Replacing arctic silver?

[DD*]

Seems my CPU cooler is not quite getting the job done as well as it has in the past. I think I didn't really use enough arctic silver when I built my box, but it was tolerable so I didn't pull it all apart to redo it. I'm now at the point where I think that may be wise.

Normally, I'm in the 45-50c range when doing general tasks, in the 70s for most gaming, but World of Tanks (and WoWS) pushes me into the high 70s or 80s. That's bit toasty for my i5. I'm tempted to perhaps replace the CPU cooler as well - suggestions welcome.

[Giles Habibula]

Well, you don't need much. Just a drop, generally, enough to barely cover the surface when you scrape it across with a credit card. You don't want too much, either, as that could also raise your temps by forming a layer of insulation rather than conductivity.

How old is your cooler? If it's more than a couple years old, then yeah I'd replace it as long as your disassembling everything anyway.

And even if it's not old, and you're having heat issues, I'd probably still replace it, just to be sure.

[DD*]

Realized I am using the stock cooler, and I don't think it is making great contact with the CPU. Ordered a new CoolerMaster unit and some Tuniq paste. In the meantime I'll probably reseat the existing cooler.

[FishPants]

You probably have dust bunnies in your heat sync foils and maybe a slowing bearing on the fan. Replace the cooler + a very thin layer of arctic silver after removing the old stuff. Also check your case fans for crap and bearing issues too. Basically what Giles said!

[stessier]

If you're getting a new cooler, get one with heat pipes! Heat pipes are da bomb!! (That's still a hip phrase, right?)

[Paingod]

Just a drop, generally, enough to barely cover the surface when you scrape it across with a credit card.

I've built several computers for myself and others, but never played with the thermal paste after putting my pea-sized drop on as dead-center as I can get it. I gently place the fan over the area and slowly work it down with slight rotating force to spread the paste out and then tighten down the fan to the board. I figured that any excess ends up pushed safely out, and all that's left inside is enough to make good contact between the base of the fan and the top of the CPU. I've never had an overheating issue.

This Guy from ASUS does it fairly similarly, but doesn't seem to mind popping off the heat sink to check dispersion. I'd be more worried about introducing air bubbles in putting it back on and would end up cleaning both surfaces and re-applying the same amount used, confident that it spreads out well.

You probably have dust bunnies in your heat sync foils and maybe a slowing bearing on the fan. Replace the cooler + a very thin layer of arctic silver after removing the old stuff. Also check your case fans for crap and bearing issues too. Basically what Giles said!

Bunnies are evil. I recently cleaned out my wife's computer before storing it and found that she had never bothered to open it up and take care of it. There were bunnies galore and dust caked everywhere; the CPU heat sink fins were literally clogged with dust. I shuddered as I hit it with my air compressor (~40psi through one of my airbrushes) and dust blew out like billowing smoke from every crack of the thing... Disgusting. Just don't get too close to a HDD (to avoid pushing dust into vent holes) and hold the fans still.

[DD*]

I clean my case pretty regularly, but it is probably due. Now that this is front of mind, I seem to recall the stock cooler didn't seem to lock on quite as tightly as I would have expected. I'm betting it may have loosened up a bit; I'll have to take a look this weekend.

[Daehawk]

Theres SO many ways that people say do paste. I tried the card spread method and it worked fine but was a messy pain. Others say a pea and then install others say a line or a X. Me ...for years....just put a drop on then use my clean finger to spread it then.. Its not failed me yet and my temps stay low on air cooling. In fact my current SpinQ cooler is about 8 years old and is really slowing down fan wise yet my i7 2600K is still in the 32c range idle and I think 72c full load. Ill need to replace it one day Im afraid.

[Rip]

Theres SO many ways that people say do paste. I tried the card spread method and it worked fine but was a messy pain. Others say a pea and then install others say a line or a X. Me ...for years....just put a drop on then use my clean finger to spread it then.. Its not failed me yet and my temps stay low on air cooling. In fact my current SpinQ cooler is about 8 years old and is really slowing down fan wise yet my i7 2600K is still in the 32c range idle and I think 72c full load. Ill need to replace it one day Im afraid.

I spread it with my finger as well. Nice thin coat like I was pregreasing a bearing.

[Blackhawk]

I do a half drop on the heatsink, spread it, then remove as much of it as I can possibly manage, followed by a single drop on the CPU itself which I spread evenly. I use either a rubber glove or my finger in a plastic bag. You don't need that stuff on your flesh.

[Daehawk]

Well I try to avoid picking my nose afterwards

[Rip]

I do a half drop on the heatsink, spread it, then remove as much of it as I can possibly manage, followed by a single drop on the CPU itself which I spread evenly. I use either a rubber glove or my finger in a plastic bag. You don't need that stuff on your flesh.

