp drops.

 

[CharlieR]

I originally had three intake and three exhaust and the temp was 5 C higher. It seemed logical to pass air through, but after trying different variations the best temp was achieved using the current configuration.

 

[CharlieR]

Thanks M. I'll let it ride for a few cycles and wait for a temp drop (or a miracle whichever comes first) and then re-try if not satisfied. I applied the AS5 per their instructions, but may have applied more than a half a BBs worth.

 

[CharlieR]

I reversed three fans making them exhaust. I now have two intake and four exhaust. The temperature reduced by 2 degrees C. The two intake are directly over the CPU and video card (and other slots).

This doesn't change the the fact that the CPU is still running hotter than it was. I'll probably give it the recommended 8 days of thermal cycling before I try to reapply AS5 and reseat the HSF.

 

[Navid]

One thing that thermal paste cannot do, and thermal tape can, is to fill large gaps between the two surfaces. You may have an uneven surface on the CPU or the sink.

To test this, remove the CPU and look at the paste on the CPU and the sink. Is it spread thin?

The other thing to check is to make sure that the sink is seated properly on the CPU.

Arctic Silver is not going to improve the temperature by 6 degrees no matter how long you run it!