Bench testing a CPU

[blackrain]

I am going to be testing out a few CPUs in the next few weeks. I don't want to waste arctic silver on a bunch of bench tests. Is it okay to bench test without thermal paste?

What about stability testing and unlocking cores (no overclock)?

 

[NumericalMethods]

Almost certainly no. You need some form of deformable material with good heat transfer properties to ensure maximum surface to surface contact between the IHS and the base of the cooler.

Why not grab a cheap tube of silicon based TIM? Cheap, no cure time and only a few degrees less efficient at heat transfer than AS5 (provided you get a thin even spread). The silicon stuff dries out over time and becomes less effective but that isn't an issue for benching.

 

[Ksyder]

You could get away with not using thermal compound, but why would you want to? Surely you could find something for less than $5 bucks somewhere that would get the job done.

 

[Voo]

God have mercy with those poor CPUs - I mean you may be lucky, but killing any modern CPU costs more than a year supply of some cheap stuff.. no need to use AS5 or something like that.

 

[formulav8]

You could get away with using toothpaste for awhile if you want.

Otherwise go to RadeoShack and get a silicon based tube for $5 or so.

 

[soccerballtux]

You could get away with using toothpaste for awhile if you want.

Otherwise go to RadeoShack and get a silicon based tube for $5 or so.

lol wtf? "processors use silicon so use thermal paste made of silicon too!!!!"

 

[NumericalMethods]

It's a grease that is made out of a of polymer mix. Some of the atoms of the polymer are silicon, not all. Semi-conductor silicon is, of course, a single crystal of pure silicon that is sliced into wafers.

 

[Spikesoldier]

youll be fine.

desktop CPU's have IHS anyway, if you were using a cpu without one or a notebook cpu, then i think the difference would be more pronounced but, still fine.

 

[Markfw]

youll be fine.

desktop CPU's have IHS anyway, if you were using a cpu without one or a notebook cpu, then i think the difference would be more pronounced but, still fine.

WRONG. The IHS is there, but designed to be used with some type of thermal transfer compound, like white paste. Without it, your temps will skyrocket.

 

[ehume]

Lordy. Going to potentially trash a cpu worth $100 and up to avoid using a tiny spec of TIM. I bought some AS5 at Radio Shack for $6. There's other really good cheap stuff out there, often available in quantity.

 

[DrMrLordX]

Fun TIM stand-ins:

Vegimite
Toothpaste (already mentioned)
American Cheese (not suitable for overclocking!)

Toothpaste is damn good if you don't leave it in there too long.

 

[zagood]

youll be fine.

desktop CPU's have IHS anyway, if you were using a cpu without one or a notebook cpu, then i think the difference would be more pronounced but, still fine.

Never let this guy post in C&C.

 

[ehume]

Fun TIM stand-ins:

Vegimite
Toothpaste (already mentioned)
American Cheese (not suitable for overclocking!)

Toothpaste is damn good if you don't leave it in there too long.

You can see me in the kitchen cooking up a roast,
or Vegemite on toast, just you and me, a cup of tea.
And later on we'll settle down
and mull up on the porch,
and watch the possums play.

Give me a home among the gum trees,
with lots of plum trees,
a sheep or two, a ka-kangaroo.
A clothes line out the back,
verandah out the front,
and an old rocking chair.

 

[blackrain]

Sounds like I should use some thermal compound for bench testing. I have an unopened packet of "heat sink silicone compound Sil more Taiwan" (as provided on the packaging) from an old celeron or pentium. I am considering on using it. Any thoughts? The only $6 Radio Shack Arctic Silver is Ceramique. There seem to be mixed reviews on Ceramique. Can anyone make a recommendation on a good inexpesnive alternative for AS5? I have a Microcenter, but the last time I checked everything seemed overpriced.

A lot of responses, but no specific product recommendations...other than toothpaste???

 

[DrMrLordX]

You can see me in the kitchen cooking up a roast,
or Vegemite on toast, just you and me, a cup of tea.
And later on we'll settle down
and mull up on the porch,
and watch the possums play.

Give me a home among the gum trees,
with lots of plum trees,
a sheep or two, a ka-kangaroo.
A clothes line out the back,
verandah out the front,
and an old rocking chair.

woops, looks like I misspelled Vegemite. At least I didn't call it iSnack 2.0.

(btw, for those of you who haven't seen the old dansdata article that the AT editors love, http://www.dansdata.com/goop.htm . . . yes, they used toothpaste and Vegemite as TIM).

 

[ehume]

Shin-Etsu G-751 Thermal Compound 1.0 gram $3.99 with free shipping. Two are $3 each. That TIM was the top performer in this 80-way review of TIM's.

 

[blackrain]

Shin-Etsu G-751 Thermal Compound 1.0 gram $3.99 with free shipping. Two are $3 each. That TIM was the top performer in this 80-way review of TIM's.

Thanks for the link. Would I generally apply this the same way as AS5? Also, this is a 1g tube, which may be fine. I noticed that the price for 3.5g of AS5 is also pretty reasonable for 6.99. I am not sure whether 1g (or 2g if I buy 2) of the G-751 is sufficient or not.

About how many uses of G-751 will 1g (or 2g) give me?

 

[DrMrLordX]

okay enough with the toothpaste, cheese, and Vegemite.

If you need frequent TIM applications within a short time period for benchmarking etc., I'd recommend a cheap paste, preferably one with a short-to-non-existent cure time.

For that, Arctic Cooling MX-2 fits the bill. You can get 30g syringes of the stuff for under $30 which is less than $1 per gram, and it will last you forever. It is a decent TIM on its own (again, better than AS5) and it cures very quickly so that you can bench at optimal levels of TIM effectiveness without having to wait for days and/or cycle power as you would have to do with AS5. Alternatively you can get smaller syringes (4G) for around $6. Examples:

http://bestbyte.net/merchant/mercha...e=COTIACMX23&Category_Code=COTI&Store_Code=BB

http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?p=FAN...b83c984969d12f

If you want to mess with Shin-Etsu paste, their fastest-curing paste is x23-7783D which also happens to be their best-performing paste. You will almost never find it in anything but 1g syringes in the retail market, and it is a bit expensive, but it's one of the best TIMs on the market (better than G751) and it can cure even faster than MX-2. However, I still think MX-2 wins for reasons of value and quantity.

 

[blackrain]

Looks like I have some good options. Can someone just give me an idea as to how far 1g will get me (I can extrapolate from there to decide if I need 2g, 3.5g, etc). How many times will I use 1g before I run out?

Mostly AMD chips (x2 5500+, x2 555BE) and possibly 1 C2D later on down the road.

 

[MagickMan]

Yup, I've used toothpaste as a TIM for very short periods of time (<24hrs). It should work fine and does as well as AS5, just make sure to clean the IHS and heatsink well after using it, it can be very corrosive.

 

[DominionSeraph]

Butter.

 

[ehume]

Butter.

Parkay.