AS Ceramique better than AS5? Yes it is!

[Megatomic]

Same mobo, same CPU, same hsf (specs in sig). The only difference is the compound. With AS Ceramique I get an idle temp in the mid to upper 40s. With AS5 I get an idle temp in the upper 40s to the lower 50s.

Is this normal? I feel that I applied the AS5 properly as I did with the AS Ceramique. I am baffled by this, I thought the AS5 was better.

Second question: I will be getting a brand new Abit NF7-S R2 this week. When I go to install it I will have the option to use an Arctic Cooling 2TC Rev 2.0 LINKAGE or to continue to use my trusty Alpha PAL 8045 with a Vantec Stealth 80mm. They both offer the same noise levels but I can't determine which cooler will work the best. The Alpha is a proven veteran but it is more difficult to install and remove. The Arctic Cooling 2TC is easier to install and remove. What do you all think?

Thanks for any advice on either/both questions. :beer:

 

[Budman]

I prefer ceramique to AS because imo it's just as good & much easier to clean up.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

I can't explain your temp differences, there shouldn't be much of a difference, maybe 1-3c between them. I prefer non-silver based compounds as well, and Ceramique' has one of the best cost to performance ratios. It's just that I experienced the adhesive effect with my A64's IHS so I'm back to coolermaster premium.

As to the cooler, if you were planning on buying the 2TC and don't already have it I'd get the ALX-800 instead and put the Stealth on it. I wouldn't bother with an 8045 again having owned one, I found it to be a PITA and the SLK-800 I swapped it with was the clip-on version and cooled better to boot. The ALX is suppossed to be on par with it so I'd go that route for the 2TC price range.

 

[jagec]

I actually prefer AS right now because it seems like you can't spread Ceramique very well at all...too thick! Since both of them will rip a P4 right out of the socket if you try to take the HSF off, that's not really a win factor for either of them.

 

[dejacky]

I agree, ceramique is easier to clean up and just all-around cleaner to use compared to AS's other pastes like Arctic Silver 3. Out of all them, my favorite thermal compound is GE Type44. I find it lasts longer than ceramique too.

 

[VIAN]

Once you put on paste, you will never get it all cleaned out because there will still be some paste in those really tiny microscopic craters, so this may be a reason as to why you are getting weird temps. I have only used ceramique and have no rememberable experience, although I know I've used AS3, with other pastes.

 

[Megatomic]

Thanks for all the feedback guys. I think I'm going to go back with the Arctic Silver Ceramique. As to the cooler, I already own the 2TC. If I don't use it I'm going to put it on my wife's Tbird.

I guess basically I need to know if the performance increase of the Alpha over the 2TC is enough to warrant using the difficult thing. It sucks having to pull the motherboard to get to the CPU.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Yep, one bolt down was enough to turn me off of them. I'll go water next time if I want to work that hard for cooling This A64 Venus 12 is literally child's play to put on, and I can't imagine going back to designs harder to mount than this or the stock A64 and P4 coolers.

 

[Megatomic]

So do you know about the cooling properties of the 2TC Punisher? Is it good enough compared to the Alpha for me to use it? I'm tired of the work required to use the Alpha but I like it's performance especially with the quiet low speed fan.

And easier installations mean more time available for playing games right? That's what it boils down to for me.

Edit to add: I did do a search for reviews of the Arctic Cooling 2TC but I came up with very little and none of the ones I did find had any comparison to any coolers I am familiar with.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

I don't know anything about the 2TC, so bump for someone who does ^

 

[Megatomic]

So is the concensus that I should continue to use the Alpha with AS Ceramique? My new board is being delivered today so I will be tearing things apart again tonight.

Thanks

 

[Megatomic]

Well, as the thread title suggests, AS Ceramique is better than AS5. Same case, same CPU, same HSF. With AS Ceramique my idle temp. is now just 47C, it was 53C before I tore the system apart. Ambient temp. is the same as before, too. The AS Ceramique is the compound to use.

 

[NokiaDude]

You remember to just coat the core with a thin layer of thermal paste right? You don't want it to be like a PB sandwich.

 

[Megatomic]

Yes. I've been at this for a long time. I apply very thin (which is difficult with Ceramique). I just ran Prime95 for a little over 30 minutes, the highest temp. was 53C. I'm satisfied, the extra work is worth it.

