thermal grease

[BruceMyers48]

I was reading on the AMD site that a thermal pad should be use for long term use. Thermal grease should not because it could disperce in time. Any body have any insight into this.. I ahve used the stock heatsinks that come with the cpu and I seem to have a problem with the 1800 amd. I Idle at 137f. I ahve a 2400AMD cpu and use there stock heatsink and IDLe at 113f. I'm going to change the 1800 to a copper core heat sink and want to use artic silver paste. Is this advisable over the pad that comes with it . Bruce

Is it true that cannibals don't eat clowns because they taste funny?

 

[Teq]

Take a closer look at the AMD site... they recommend the thermal pad for <i>Production</i> purposes. The stuff has adhesive in it that's intended to keep the heatsink from getting dislodged in shipping. They recommend thermal paste for testing purposes because it doesn't attach the heatsink and won't damage the cpu when you are frequently installing and removing the HSF.

But to heck with their advice... I've been putting thermal paste on AMD chips instead of that rubber goop for 2 years and haven't seen any problems from it that weren't caused by my own mistakes.



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[Crashman]

You won't believe what I've been using! For the price of cheap silicon paste (.1 oz) I can get a CAN of general purpose lithium grease (32 oz) and it actually works as well if not better. It's made for machinery and has a melting point of over 90C.

<font color=blue>Watts mean squat if you don't have quality!</font color=blue>

 

[Teq]

Annnnd... what do you think they've been selling us in those .1oz tubes???




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[Crashman]

Considering the fact that general purpose grease is a high viscosity liquid, and heatsink paste is a liquified solid...I'd say the similarities aren't there!

<font color=blue>Watts mean squat if you don't have quality!</font color=blue>

 

[HN001]

Hello Crashman,

Wow, it's interesting! Where can I get that?
Thanks

Hn

 

[BruceMyers48]

Well I ajve been using thermal paste and have had no problems yet. I just can't believe that this 1800 idles at such a high temp. I even changed the stock HSF to a bigger one and faster fan.It only dropped it a couple degrees. I ahve ordered a copper core HS to try it. The problem with the bigger faster fans is the noise. That fan makes more noise that my other system i built with four fans installed. It seems like the 2400 runs cooler than the 1800. Bruce

Is it true that cannibals don't eat clowns because they taste funny?

 

[Crashman]

General Purpose grease? LOL, in the automotive department of Wal-Mart maybe? The stuff conducts heat very effeciently, and has a low enough viscosity to minimize film thickness under the pressure of a heatsink clip.

<font color=blue>Watts mean squat if you don't have quality!</font color=blue>

 

[Twitch]

I have a really dumb question. Where do products like "Arctic Silver" fall into the equation?


<-----Insert witty sig line here.

 

[Teq]

Oh well...
both look and feel like toothpaste to me, but they don't taste minty at all.

Actually any semi-viscous goo that excludes air from between the heatsink and CPU island is bettert than nothing... and who knows, it might even taste minty fresh!




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[Crashman]

Artic Silver is also a paste. Paste are made from powder with a liquid carrier.

<font color=blue>Watts mean squat if you don't have quality!</font color=blue>

 

[Twitch]

Is Arctic Silver really better, or is that an Urban Myth?

<-----Insert witty sig line here.

 

[Teq]

Yeah, it's better... but, in my opinion, not enough to worry about or justify the cost. I don't know about elsewhere but in Canada Arctic Silver is exxxpennnnnsiiiiiive. More than three times the cost of other products.

Just about any brand of thermal grease is going to give you decent results. I like the stuff Radio Shack sells, other brands are generally carried by most computer stores.



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[Crashman]

My test say myth, other people's say it's better.

<font color=blue>Watts mean squat if you don't have quality!</font color=blue>

 

[phsstpok]

Ha ha! I've been using lithium grease only for lubing stuff like floppy drive runners. All these years I never knew.

Fortunately I only spent $2 for a tube of silcone thermal compound and I've used it for dozens of applications and still have plenty left. When it finally runs out I have a 1-lb jar of lithium grease.

<b>99% is great, unless you are talking about system stability</b>