Will too much AS5 hinder CPU Cooling?

[l31itz]

Is it possible to use too much AS5?

If so, will it actually be LESS effective in heat dissipation?

 

[SneakyStuff]

in the case of AS5 less is more, it contains silver, as the name implies, so it's conductive, don't want too much of that wedged between your HSF and CPU

 

[jhurst]

Yes, you want as much of the solid copper base of the HS on your CPU as possible. The AS5 is simply just to not have any air trapped in between the CPU and HS. Less is better.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Too much AS2-5=big mess! Some types can cause thermal build-up if too much is used, I've been told as well. I've also heard that while AS silver based products aren't conductive, they are capacitive so having a mess of it on bridges and such could possibly cause a problem.

 

[l31itz]

Can I take the heatsink off and remove some of it?

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Yes you can, but I'd check temp fisrt. If it's good then I wouldn't bother.

 

[NokiaDude]

Whoa, too much AS actually hurts temp. You only want enough about the SAME thickness as a piece of paper. Think of it as painting a car, you only want a thin smooth layer, not a chunky thick layer.

 

[HardWarrior]

Originally posted by: l31itz
Can I take the heatsink off and remove some of it?

Don't bother trying to shave off the excess. Just clean bother surfaces and start over. As mentioned, a very thin coating, covering the entire core, is the way to go.

 

[l31itz]

ooooright,

i guess the coat i put on was thin enough. i used a Q-Tip as a rolling pin and rolled 2 drops (the size of 1 1/2 grains of rice) across the top.

 

[Pauli]

Look, here is how to view the heatsink and CPU interface.

In a perfect world, the heatsink and CPU would have perfectly flat surfaces with no microscopic pits and valleys in their surface. The clamping mechanism would apply exactly equal pressure on the entire mating surface. This is the best-case scenario and the most efficient heat transfer is achieved with simply having the bare metal surfaces together. This is the key principle that we are dealing with here. Metal to metal provides the absolute best heat transfer. Period.

However, in our imperfect world with our imperfect surfaces and clamping mechanisms, we need to get as close to this ideal scenario as possible. The solution: a thin layer of highly efficient thermal transfer material. The perfect layer connects the parts of the heatsink that aren't in contact with the CPU to make contact but does not insulate the parts of the heatsink that do touch the CPU. Any extra thermal paste that prevents the metal-metal interface is actually reducing the efficiency of the heat transfer.