POLL: How frequently do you re-apply AS5?

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Zap

Elite Member
Oct 13, 1999
22,377
7
81
Originally posted by: leigh6
From this my guess it is more important to clean out the Heat Sink than to reapply thermal paste at random intervals. Of course if the HSF is replaced it would be silly not to clean and reapply.

QFT.

Originally posted by: JEDIYoda
Did you ever consider that you cleaned your heatsink and that the AS5 might not even be responsible for your lower temps....

LOL, that's something people tend to ignore when trying to justify paying $6 for the priviledge of reinstalling their CPU.

Originally posted by: Luckyboy1
I used to be under the assumption that Artic Silver just HAD to be conductive... I laid a small drop of it on a piece of plastic and put an ohm meter to it and surely enough, it would show absolutely no conductivity!

Well, don't know about the newer or older stuff, but my belief is that AS3 is conductive because a friend of mine got some on his contacts on an old Tbird 1.2GHz and it killed the CPU. Those chips were sensitive enough that the "lead" in pencils could be used to unlock them.

These days I usually use an old HUGE tube of Arctic Alumina that I have, or whatever is handy at the moment. My belief on this is using properly applied compound is more important than using more expensive compound.
 

JeffMD

Platinum Member
Feb 15, 2002
2,026
19
81
Jedi, why is half this thread you saying AS sucks? We heard you the first time.. quit your wining. I happen to like AS.. I've had this one tube last me like 12 mountings and it works like a charm when I ramp down the speeds of my fans.

And trying to apply the logic that the paste you get with your high end heatsink must be high end as well is just dumb. They are still a buisness.. if they want to cut cost.. one of the first spots would be the heatsink paste. AS is probably more expensive then its worth, but atleast I know where its coming from. I have not a single clue as to what grade of paste is in those little packets that come in all sorts of colors with my heatsinks.

 

JEDIYoda

Lifer
Jul 13, 2005
33,986
3,321
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Originally posted by: JeffMD
Jedi, why is half this thread you saying AS sucks? We heard you the first time.. quit your wining. I happen to like AS.. I've had this one tube last me like 12 mountings and it works like a charm when I ramp down the speeds of my fans.

And trying to apply the logic that the paste you get with your high end heatsink must be high end as well is just dumb. They are still a buisness.. if they want to cut cost.. one of the first spots would be the heatsink paste. AS is probably more expensive then its worth, but atleast I know where its coming from. I have not a single clue as to what grade of paste is in those little packets that come in all sorts of colors with my heatsinks.

jeff I am sorry but you are so mistaken when you say....caca like ...And trying to apply the logic that the paste you get with your high end heatsink must be high end as well is just dumb. They are still a buisness.. if they want to cut cost.. one of the first spots would be the heatsink past

No highend company is going to send you cheap thermal paste when you buy one of their Heatsinks....

also did I say---And trying to apply the logic that the paste you get with your high end heatsink must be high end as well?

No I didn`t what I said was its not el cheapo which doesn`t mean I said its high end...does it?

What I said..was there was no discernable differenc in the 2.....what part of that don`t you understand???


Lets see for example.... Zalman 9500 also I have a ThermalRight XP120 on my non gaming rigg...
I have tested the thermal paste that both these fine companies ship with there heatsinks.

I am sorry to inform you that there was no discernable difference between the shipped thermal paste and AS5!! I have used both.

yet others have seen diferences....and others are like me....they see no difference...

Also just for a comparison I recently ordred a non name brand heatsink and the paste it shipped- I also got the same results....

