Arctic silver--better than the generic stuff?

[DaddyMac]

Is it worth it for me to go out and get Arctic Silver as apposed to the regular stuff? Is it really that much of a difference? Also, if it is, where is a good place to get it?

I was thinking of getting the Taisol hsf, because i heard it was good but not too loud for my picky ears. Sound good?
Thanks!

p.s.
Oh, one more question... where's a retail store that i can buy a conductive pen at? I don't want to spend 30 bucks on the defogger kit if i'm only going to use it once.

 

[GaryTcs]

Many forum users here are happy with their Taisol HSF.

Arctic Silver gave me 2-3 deg. C compared to the regular stuff. Not a huge difference, unless you are at the edge of your processor's heat range. But for $15 it couldn't hurt- there's enough to do several chips. I got mine at Crazy PC, for going price, but I had it in two days. Plus their reseller rating is a perfect 7.

 

[Technonut]

The Loctite rear window defogger kit only costs around $7.00, depending on where you buy it. I purchased mine at NAPA auto parts.

 

[Mikewarrior2]

Arctic silver, if an AMD socket A chip could properly read temp changes, would probably result in Massive Temp drops versus silicon greases. Probably somewhere anywhere from 3-6C, if not more. (Figure, i've gotten 4C drops on p3-700Es at 933(1.8V), versus RS grease, on a cpu pushing 30W of heat at most).

on an amd chip pushing 60W of heat(AS excells at high-stress situations/applications), i can only imagine what kind of temp drop would register on an internal diode equipped T-bird.

Unfortunately, there is no internal-diode t-bird, and you have to rely on the compressed, inaccurate readings of the under-socket thermistor. Sometimes you read no improvement, and you hear stories about this, but it could just be that the thermistor is not picking up the temp change. Other times, there is a 1-3C change.


Mike

 

[DaddyG]

Daddymac,

Your Taisol will come with Chomerics T725 pre-applied if you get the 09 in the part number. CEK733092 for example has the chomerics, 733002 does not. Same deal with the CGK742 hsf. Assuming you break the bank and spend $7.00 for the defogger kit #15067 and connect the bridges and apply the hsf, you won't need the AS. PCTC does a good job, not quite up to AS but better than other greases and compounds.

Your problem comes if you have to remove the hsf after the PCTC has gone thru the change. Its pretty much a one shot deal. Taisol sells replacement pads but these are not as good as the original cause the original is heat fused to the hsf. They still work OK but if your hammering your cpu with high voltage and high overclock, AS is the better solution

 

[subhuman]

Yes, it's better. And, for about $15, you can do about 15-20 CPUs. If you're just building one machine, then it may not be worth it unless you're the maximum performance freak.

Also, I highly suggest you lap your HS before installing get it nice and flat, use varying sandpaper up to 2000 grit. Made a difference here on a couple of CPUs which were "stuck."

 

[Blain]

Would the Loctite defogger kit work well enough for a non-OC videocard chip? It's a Banshee card that produces is share of heat, even though it's not being OC'd.

 

[GaryTcs]

The Loctite defogger kit is not a replacement for thermal compound, it's used to connect the L1 bridges on the CPU. Since its electrically conductive, I wouldn't use it for t/c in any application. (i'm not even sure how well it conducts heat) The Arctic Silver will work fine, if that is what you meant to ask.

 

[Blain]

I just ordered some T412 Thermattach tape to attach a heatsink to a GPU chip. Sounds like it'll do ok.

 

[DugnDog]

(DaddyMac, hope you don't mind my adding to your thread. Sounds like we have the same questions except I have GlobalWin's to install on AMD 1GHz and 1.1GHz vs. your setup)

DaddyG, you're saying that the supplied thermal tape should support normal use and moderate OC'ing, correct?

So, does it make sense to go with the supplied thermal tape initially and switch to the Arctic Silver if necessary? What is the downside of that approach?

Also, if you use Arctic Silver, to you need to reapply it regularly? If so, how often?

 

[Maximus96]

you don't need to reapply the artic silver unless you like to take your heatsink out and fondle it every so often...

 

[GaryTcs]

Yes, the thermal tape will do fine at OEM speeds, and for moderate oc'ing. You should keep a close eye on the temps for a little while though. Keep in mind that the socket A bios temps are a few degrees off (usually low), but they make a good reference point. If you know what temp your athlon is at when running at oem speed, you should be able to keep heat in check at oc'ed speeds. If it starts continually gaining at full load, then a better cooling solution is needed, or you should curtail the speed a little bit.

BTW, I think mikewarrior must work for arctic silver

 

[Mikewarrior2]

I also support PCTC quite often on the BBS. I recognize good quality greases.

Its unfortunate that due to the way socket A boards read temp that you can't see the full benefit of either PCTC or Arctic silver over Generic Grease.


Mike