What's your opinion of the Zalman thermal paste CSL 850?

[bupkus]

I just tried a micro-tube of it that was in my Zalman heatsink package. I'm impressed but I'm wondering why it seems to work so well after a few hours of use. There's some stuff out there that has a weird name that's supposed to be the best, atleast by some opinions, but I can't recall the name. Reminds me of the name of a little dog. shizu?

 

[RichUK]

Arctic Silver 5 is what you are looking for, this is the best thermal paste and there is no point in using any other brand as most are inferior. Of course this depends on the application, CPU or GFX?

EDIT: The reason why thermal paste performs better after time, is it just simply sets in hard and applies the best thermal transfer. As they say "Things better with age"

 

[Meuge]

AS 5 is really hard to apply. I miss AS3. I think I'll go back to AS3, or use AA next time.

 

[MrPickins]

The name you're thinking of is "Shin Etsu," and that is some good stuff. IMO it's par with AS: maybe 1C higher temps, but easier to work with.

As far as the zalman paste, I used it on my 7700cu in a pinch (I couldnt find any of the tubes of AS I have). I was pleased enough with the temps that I never bothered to change it:

X2 3800+ @2.4ghz 1.375V
Load:46C Idle:37C

I tried looking online about the paste, but never could find any info. I'd be willing to bet that it's just a rebranded version of another manufacturer's paste, but who knows.

 

[RichUK]

Originally posted by: MrPickins
The name you're thinking of is "Shin Etsu," and that is some good stuff. IMO it's par with AS: maybe 1C higher temps, but easier to work with.

As far as the zalman paste, I used it on my 7700cu in a pinch (I couldnt find any of the tubes of AS I have). I was pleased enough with the temps that I never bothered to change it:

X2 3800+ @2.4ghz 1.375V
Load:46C Idle:37C

I tried looking online about the paste, but never could find any info. I'd be willing to bet that it's just a rebranded version of another manufacturer's paste, but who knows.

Yeah that "Shin Etsu" paste, isn't that the same manufacturer for the stock AMD heatsink thermal pad? I think it is and its supposed to be some pretty good stuff, if you are looking to stay stock.

 

[bupkus]

Well, I found my tiny tube of AS5 but still, I like to save that stuff for my personal computers. I use whatever I have on hand for the computers I deliver that aren't overclocked and the Zalman stuff worked surprizingly well. I have this seringe filled with this white goo that came with some heat sink I musta bought. It holds about 20ml of the stuff although the side of the seringe says "FOR SINGLE USE". The way I use thermal paste there's enough for 30 applications.

Duhh... I guess the "single use" statement is if ithe seringe is used for a medical application.

 

[phaxmohdem]

Originally posted by: Meuge
AS 5 is really hard to apply. I miss AS3. I think I'll go back to AS3, or use AA next time.

Its not that bad... Just have to remember two simple rules of thumb...

1) IF CPU has a heatspreader (Like A64 & P4) you put one little "rice grain sized" daub of AS5 in the center of the heatspreader adn let the Heatsink smoosh it and spread it.

2) If the CPU has an open Die (Like AthlonXP, PIII) you spread a verythin coat over the whole surface of the die. I just use the tip of the tube to spread the goop over the Die surface. I just used this method on my Radeon 9800 Pro gone XT tonight.

 

[Mogadon]

I'm with phaxmohdem here, never had any problems applying Artic Silver and although it may be tiny bit more complicated to apply than other thermal pastes it's not exactly difficult and is worth it.

Lots of people also seem to complain about it being hard to clean off, as long you run your system for a few minutes before you take everything apart i've always found it wipes off easily with rubbing alcohol.

Of course if you have really unsteady hands along with bad eyesight and manage to spread it across the mobo or vid card by mistake you're prbably better off settling for the ceramique instead as it's non-conductive.