Also I will tell you right now you let such a company as Zalman...or Scythe...or ThermalRight or Thermaltake or CoolerMaster..etc....ship crappy thermal paste.
I guarantee you they would suffer in sales as soon as word got out!!
This industry is so competitive right now nobody...let me repeat myself nobody can afford to cut corners...
I has been for that few years all about satifying the customer in order to make a profit.
NOT screwing the customer to make a profit. 9 times out of 10 a companie that screws the customer will be gone in a short while!!
The market is such that heatsink manufacturers should not have to advertise what thermal paste they are shipping with the heatsink. Theses manufacturers already understand that we all hold them to a high standard of expected quality.....so it makes no sense that they would jeopardize there reputation by shipping a crappy thermal paste.

While I admire your enthusiasm ,you need to learn to read the whole post!!

Now why don`t you read the whole post instead of what ticks you off....comprende...
Did you happen read my entire post??
here`s the excerpts...
What I find interesting and I am not trying to push anybodys buttons becuase I know alot of people swear by AS5...
know.....AS5 really does work!! Which is cool!! No issues at all...
I`m just trying to get you to think...
Have a ncice day!!

Disclaimers at the top and bottom of the thread...

Finally--Jedi, why is half this thread you saying AS sucks? We heard you the first time.. quit your wining. I happen to like AS.. I've had this one tube last me like 12 mountings and it works like a charm when I ramp down the speeds of my fans.

Out of 27 posts...not counting this one will be 6 posts.....where in those 6 posts did i use the words..AS5 sucks?? I said its overrated.....but nowhere did I say it sucked....

Anyways have a nice day!!
 

Bobthelost

Diamond Member
Dec 1, 2005
4,360
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Out of curiosity does anyone think that reapplying the thermal paste does anything at all, irrespective of brand? Ignoring cleaning etc of course.
 

1Dark1Sharigan1

Golden Member
Oct 5, 2005
1,466
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Originally posted by: Bobthelost
Out of curiosity does anyone think that reapplying the thermal paste does anything at all, irrespective of brand? Ignoring cleaning etc of course.

It could depending on the situation. If you say applied too much the first time, applying a smaller amount would most likely lower temps . . . etc.

And yeah dust is the evilness, I've had increases of 6C just from dust alone . . .
 

Bobthelost

Diamond Member
Dec 1, 2005
4,360
0
0
Originally posted by: 1Dark1Sharigan1
Originally posted by: Bobthelost
Out of curiosity does anyone think that reapplying the thermal paste does anything at all, irrespective of brand? Ignoring cleaning etc of course.

It could depending on the situation. If you say applied too much the first time, applying a smaller amount would most likely lower temps . . . etc.

And yeah dust is the evilness, I've had increases of 6C just from dust alone . . .

Yeah if you'd messed up then reapplying might help. But assuming you'd done it perfectly the first time and you cleaned the HSF out without removing the heatsink from the CPU is there any point to reapplying at all?
 

TrevorRC

Senior member
Jan 8, 2006
989
0
0
Originally posted by: JEDIYoda
Originally posted by: torpid
It also makes no sense to ship crappy mounting brackets with expensive motherboards, but it happens. I actually would be surprised if most heatsink manufacturers shipped high quality paste. If they do, they would advertise it quite a bit. Otherwise it would be wasteful. Why would they pay the extra bucks to include a product no one knows about that adds no value in the mind of the consumer? If I'm buying a heatsink, unless I KNOW the thermal paste is high quality, I'm going to use AS5.

Well to be blunt with you I have never seen a crappy mounting barcket and I have maybe a dozen different heatsinks and I have used themm all.....
I also have never seen a crappy mounting bracket with a mobo iether...usually its the person doing the mounting that has no clue what they are doing!!

The market is such that heatsink manufacturers should not have to advertise what thermal paste they are shipping with the heatsink. Theses manufacturers already understand that we all hold them to a high standard of expected quality.....so it makes no sense that they would jeopardize there reputation by shipping a crappy thermal paste.

You above example just does not address this issue....you should not compare mobo `s to heatsinks.....

The proof I have is in my own testing and mounting of the heatsinks that I have using both AS5 and what was shipped with the heatsink!!

Have a nice day!!

