Artic silver how much difference does it make?

[Darthplatypus]

Hi all

Im just wondering how much difference the artic silver actually makes to cpu cooling. I have my 650E at 942mhz rock solid, thermal paste and a alpha pep66 . The full load temp is a rise of no more than 13C (23f) above ambient , most people seem to be reporting that artic silver can get them 4 degrees C lower (7f)

This seems quite remarkable as it can't really increase the thermal efficency of the HS and the thickness of the contact layer whatever thermal material is going to be in the 100th of a millimeter range,
ie pretty damm good thermal contact. I will do some of my own research (abeit theoretically) What i need though is real objective advice/ experience, im of the opinion that anything that reduces the cpu temp is a good thing but im not gonna pay the cash unless im gonna get a real improvement ie > 2deg C

anyway let me know your experiences with the stuff, in the long run it may be worth it, but id liek to be sure im getting a better product b4 i buy

cheers

Platypus

P3 650 @ 942
128mb crucial cas2
Asus cusl2 1003final
gxp 75 (15gig)
Creative 32mb GTS2
SBLive!
Dlink 530TX
235W psu

 

[subhuman]

Not a huge difference, but it's actually cheaper for me to get a tube of the Silver, since I can do at least 10 CPU's with a tube, where with the goop @ 3.50 a tube I can only do one... might as well use the better stuff in this case.

 

[Valvoline6]

It made a 1* difference for me. I've reapplied 3 times now with various thicknesses. Same result everytime. I can't complain though- my system runs fairly cool. 31* idle, 38* is the max I've been able to get it up too. I would recommend AS over generic paste because it is good quality, spreads easily and evenly, won't dry up, does keep the CPU cool, and as subhuman says the 6.5 gram "syringe" will last for many applications..

 

[Davegod75]

most people get about 1-3 C lower I would say

 

[Amaretto]

I didn't notice any difference at all, I replaced the one that came w/ Global HSF,(the white one) and the temp. stayed the same, in their website they claim that it reduces temps by as much as 4C, I think it's good stuff but way too expensive.

 

[Mikewarrior2]

Amaretto,

Is this on a VIA mb, or a socket A cpu?


Mike

 

[lotust]

I would like to rub myself with the silver stuff. I could look like Mr. freeze in batman

 

[Davegod75]

lol.....yeah

 

[subhuman]

Amaretto,

Actually, I shared your exact opinion just a few weeks ago. Then, I ordered up a tube of Artic Silver and some thumbscrews from thecoolingstore.com for about $13 for the tube. I've since built 3 machines and can say that I have enough Silver left here for another 10-15 cpus.

Now, the stuff I was getting before was either the goop or the overclocker drugs, which only do one CPU for $4.

The difference in quality between the other stuff and Silver is huge, plus if you build more than one machine every couple months, you actually end up saving money. I don't notice any huge drops in temps, but about 1 degree seems acurate. It looks cooler and is cheaper... might as well get the best in that case.