new zalman 7000 cu b and arctic silver 5

[thekarney]

When I installed the Zalman cooler on the cpu I used a very thin coat of arctic silver 5 on the entire processor. Its not a crude install - The coat is very thin and even over the processor. Then after the install I talk to my friend who says I should have only used a little bb sized drop and kinda just squished it with the heatsink and that would have done better. The install was a total pain in the ass but I will open back up the case if it's worth it. Please discuss.

 

[Mucker]

I doubt you are going to see much difference if your application is correct with either method. I have tried both ways more than a few times and there was no perceivable difference. I was hesitant to use the grain of rice method, because the paste coverage area can sometimes end up being less than 100% between the CPU heat spreader cap and the sink. After all, heat being transfered off the cap would be better with 100% contact than say 80% contact, correct? Wouldn't there be less thermal resistance through a larger area? Kind of analogous to having a bath tub with a 1" drain hole versus one with a 4" drain hole. The latter will transfer flow alot more rapidly.

However, the results don't seem to indicate that for me. Either application method has worked very well. I am going to stick with the rice method because it's easy as pie....

m 🙂

 

[Algere]

Thoughts,

BB sized drop makes it easier to seperate the CPU from the heatsink (sticky) during seperation of heatsink from CPU.

Less Arctic Silver 5 is used with the BB sized drop method & is easier to apply to CPU than the full spread method.

Same performance with both methods, BB size & full spread.

When/If I use the full spread method. I worry a bit that some AS5 will be squished out of the CPU & heatsink contact area when the heatsink is pressed against the CPU. With the small amount of squished out AS5, I worry there's a possibility it'll cause dust to stick to the heatsink & CPU area.

My 7700 is lighter than your 7000B-Cu 😛

 

[gcol]

I would have thought that with the BB method there would be the chance that if you didn't bring the heatsink down horizontally there might be a tendancy to squeeze the paste out from the middle to one of the sides - thereby not covering the entire surafce. Also if you just put a small amount in the middle the paste may reach the sides but it might just miss the extreme corners. I'd rather have a little paste squeeze out of all sides and have 100% coverage than something that looks neat (not that you could see it anyway) and only has 85% coverage.
Just my tuppence worth,
gcol

 

[Algere]

I would have thought that with the BB method there would be the chance that if you didn't bring the heatsink down horizontally there might be a tendancy to squeeze the paste out from the middle to one of the sides - thereby not covering the entire surafce.

You mean vertically? As in placing the heatsink onto the CPU, attached to the motherboard while inside a rightside-up tower case? IDK, I would think AS5's thickness shouldn't be affected much by gravity.

From personal experience I've done the BB method at least three times with the motherboard flat down in the past & everytime I've had to remove the heatsink from the CPU after doing that method, the spread would look similar to this (top CPU).

Also if you just put a small amount in the middle the paste may reach the sides but it might just miss the extreme corners. I'd rather have a little paste squeeze out of all sides and have 100% coverage than something that looks neat (not that you could see it anyway) and only has 85% coverage.

Don't think it matters much if at all as long as AS5 is generally placed in the middle of the Athlon 64's heatspreader, where the CPU core is.

 

[ironique]

According to the instructions on their site thekarney, your buddy was right. AS5 spreads over the CPU surface by itself with time. I would tend to think that the resulting layer of thermal paste would be thiner than any layer you would try and spread manually.

 

[gcol]

quote:
I would have thought that with the BB method there would be the chance that if you didn't bring the heatsink down horizontally there might be a tendancy to squeeze the paste out from the middle to one of the sides - thereby not covering the entire surafce.


You mean vertically? As in placing the heatsink onto the CPU, attached to the motherboard while inside a rightside-up tower case? IDK, I would think AS5's thickness shouldn't be affected much by gravity.
__________________________________________________________________________


Algere,
no I didn't mean vertically. Let me try to explain what I mean. Imagine you were making a jam (jello in US) sandwich, you put one slice of bread flat down (this is the cpu), then put a dollop of jam/jello (arctic silver) in the middle of the bread. Now put another slice of bread (heatsink) on top, now if you don't press down evenly (or horizontally as I mentioned) then the jam/jello will squish to one side - the side that isn't getting any pressure. Do you follow now?

gcol

 

[Algere]

Originally posted by: gcol
Algere,
no I didn't mean vertically. Let me try to explain what I mean. Imagine you were making a jam (jello in US) sandwich, you put one slice of bread flat down (this is the cpu), then put a dollop of jam/jello (arctic silver) in the middle of the bread. Now put another slice of bread (heatsink) on top, now if you don't press down evenly (or horizontally as I mentioned) then the jam/jello will squish to one side - the side that isn't getting any pressure. Do you follow now?

gcol

There's a difference between the slice of bread & a heatsink. One is pliable & the other one isn't.

Let's say that the CPU is the ground, AS5 is the fulcrum, & the heatsink is the long flat board which altogether makes the seesaw. If you were to apply weight to one end of the board, you would have a space gap between the fulcrum & the side end of the board with the applied weight. Now apply weight to the other side of the board & that space gap gets filled by AS5, along with the opposite side of the fulcrum.

Granted the opposite side could receive a bit more coverage of AS5 than the side with the space gap. However that space gap should be sufficient enough for the heatsink to spread enough AS5 over the general area of the CPU core.

 

[thekarney]

I was most concerned about the AS5 being an insulator instead of a conductor if there was too much. Directions recommended probably about a bb size and I used maybe four times that to coat the whole processor. Can AS5 have an opposite effect at high levels countering heat conduction to the copper heatsink?

 

[Mucker]

Once tightened down, the pressure of the Zalman on the heatspreader cap will be more than enough to ensure that the layer is the proper thickness. The bigger concern is that if too much is used, the excess will be pushed out and end up on something it's not supposed to (traces, etc..). Excess paste can also be extruded using the thin layer method depending on the amount applied because of the pressure between the 2 surfaces. Afterall, the average particle size of AS5 is less than 0.49 microns, so the layer is going to be quite thin with adequate pressure.

I wouldn't worry too much if your temps are good. The best way to find out is to do it a few times and compare. If you are careful either way, I am pretty certain, you're not going to see any perceivable change if your ambient conditions are similiar while testing.

m 🙂

 

[wkwong]

The difference would not be noticeable. Leave your heatsink in.

On a side note: I recently heard of person using a WHOLE 5 gram tube of AS5 on 1 CPU. Pretty funny huh? Haha.

I've yet to eat a Jello Sandwich. 😛

 

[arana]

ooops 🙁

yesterday i installed my cooler and since i had no pc i just read on the arctic 5 label that for instructions i needed to go to their page, well i couldnt (cpu was not yet mounted DUH) so i just coated a not so small amount of compound all over the die of an athlon xp 3000+ and mounted it
i hope it was not too much but it was definetely more than 4 bb's (more like jelly on a sandwich)

i did thought about the excess being pushed out of the small area to the surroundings of it, but i dont know if this will have any bad consequences, so i will be glad if you just tellme what to do

do you recommend removing it/cleaning it etc?
if so, how can i clean it without buying arctic products?

*ashamed*

 

[Operandi]

You?ve obviously been feed misinformation; Americans don?t eat Jello sandwiches.