Shold you take off the Thermal pad and apply AS3 on a P4 1.6a?

[x86]

I was wondering about the cooling options concerning the P4. Should you take off the retail Thermal Pad and add AS3 instead? Please add any other thermal paste options.

Thanks

-x86

 

[GrumpyMan]

I don't think anyone has done an actual comparison, not that I've heard of yet anyway, but I think most everyone takes it off and cleans the heatsink real well. At least I did anyway. I have read of some high o/c's with the thermal pad too though.

 

[Duvie]

I am running a1.8a@2.4 ghz wit hretail hsf and thermal tape...I am however going to add my new avc with AS2 tonight....

I am expecting it will help a bit on idle but mostly kick in and bring down the full load scores....I have big swings from idle to full load, but a lot of that has to do with the retail hsf and its 2700rpm fan...

If you suspect it is holding you back ocing wise or generally fell uncomfortable about the temps then do it for sake of sanity....

 

[JellyBaby]

I can't imagine the thermal pad outperforming AS3. I plan to remove the pad and use AS (either 3.0 or the tube of 1.0 I still have). Then I don't have to worry about the pad bonding the cpu and hs together (important if I upgrade the hsf in the future...you never know).

Just don't use both at the same time. 🙂

 

[x86]

<< Just don't use both at the same time. 🙂 >>



Why not?

-x86

 

[rachaelsdad]

Thermal pads work OK but two things, They are a one use item; if for any reason you have to take the HSF off then be sure to discard the pad. AS3 will cool better with a lower C/W ratio. A good reason to go now with arctic silver and remove the pad is that it is a bitch to thoroughly get off all traces of the pad off the Heatsink once it has been on and heated up.

 

[JellyBaby]

<< Why not? >>

I don't see how thermal interface compound can work properly if you shove something else in between the cpu core and heatsink. You wouldn't bind two sheets of plywood together with both wood glue and double-sided tape, would you?

I actually saw thermal lube and a pad used together once. Temps. were quite high. Removing the pad and using only lube produced much better results.

 

[LarryJoe]

x86 - your goal is to create a perfect seal between the cpu and bottom heatsink. The thermal pad is a heavy thick material and AS is looser. It will be a mess and counter productive to put both on. Less is better.

LJ

 

[jiffylube1024]

<< You wouldn't bind two sheets of plywood together with both wood glue and double-sided tape, would you?
>>


Heh, good analogy Jelly!

 

[manko]

Pentium 4 Thermal Conditions

...an interesting link from StanFL in another thread. Scroll down for this interesting tidbit:

<< Although the heat spreader brings in additional thermal resistance (0.3°C/W) on the way from the processor's die to a heatsink it makes possible to reduce 2-3 times an effective heat-flux density and considerably weaken influence of a spreading resistance effect which takes place when surfaces of a heat source and a heatsink base differ much in the FC-PGA package. As a result, a real thermal resistance of the processor-cooler system decreases considerably. One more advantage of the FC-PGA2 case is better mechanical protection of a processor's die in case of longitudinal loads. It allows increasing acceptable hold-down pressure for fastening mechanisms of coolers/heat exchangers, and, therefore, it makes heat losses in thermal interfaces lower (thermal grease layer, phase change material etc.). >>

 

[Mael5trom]

I just finished cleaning the thermal pad off my Athlon 1.2ghz and putting on AC3 (I believe AC3 affects Athlons more than P4s because of the smaller surface area). My temps before were 53C and 60C (no load/full load), now they are 48C and 57C (no load/full load). This isn't a huge improvement, but every little bit helps 🙂 I got the AC3 for a different computer and decided to fix mine up also because I am playing around with OCing now. If you are wavering at all, just remember - its a pain to clean the thermal pad off the CPU (heatsink isn't much easier), so if you got the AC3 it couldn't HURT anything to use it!

Hope this helps!

Mike

 

[Mikewarrior2]

maelstrom,

And those results are from the compressed socket-thermistor, meaning your actual gain could be 2-4X more than what hte scket-thermistor registered 😀



Mike

 

[MrThompson]

Mael5trom - In addition to what Mike said, if you just applied Arctic Silver 3, it still has to break in. Your temps will drop more. If you did not lap the heatsink, you may want to. Cleaning the thermal pad off the heatsink with solvent will not remove the residue from the microscopic surface imperfections. For more information, read Thermal Interface Basics.