Best way to apply thermal compound?

[Cornholio]

As a few will be aware ive just upgraded my rig to the am3 955be.

Went out and bought this yesterday

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Xigma...uad-Core-Ready

After reading good reviews on it, now it came with its own thermal compound..but i have arctic silver 5...which should i be using, and whats the best way to apply it for maximum efficiency.

Andy.

[Grey M@a]

Minimal gains to be honest. Try the AS5 and the compound that came with it and see which offered the better cooling if any

I used the Asksa stuff last time from Maplin as I needed it there and then and then got some AS5 and their new AX2 is it? Both produced the same temps in the Shuttle so I just use what I have at hand now, either the Asksa copper stuff or the Artic Silver stuff.

[Singh400]

A small tiny drop, and then use a sandwich bag spread taught across your index finger to smooth it across the top. Works brilliant.

You want it if possible to be slightly transparent.

There's a fantastic video on Youtube by tjharlow or tjharley that shows (what I believe) the best way.

[Salazaar]

Clean off the the old compound with isopropyl alcohol, Akasa TIM remover or similar.

Apply a rice grain sized blob of the new compound to the cpu.

Spread it out into a thin, even layer with a piece of plastic card or your finger in a plastic bag.

Attach the new heatsink.

[mac124]

Hmm i think the grain of rice rule for the "block" type contact plates is ok but with the direct contact heatpipes, apparently, you need to be a bit more generous.

Not sure if linking to another shops forum is agains the rules so forgive me if it is but apparently overclockers have had a few "issues" with customers complaining about poor results on their bundles and fenrir coolers so put this on their forum, pity they didn't leave the pics there too.

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/sho...=thermal+paste

[Grey M@a]

Hmm i think the grain of rice rule for the "block" type contact plates is ok but with the direct contact heatpipes, apparently, you need to be a bit more generous.

Not sure if linking to another shops forum is agains the rules so forgive me if it is but apparently overclockers have had a few "issues" with customers complaining about poor results on their bundles and fenrir coolers so put this on their forum, pity they didn't leave the pics there too.

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/sho...=thermal+paste

Yeah I had to be a lot more generous with the Shuttle Cooler. Tried using a thin layer and the contact was minimal on two of the sides so had to put a slightly thicker layer on. Will have to do mine again in the near future as the last time I applied a fresh layer was almost 18 months ago, might do it tonight if I can be bothered.

[peterb]

<----snip

Not sure if linking to another shops forum is agains the rules so forgive me if it is but apparently overclockers have had a few "issues" with customers complaining about poor results on their bundles and fenrir coolers so put this on their forum, pity they didn't leave the pics there too.

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/sho...=thermal+paste

Not at all!

Provided you don't pimp your own commercial website (without agreement from Hexus) and the post is to help others solve a problem (of a computing/technical nature that is ), link away!

[watercooled]

I found this article a few days back which should be helpful: http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.ph...1&limitstart=5

You will get different opinions from different people about how to apply TIM. It also depends on the type of TIM - personally I use Artic Cooling MX2 which is thin compared to AS5 and I don't spread it at all. Instead I apply a small line, across the cores preferably, then place the heatsink on top and it spreads fine under the compression of the HS.

@Singh400: Yeah, it is tjharlow: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMx2lIt5RC4

Edit: I also found a big thermal paste round-up on the same website: http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.ph...1&limitstart=0

[Saracen]

....

Not sure if linking to another shops forum is agains the rules so forgive me if it is .....

Linking to shops is not against our rules, and as Peter said, not a problem, but ..... there's a couple of issues.

1) We won't allow advertising, so pimping your own site, company or shop isn't going to go down well. For that, we'd refer you to our advertising people, who will be more than happy to inform you of rates and conditions.

2) While HEXUS has no problem with members helping other members by linking to useful shops, Scan do operate their support forums on HEXUS, and within their sections, they moderate to their own rules, subject only to an oversight from HEXUS mods for anything that bears on HEXUS, such as where there might be a legal liability from a defamatory post, etc.

So while HEXUS has no problem with links to shops in the main forums, Scan within their forums, do have a problem with it and don't allow it. Within their forums, it's their section and primarily their rules.

Other than that, though, no problem.

[Singh400]

@Singh400: Yeah, it is tjharlow: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMx2lIt5RC4

Yup thats the one. That guy does some great builds.

IIRC some site did a review of possible TCs, and included American Chesse as one

[watercooled]

This one http://www.dansdata.com/goop.htm

But then there's no cheese on that one. I'll see if there's any more in my bookmarks...

Yeah, here it is. Knew it was bookmarked! http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/articl..._shootout_q209

[mac124]

Cheers for clearing that up guys, as the site seems to be "linked" quite heavily to Scan i wasn't sure hence my hence my comment.

[mightymouse]

i normal spread the TIM with cling film i find plastic bags (unless its sandwich bags) have too much uneven surfaces. its too wasteful for me to waste sandwich bags so cheaper option is cling film, but make sure you wrap it tight on your finger

[watercooled]

Doesn't cling film have some sort of glue on it though? Don't think it would make much of a difference though...

[Zak33]

Doesn't cling film have some sort of glue on it though? Don't think it would make much of a difference though...

static glue?

[watercooled]

No it really does. I thought it was just static myself but it's not - I remember watching it on How it's Made