Got artic silver today

[jawaki]

My system was running 38 C and now after the artic silver is at 41 idle
When I use the comp it is about 39 with the case being 24.


I have the
power supply exhaust
A case exhaust 80mm
A case intake 80mm
pci blower
Hard drive cooler with 3 fans.

What should teh diff be between case and cpu?

I also notice that the intakes air may just be going to the pci exhaust and blowing out.
The GeForce2 seems to be big and I dont know if it makes the intake fan useless.

Should I put another fan inside the case to redirect the intake from the front of the case up in the general direction oof the cpu?

 

[jawaki]

I forgot to add

MSI K7Pro2
TBird 1.1GHz
PAL 6035 with the denki fan
Antec fans and Antec midtower case (alas not the 830)
500Megs of memory (dont ask...I know its too much.)

 

[Mikewarrior2]

Did you:

A) install the heatsink correctly

B) how did you apply arctic silver?

C) Has your room/case temp gone up?


Mike

 

[jawaki]

Heat sink is on correctly
Artic silver....small dab and spread evenly on cpu where it contacts the heatsink
Temps in room actually down.

 

[jawaki]

The idle of 41 was read while a screensaver was on
Without the screen saver it runs 38 with case temp of 24.
What can i do to make this better...I dread summer when the temps are like this in winter.

 

[snow patrol]

You did just put it on the actual Cpu slug, and not actually the entire face of the CPU, right? The trick is to spread it evenly and thin.

If I were you, I'd try re-applying it (clean the chip/heatsink first).

 

[jawaki]

How thin?
I know thats a silly question.

 

[snow patrol]

Hmmn, I guess that's quite hard to quantify. Just a little dab and then spread it so that it just covers the cpu slug. You don't need to have enough arctic silver to cover the slug twice, if you see what I mean (do you?)

 

[Mikewarrior2]

if you're getting hte same temps, considering the nature of socket-a temp measurement, you're okay.

ALso keep in mind that since you used a different grease before, that old grease will forever be in the micro-cracks of your cpu/heatsink unless you lap them both... That will reduce AS performance a little bit.


Mike

 

[snow patrol]

True, I've seen reports of arctic silver reducing temps by 20...30...40% and I'm afraid that just is not the case.

 

[Mikewarrior2]

40%%%??(*$)&!@$ That's nuts... And highly unlikely...

Compared to RS grease, depending on the CPU, I usually get anywhere from a 1-2C drop for Socket A chips, a 4-6C Drop for P3s at 900 or higher, and a 3-5C drop for p3s 750 and higher.

Socket A temp measurement doesn't show this, but chances are core temp drops 5-8C with AS versus RS grease.


Mike

 

[snow patrol]

Yeah, I remember some guy on an overclocking forum who claimed that AS dropped his CPU temp from 30 C to 20 C (idle). To be fair, everyone shot him down with flames. He must have worked for AS (or whatever the company is called) or something

 

[Mikewarrior2]

I doubt he worked for AS... Only 2 people work for AS, Nevin and CAutery... They claim at best a 7C drop on their website.

People have accused me of working for them, though... :Q.


Mike

 

[snow patrol]

heh, people accuse you of lots of things hey Mike?

How's that business with thermaltake going? If you don't mind saying that is.

 

[Mikewarrior2]

Its wait and see... They haven't said anything since I refused to shut down my page.

I'm guessing it could have been a rogue PR person who sent the e-mail as a scare/bully tactic to get me to pull it...


Mike

 

[snow patrol]

Well, good on you for standing firm.

 

[jawaki]

Thanks for the replies.
I have cleaned and reapplied the grease. Currently I am going at 39 cpu and 23 case.
This is hard work....I feel I can get better but am thinking Im doing something wrong.
I ampply the grease but putting on a dab then spreading a very thin layer with a cotton tip....till I can see only grease as a thin layer. Should I be putting on a thicker amount?

 

[snow patrol]

cotton tip probably isn't a good idea, as there's a chance that some cotton could get ripped off (even small pieces). For future reference, you're better off spreading it with a smooth, firm surface. I use a piece of clean white card board usually. I'm not saying this is going to drop your temps or anything though..

 

[Spoooon]

When I put my brother's Thunderbird 900 together, I used a rubber glove to spread the arctic silver on. I spread it thin enough to where it was opaque, sort of see through. Then the remainder that was on the glove I spread on the heatsink in a very thin layer. On my PIII, I did the same thing. Sort of see through, and a super thin layer on the HSF. Got great results.

 

[jawaki]

I now ran a slightly thicker layer and also moved some cables out of the way.
Now am getting
38 cpu and 23 case idle
and
39 cpu and 24 case after 5 timedemos in QuakeIII Team Arena

I am starting to feel more comfortable...

One of the reasons I avoid o/c ing is that I get possessed and will go fo r 2GHz with all sorts of wierd cooling (j/k)

 

[trmiv]

I use a razor blade to spread the stuff. Works great, you can get a nice thin layer spread pretty evenly. It is a bit of a pain the first time you do it though. But, I found the silver stuff MUCH easier to work with than that cheap Radio Shack stuff. With that stuff I ended up with it on my fingers, on my shirt, on my arms, on the counter.

 

[Mikewarrior2]

Correction: Cautery never worked for Arctic Silver

Second thing, a 1C temp "drop" with AS is good on a socket-A platform... that could be a 2-4C core temp drop.


Mike