Question Replaced my Arctic MX-5 with the IC graphite pad

[BoomerD]

I suspected my paste application might have been poor, so, yesterday I tore it apart and on advice from a few people here, replaced the paste with the IC Graphite Pad.
Turns out, my paste application, although a bit heavier than necessary, was actually pretty good:





At the same time, I moved the radiator from the Arctic Cooling Liquid Freezer II 280 from the front of the case to the top. On the be quiet! Dark Base Pro Rev.2 case, the top panel is a bit closed off, so I wanted to see how it would work for the CPU cooler.
Here's the Cinebench test I ran back in January with the MX-5 paste and the cooler in the front of the case:

And the same test this morning with the graphite pad and the top-mounted radiator:

While the test numbers remained the same, (22923) the temp spiked by quite a bit. Most of the test, at least a couple of cores were maxed at 100C. Was there throttling? I don't know.

 

[BoomerD]

Hmm...paste application pics won't post. Let's try again.

https://www.whodah.com/albums/album36/adh.jpg

https://www.whodah.com/albums/album36/adi.jpg

 

[Tech Junky]

If all you do are benchmarks then the pad might not be optimal but, for long sessions it evens out the temps. There's a short delay before full effectiveness. Scores being the same between the two methods though shows it working effectively. Nice thing about the pad is you don't have to replace them.

 

[BoomerD]

If all you do are benchmarks then the pad might not be optimal but, for long sessions it evens out the temps. There's a short delay before full effectiveness. Scores being the same between the two methods though shows it working effectively. Nice thing about the pad is you don't have to replace them.

Temps immediately dropped back to normal when I finished the test. No complaints about the cooler's effectiveness...even with a somewhat confined top panel. I was just kind of surprised at the much higher temps between paste and pad. A couple of degrees wouldn't have even gotten much notice...but close to 10 degrees on almost all cores? That's noticeable.

 

[Tech Junky]

Seems a bit extreme but I usually see core temps bounce around from one cor to another while stressing the CPU. I even used the pad on my laptop GPU though. The GPU seems to handle the temps better with the pad. Usually the GPU sits around 60c. Server CPU sits at the same under 100% load.

I would double check to make sure the cooler is clamped down. I've run into that in the past where things weren't tight and the temps went up.

 

[BoomerD]

Seems a bit extreme but I usually see core temps bounce around from one cor to another while stressing the CPU. I even used the pad on my laptop GPU though. The GPU seems to handle the temps better with the pad. Usually the GPU sits around 60c. Server CPU sits at the same under 100% load.

I would double check to make sure the cooler is clamped down. I've run into that in the past where things weren't tight and the temps went up.

Double checked. It's as tight as I can get it.

 

[snoopy7548]

I can't help much with the graphite pad vs. thermal compound, but I have the same processor on an air cooler (DeepCool AK620) and it doesn't get above 70C when running Cinebench R23. Scores are around 24300.

Look into undervolting. I did a -100mV undervolt (might have actually been -125mV; I have a Gigabyte board, and all I did was lower the CPU Vcore setting in the BIOS). Before the undervolt, the CPU would hit ~90C during the same testing but had similar scores as I do now.

Get HWiNFO64. It will tell you if the CPU is throttling and have more sensors to look at, but be sure to run it in Sensors Only mode.

 

[Tech Junky]

Double checked. It's as tight as I can get it.

The pads to tend to move if you don't hold them in place while placing the cooler on. It's possible it slid off to one side slightly and causing the temp issue. A little dab of saliva usually holds them in place long enough to secure the cooler.

 

[BoomerD]

The pads to tend to move if you don't hold them in place while placing the cooler on. It's possible it slid off to one side slightly and causing the temp issue. A little dab of saliva usually holds them in place long enough to secure the cooler.

LOL...never thought about that. I ALMOST used a dab of paste to "glue" it in place.

 

[Tech Junky]

Been there, done that the cooler thing was in my server and the pad movement happened on both but it's harder to spot on the server due to the size of the cooler on the laptop side though I had to dice up a single pad to smaller sizes for the CPU/GPU size they're the size of a fingernail. A little moisture does wonders though for the few seconds you need to get things in place and tightened down.

 

[aigomorla]

I use a graphite pad on my servers.
Because that extra C/W isn't going to help on a platform which i have no control in voltages or overclocking.
And it doesn't dry, flake, and its reusable, however i do not tinker / tune my servers like i do with my desktops.

But on my desktops where i tune, and every last C/W counts, i am probably going to use the best TIM i have in my inventory.

And yes you were throttling.
And the CPU was limiting cores so you throttle only a few times.
100C typically means throttle.
99C means EIST probably caught it and forced throttle on it to limit to 99C

I do not recommend you putting a dab of saliva.
Maybe using 90% Alcohol, as its not conductive, and who knows what you ate last or drank right before.

 

[BoomerD]

I use a graphite pad on my servers.
Because that extra C/W isn't going to help on a platform which i have no control in voltages or overclocking.
And it doesn't dry, flake, and its reusable, however i do not tinker / tune my servers like i do with my desktops.

But on my desktops where i tune, and every last C/W counts, i am probably going to use the best TIM i have in my inventory.

And yes you were throttling.
And the CPU was limiting cores so you throttle only a few times.
100C typically means throttle.
99C means EIST probably caught it and forced throttle on it to limit to 99C

yeah, I suspected that once it hit 100C, it was throttling.