Question Conduct-o-naut, Copper, Lapping, Nano-Diamond Paste and Der8auer De-Lid Die-Mate

[BonzaiDuck]

Looking for input from veteran knowledgeable members.

I've been lapping my Integrated Heat Spreaders -- processor caps -- since I can remember. Several years ago, I conducted my own experiments to measure what it gives you -- copper-to-copper, so to speak. It was worth about 2C on a 95W processor.

I just received an upgrade processor for my (previously) Skylake system which I'd sent to Silicon Lottery about 10 days earlier. It was about four days late owing to the blizzard in the Houston area. Silly-Lots has his business in Katy, TX west of Houston. I'm sort of on a deadline. I have to have this system up and running again by end of March, hopefully sooner. I may have to purchase a new Win 10 license key. This entire saga began when my on-board USB controller -- maybe the whole chipset -- died around January 13. I offer cautions about charging devices from your primo-computer's USB ports. Buy yourself a 10-port USB quick-charge device that runs off a wall-socket! I have an identical replacement board, and the RMA under warranty may return the original in a couple weeks. I'm pretty sure that it won't be the "original" board; they'll simply send a replacement, so it doesn't matter whether I wait or use the replacement I already have.

So I'm sitting here, wondering if I really want to lap the Kaby Lake that came back with Thermal Grizzly Conduct-o-naut under the processor cap.

I'm also wondering -- if I don't lap the IHS -- what effect Conduct-o-naut will have on the bare copper of my lapped Grand Macho cooler base. Does it damage it? Or does it form an amalgam which can be lapped away?

I usually use IC Diamond paste between the cooler and the IHS. I'm wondering if I should try Conduct-o-naut, but I fret over the possibility of stray liquid metal, applying too much or too little -- any number of things. For this, I thought that one could use both TIMs: nano-diamond around the edge of the processor cap; conduct-o-naut for the remaining area. Diamond paste dries to leave something like gray rubber as it squeezes out between the IHS and the heatsink base. So I'm thinking that it would form a sort of "dam" to contain the conduct-o-naut.

The Thermal Grizzly buys about 2C improvement in temperatures over the diamond paste when applied between the IHS and heatsink base. I lose about 1C if I don't lap the processor. These are marginal differences, since using the Conduct-o-naut between the processor die and IHS can buy between 15 and 20C improvement.

Any thoughts about this before I go to work installing the processor and Macho cooler? I can wait a few hours, or even put it off until tomorrow. However, I would have to order the Thermal Grizzly if I plan to use it, so figure another 4 to 5 day delay.

I"m also thinking about buying the De-Lid Die-Mate tool. Silicon Lottery tells me they've had some 10,000 customers over the last four or five years, but only a handful of complaints. An ASUS Republic of Gamers overclocking guide offers the opinion that the liquid metal may "pump out" and need a refresh every so often. It would show up in the spread between Tj processor core temperatures, and I don't think I noticed any change in the temperature range during the four-year duration.

Even so, the turn-around with Silicon Lottery may be a delay I'd like to forego. I could buy a $10 bottle of Liquid Tape; pop the cap off a processor; and apply the Thermal Grizzly myself after coating the PCB area with Liquid Tape.

Well, I'll check back here in a few hours to see if anyone has comments.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Well . . . nobody responding yet. My tube of IC Diamond is still almost full. I'm surprised that it keeps so well after four years. Still "fresh". Still . . spreads like wet concrete. Somehow, it seems like a lot less trouble than I used to make of it.

CoolerMaster now also has its own nano-diamond paste. You should see the customer reviews -- complaints, whines and whimpers: "Oh! It's so thick! It's so hard to work with!"

Sissies.

So now the issue remains. Should I invest in a Der8auer De-lid Die-Mate 2? I might need it later this year.

And who makes the best liquid tape? I want "clear". I would wish that it's kind of thin, too.

Also, on that matter per the liquid tape. What about fingernail polish? anyone try that? At least the liquid tape is easier to remove if you have to do it . . . I would think . . .

Anyhoo -- the Grand Macho is now installed on the new board with the processor.

Maybe tomorrow, I'll put the accordion duct on it, position it in the case, plug in the 12V mobo power cable, install the front fan, and tighten the screws in the standoffs.