Gigabyte used a POS plastic mounting bracket that wasn't compatible with my MCW6002 :) Just though I'd point that out.

Also, did you let the AS5 settle?

Just curious.
-T
 

furballi

Banned
Apr 6, 2005
2,482
0
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Lapping both mating surfaces will yield the best heat transfer. As for thermal compound, the cheap white thermal compound is perfectly adequate for the most demanding application.
 

JEDIYoda

Lifer
Jul 13, 2005
33,986
3,321
126
TrevorRC -- Also, did you let the AS5 settle?

YES, well over the set amout of hrs!!

Thanks for asking!!
 

1Dark1Sharigan1

Golden Member
Oct 5, 2005
1,466
0
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Originally posted by: Bobthelost
Yeah if you'd messed up then reapplying might help. But assuming you'd done it perfectly the first time and you cleaned the HSF out without removing the heatsink from the CPU is there any point to reapplying at all?

If you did it fine the first time then there probably isn't a real point in reapplying unless the thermal compound being used is of pretty low grade. But with something like AS5, there really is no reason to reapply. At least this is from my experience . . .
 

IEC

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Jun 10, 2004
14,600
6,084
136
Originally posted by: JeffMD
Jedi, why is half this thread you saying AS sucks? We heard you the first time.. quit your wining. I happen to like AS.. I've had this one tube last me like 12 mountings and it works like a charm when I ramp down the speeds of my fans.

And trying to apply the logic that the paste you get with your high end heatsink must be high end as well is just dumb. They are still a buisness.. if they want to cut cost.. one of the first spots would be the heatsink paste. AS is probably more expensive then its worth, but atleast I know where its coming from. I have not a single clue as to what grade of paste is in those little packets that come in all sorts of colors with my heatsinks.

Sure, many people swear by Arctic Silver, but I'm here using my AC MX-1 Thermal Compound which is designed for indefinite usage after one application... longevity is more important to me, and I have only seen 1-2C better performance than generic white goop.
 

10Gauge

Member
Apr 22, 2005
63
0
0
I got my AS5 mixed up with the K-Y jelly one evening,
and I wanna tell ya,
that was the coolest running heatpipe I ever had.
 

the Chase

Golden Member
Sep 22, 2005
1,403
0
0
Originally posted by: 10Gauge
I got my AS5 mixed up with the K-Y jelly one evening,
and I wanna tell ya,
that was the coolest running heatpipe I ever had.

I'm not going to touch that one with a ten-foot pole!
 

Puffnstuff

Lifer
Mar 9, 2005
16,208
4,889
136
Dustbunnies do raise temps no matter what compound you use. I like as5 because of it's consistency and all 4 of my machines show good temps when using it and that is important to me. Good airflow is essential for any device radiating heat so a good case is just as important and all of these things work together to compliment one another.
 

TrevorRC

Senior member
Jan 8, 2006
989
0
0
Originally posted by: JEDIYoda
TrevorRC -- Also, did you let the AS5 settle?

YES, well over the set amout of hrs!!

Thanks for asking!!

Good. Just curious. :)
Most people review it, and don't let it sit ~100+ hours [5 days or so] with substantial thermal cycling [Prime on, prime off, prime on, prime off. On cycles for 2 hours or so, off for a good 20 minutes.]

--Trevor


Edit:

Originally posted by: 10Gauge
I got my AS5 mixed up with the K-Y jelly one evening,
and I wanna tell ya,
that was the coolest running heatpipe I ever had.

An Aussie site did a review a while back--toothpaste and baby food outperformed AS5 [Well, stood neck and neck.]

For around 10 minutes...

Then the toothpaste/baby food dried out :)
 

MDE

Lifer
Jul 17, 2003
13,199
1
81
Whenever I remove the heatsink, otherwise reapplying paste is a messy fuss that requires the removal of something in the neighborhood of 15 screws, 7 cables, 2 cards, and one heatsink for me.