 

[pspada]

Sorry I'm so late to the conversation, but I use ceramique too. I don't know that it's necessarily better all around than AS5, but it is more consistent. That is, I get much the same temps with ceramique, whereas AS5 the temps vary more. At times this means AS5 runs cooler than ceramique, but it also at times runs hotter. I suspect that AS5 is more susceptible to enviromental factors.

 

[Megatomic]

Ok, after the CPU cooled down from my Prime95 run the idle temp. is at 45C and steady. That's an 8C change for the better with the Ceramique. Can the compound be solely responsible for such a dramatic change? That seems to be a bit much to me... But I'm not complaining.

 

[ponyo]

Originally posted by: Megatomic
Ok, after the CPU cooled down from my Prime95 run the idle temp. is at 45C and steady. That's an 8C change for the better with the Ceramique. Can the compound be solely responsible for such a dramatic change? That seems to be a bit much to me... But I'm not complaining.

That's way too much difference. Best compound vs worst compound shouldn't make more than couple degrees difference at most.

 

[MysticX23]

I've got a question about AS5. How do you apply it on a Pentium 4? The AS5 site says to just put a dab in the center and then put the heatsink on? Shouldn't we spread it though? Or not?

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Originally posted by: Naustica

Originally posted by: Megatomic
Ok, after the CPU cooled down from my Prime95 run the idle temp. is at 45C and steady. That's an 8C change for the better with the Ceramique. Can the compound be solely responsible for such a dramatic change? That seems to be a bit much to me... But I'm not complaining.

That's way too much difference. Best compound vs worst compound shouldn't make more than couple degrees difference at most.

That's my understanding as well. Factors that I use for deciding are price, wether or not it's messy to work with/use, tends to "pump", dry out, or break down over time when stored. For me Ceramique' is a blessing because I build mostly budget sktA systems for folks and it is perfect for them. I bought several of the 22g tubes awhile back from SVC on a hot deal. For my A64 though, I'm staying*notice I didn't stay sticking * with Coolermaster Premium *Shin-estu based* because it doesn't dry out, doesn't cause the adhesive effect, and is easy to clean up, though it does take a few applications to get the knack of how to quickly and easily apply it.

BTW Megatomic, I have a feeling you accounted for this already, but was there dust build up, the AS5 application many months old, or ambient and case temps different?

 

[Megatomic]

There was no dust buildup in the system, I had just reassembled it the week before after trying and giving up on a DFI board. So the thermal compound was not dried up either. The ambient temp. in the house averages out at 72F all year long, so that shouldn't account for the difference. Perhaps I didn't tighten down on the Alpha last time, not as well as I did last night. That's about the only difference I can think of aside from the different thermal compound.

 

[SmokeRngs]

Originally posted by: Megatomic
There was no dust buildup in the system, I had just reassembled it the week before after trying and giving up on a DFI board. So the thermal compound was not dried up either. The ambient temp. in the house averages out at 72F all year long, so that shouldn't account for the difference. Perhaps I didn't tighten down on the Alpha last time, not as well as I did last night. That's about the only difference I can think of aside from the different thermal compound.

A different motherboard will usually give different temp readings. It may be using the on-die diode but not all motherboards read them the same. That could account for some of the difference.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Originally posted by: SmokeRngs

Originally posted by: Megatomic
There was no dust buildup in the system, I had just reassembled it the week before after trying and giving up on a DFI board. So the thermal compound was not dried up either. The ambient temp. in the house averages out at 72F all year long, so that shouldn't account for the difference. Perhaps I didn't tighten down on the Alpha last time, not as well as I did last night. That's about the only difference I can think of aside from the different thermal compound.

A different motherboard will usually give different temp readings. It may be using the on-die diode but not all motherboards read them the same. That could account for some of the difference.

You probably scan threads like I usually do, but in this instance he specifically states it's the same setup with the single variable being the T.I.M.

 

[Megatomic]

That's correct. The more I think about it the more I feel like I must have installed the Alpha better this time. I, like the rest of you, can accept a few degrees difference but not almost 10 degrees. Though Arctic Silver would love that to be true.