Should I wait for my Arctic Silver 3 to 'Cure' before I start to O'C

[thatsright]

Hi,

I will be putting together a new system soon, and it will have a P4c 2.4Ghz and I will use a Zalman 7000Alcu HSF Combo, and some Arctic Silver 3 grease on the CPU heat spreader. I've heard that it takes up to 72 hours for the grease to cure and dry, should I wait until this happens before I try to do any Overclocking?? What's your opinion on this?

Would it really make any difference? Would it affect the heat conductivity in the long run if I start O'C within a few hours of the grease hitting the CPU thermal spreader, without it curing completly??

Thanks guys.

 

[bootoo]

yes, wait a wwk. my humble opinion!

 

[GoHAnSoN]

i dont think it really matters....if u apply it the correct way.

 

[screw3d]

Agreed. You can go ahead and o/c your system immediately.

 

[INGlewood78]

I dont think AS3 actually "cures"...its a paste that doesnt dry up. The extra time is basically so that the paste can "settle"...to provide optimal heat trasfer properties. With that being said...u can start overclocking right away. When the paste "settles"..u should notice a couple of degress cooler, but the extra heat from overclocking should not affect the settling process in anyway..

 

[MadTom]

Just OC it... As mentioned by few others you don't have to worry.

 

[Crucial]

Break her in hard and fast, IMHO

 

[touchmyichi]

Its not needed as much for p4's as axp's

 

[BOBDN]

Originally posted by: bootoo
yes, wait a wwk. my humble opinion!

LOL

 

[emjem]

Arctic Silvers web site says:

Due to the unique shape and sizes of the silver particles in Arctic Silver 3, it will take a minimum of 72 hours, and as many as 200 hours to achieve maximum particle to particle thermal conduction and for the heatsink to CPU interface to reach maximum conductivity. (This period will be longer in a system without a fan on the heatsink.) The CPU's temperature will drop as much as 2C to 5C over this "break-in" period.

Overclocking immediately won't do any damage if that's what your asking, but you may be able to overclock higher after the burn in is complete because the cpu temperature is lower.

 

[MichaelD]

Originally posted by: INGlewood78
I dont think AS3 actually "cures"...its a paste that doesnt dry up. The extra time is basically so that the paste can "settle"...to provide optimal heat trasfer properties. With that being said...u can start overclocking right away. When the paste "settles"..u should notice a couple of degress cooler, but the extra heat from overclocking should not affect the settling process in anyway..

I agree w/this statement. Every time I've used AS3, I've noticed that my temps drop 2-3C (that is a lot, IMO!) after a few days. I know that AS doesn't "cure" like Epoxy, but I think that several days of heat does help it to "settle." This is MHO and YMMV.

 

[Antoneo]

Originally posted by: MichaelD

Originally posted by: INGlewood78
I dont think AS3 actually "cures"...its a paste that doesnt dry up. The extra time is basically so that the paste can "settle"...to provide optimal heat trasfer properties. With that being said...u can start overclocking right away. When the paste "settles"..u should notice a couple of degress cooler, but the extra heat from overclocking should not affect the settling process in anyway..

I agree w/this statement. Every time I've used AS3, I've noticed that my temps drop 2-3C (that is a lot, IMO!) after a few days. I know that AS doesn't "cure" like Epoxy, but I think that several days of heat does help it to "settle." This is MHO and YMMV.

Yep, same here. But there's no harm in starting to overclock now .