Arctic Silver 5 How to Apply

[nemesis75]

I recently got the Sunbeam Core Contact Freezer and Arctic Silver 5 and I was wondering what is the best way to apply the As5. Should I put it on the cpu or heatsink and if its the heatsink what is the best method for my cooler. Also what is the best way to remove old thermal paste already on the cpu. ty

 

[darkprince72]

Theres a couple different ways to apply thermal paste, I find that putting a little blob in the middle of the CPU's surface works fine enough with AS5. With the mounting force of the heatsink, the thermal paste will spread itself out over the surface of the CPU so you wont really have to worry about spreading it out evenly.

For removing old thermal paste, i used this stuff called Isopropyl Alcohol & some gentle rubbing with a lint free cloth (I think however, other people would reccommend using a cotton swab). If you dont have any Isopropyl Alcohol around, I guess you could always improvise (i.e. i once ran out of Isopropyl Alcohol so i just borrwed some of my mum's Nail Polish remover and it did the job fine 😀 ), just dont use any oil based degreasers or things of that nature.

 

[Groveling_Wyrm]

For removal, the best thing to use would be Articlean cleaner, made by Arctic Silver . For cheap cleaning, using the highest grade isopropyl alcohol will work. Using the higher grade will result in less water on the contact surface. Personally I don't use less than 91% alcohol.

For application of the thermal interface material (TIM), it depends upon the CPU. For Core 2 and above Intel processors, it is recommended to use a line and let the cpu spread it, as shown HERE, as per Arctic Silver directions. However, per THIS bit of info , There are several ways, depending upon which type of heatsink you have.

Personally, my advice is to use the least amount necessary, but yet enough to ensure full coverage of your contact area between processor and heatsink.

 

[richardscott]

yea baby wipes the cheaper the better cos it contains alcohol works fine. your temps arent going to shoot up cos you didnt remove it properly. as for applying it a gob in middle is fine.

 

[Patusz]

i also onley use a minimum of 91% alkohol, but make sure its on a friday so that you have time to snap out of it before monday.

 

[richardscott]

lol ^

 

[Conumdrum]

I dunno about baby wipes. They have 'stuff' on them, read the label, it's not just alcohol.

 

[V3NOM]

did anyone here pay attention to the fact he's using a CCF???

put a thin line down each of the heatpipes then mount it up =D good to go

 

[Conumdrum]

No, good point.

 

[magicbullet]

i also onley use a minimum of 91% alkohol, but make sure its on a friday so that you have time to snap out of it before monday.

^ i dont get it

 

[richardscott]

hes on about drinking it 😛 ^

 

[4Ryan6]

Everyone has their own methods, I'm old school and still spread a paper thin even layer using a single edge razor blade, the most important thing is using the least amount possible, so you don't ooze it out around the edges.

Too much thermal compound will act as an insulator, instead of a conductor of the heat, its only purpose is to fill the micro air voids between the CPU and heatsink, and thats it period!, the less to accomplish that the better and the better temps you'll get.

 

[richardscott]

what i like to do is rub it into the hs (vapo head for me 😀) and the cpu that works really well cos u know that its filling in the air gaps.

 

[jay_l_a]

I like to take a plastic bag and put my finger in it. I then use this to rub the compound into the surface of the HS to make sure I fill all the cracks.

I've tried a few methods, and this seems to work well, and avoids misjudging the amount and having the excess squeeze out of the side.

 

[V3NOM]

if you lap the HSF+IHS you need even less as the microscopic valleys are shorter.

jay l a you can't actually see cracks in the IHS or HS (which one do you mean??), they are microscopic valleys that TIM fills in. The thinner and fewer the gaps, the better!

 

[greenbrucelee]

I follow the artic silver 5 instructions, for a core 2 duo it's a thin line down the centre for a quad core it's a thin line from the side of the cpu through the centre.

For removal I use the Articlean and a lint free cloth, babywipes have chemicals on them which can cause corrosion so they are not a good idea.

 

[V3NOM]

^thats fine for a normal base'd cooler, but not for a HDT cooler like he's got. as5 instructions do help you mount it though...

 

[drdeathx]

You can always lap your heatsync. lapping makes it flat and smooooothhhhhhhh. No air and thinner layer artic the better.