Old arctic silver the problem?

Now, this is something of a retrospective post because I've ordered some AS 5 already...

Anyway, got a Volcano 12 last week - and it's awesome. Temps to start with were stable when running seti@home at ~50ºC. Over the course of this week, temps have gone above 55 - it isn't ambient temperature that's the problem, that's been fairly consistent. Even on coldish days I'm getting above 55 now when running seti (which I do to keep CPU temp consistent.)

Anyway, I used an old tube of Arctic Silver 2 on the core - it's probably 2 years old, if not more. Now, I know this separates over time. I've had it stood plunger end down on my desk a few days now and a residue has seeped from it.

Would I be right in assuming that the AS2 has separated to such an extent that it's thermal performance has reduced?

If nobody can answer the question - replacing it with AS 5 will.

Thanks,
Kez.

Sounds plausible... I'm assuming you've checked that the heatsink isn't full of dust (same for any filters on your intakes)... Assume you haven't overclocked anything else / introduced some other source of heat (might be worth checking what voltages your PSU is kicking out... And if all your fans are still spinning OK - though you'd probably have noticed that... ;))

Yeah all is well - nothing has changed - the cpu temps have just crept up, but the mobo temp has stayed the same... :confused:

If the new heatsink had got dusted up after 5 days I'd be pretty annoyed! :D

Just another quick thought:

If the AS2 has separated maybe it's actually run out from underneath the heatsink / clumped up / dried out - have you taken the heatsink back off again to check?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by malfunction

Just another quick thought:

If the AS2 has separated maybe it's actually run out from underneath the heatsink / clumped up / dried out - have you taken the heatsink back off again to check?

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Could be, its for this very reason that AMD state that using anything other than the heatpad supplied with retail CPUs voids the warranty.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by malfunction

Just another quick thought:

If the AS2 has separated maybe it's actually run out from underneath the heatsink / clumped up / dried out - have you taken the heatsink back off again to check?

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Although obviously you might as well wait until the AS5 arrives before you check it

If it has separated a bit it's not left the confines of the CPU - so I'm not taking the mofo heatsink off until I get the new compound.

And how can I void my warranty when the CPU didn't come with a retail heatsink?

Not that I care anyway - I've overclocked it.

Fair enough, I remember reading on the AMD site that using thermal compound would void your warranty with AMD as compound can 'seep' from the centre of the die.

It may not apply to OEM chips but there again it was some time ago that I read it.

Well, the moment I experience instability I'll check it out - but I think I'll be OK until the new AS arrives.

Cheers,
Kez.

What was the outcome of this Steve ? :)

I've got some old as2 which I'm hoping to use on my new build...

and your response may help me make an informed decision ;)

I'd buy new stuff personally ;)

The new stuff worked much better. I threw my remaining AS2 away.