Obviously never been a farmer.

Reminds me of a good joke.

Sailor finishes peeing and heads for the door. Marine says, "In the Marines, they teach us to wash our hands after we piss." Sailor replies, "In the Navy, they teach us not to piss on our hands."

Just to even it out.

As he walks in, he sees a kid standing there. The kid looks up and asks, "Mister, are you a sailor?" The sailor says that he is and asks the kid if he wants to wear his hat. The kids nods his head and puts it on. A minute later, a Marine walks in and goes over to the urinal. The kid looks up and asks, "Mister, are you a Marine?" The Marine says, "Yea, why? You wanna hold my dick or something?" The kid says, "Oh no, I'm not a sailor, I'm just wearing his hat."

[Blackhawk]

I do a half drop on the heatsink, spread it, then remove as much of it as I can possibly manage, followed by a single drop on the CPU itself which I spread evenly. I use either a rubber glove or my finger in a plastic bag. You don't need that stuff on your flesh.

Obviously never been a farmer.

I worked in a small zoo, was a first responder, and have raised three kids through diapers. I've had my hands saturated with more disgusting things than most people know exist. I wasn't talking about gross. I was talking about toxicity and the fact that the stuff is damned near impossible to wash off thoroughly.

[Jeff V]

I just use an old credit card to scrape it as thin as possible.

[Rip]

I do a half drop on the heatsink, spread it, then remove as much of it as I can possibly manage, followed by a single drop on the CPU itself which I spread evenly. I use either a rubber glove or my finger in a plastic bag. You don't need that stuff on your flesh.

Obviously never been a farmer.

I worked in a small zoo, was a first responder, and have raised three kids through diapers. I've had my hands saturated with more disgusting things than most people know exist. I wasn't talking about gross. I was talking about toxicity and the fact that the stuff is damned near impossible to wash off thoroughly.

Hard to wash off yes, toxicity not so much.

http://arcticsilver.com/PDF/thermcom/AS5_MSDS_3.pdf

Less toxic than the oil residue on your dipstick.

[Jeff V]

Less toxic than the oil residue on your dipstick.

How do you know where my dipstick oil comes from?

[DD*]

Pulled the cover off my case today and found my ThermalTake cooler (which I had forgotten I had bought) was basically not attached to the CPU at all. TT uses these chintzy plastic screws to hold the cooler to the motherboard, and pretty much all of them had backed out. Once I tightened them back up, I lost 20C+ from my in-game temps. Still a little warm but I have a new cooler coming and hopefully it will use a better mounting scheme.

[DD*]

Quick update - replaced the grease with /Tuniq TX-4 and reseated the ThermalTake cooler I was using. In-game temps in World of Tanks dropped from high-70s / low-80s (yes it was smoking) to mid-50s. Much better!

[Freyland]

Out of curiosity, what are you using to monitor CPU temps?

[DD*]

Out of curiosity, what are you using to monitor CPU temps?

A little app that runs in the background; the name escapes me at the moment.

[Daehawk]

I use RealTemp.

[stessier]

I use Speccy.

[Daehawk]

I use Speccy.

I didn't know they made one. Love their other stuff. Going to grab that myself.

[Max Peck]

I use MSI Afterburner to monitor CPU/GPU temperatures (among other things).

[GreenGoo]

I did some work this weekend but it doesn't deserve its own thread.

So my secondary computer has been having heat problems. Not a surprise, it's been like 30 degrees C on average all summer (or at least it feels like that), with 2 computers in a small room with no air conditioning and only a single (room) fan going.

It has been bad enough that the motherboard has shut it down many times in self preservation.

So this weekend I opened it up, pulled the cooler (stock) and cpu, cleaned them up, reapplied Arctic Silver, reseated the cpu, connected the cooler and hoped for the best.

In the bios idling, it was running hot. Too hot. Between 50C and 60C. I played around with it (I use openhardwaremonitor to view the temps from the OS) but it was still running hot.

So I opened her up again and took everything apart and noticed some bare(ish) spots on the cooler/cpu contact surfaces where the arctic silver was thin enough to see metal through it. I put another dab on, smoothed it out and then reseated everything again.

But it was still running too hot. There was nothing else for it but to either give up or replace the cooler with something more robust. Since I didn't have a cooler on hand, I just gave up.

About 2 hours later I checked on it and lo and behold, it was running 30 degrees lower than it had been. I had done some reading up on Arctic Silver to see if it had a shelf life (it doesn't) as my tube was old and found out that the AS goes through 3 stages. The initial stage, a secondary stage and a third stage after it has cured for about 200 hours.

So it looks like I just didn't wait long enough for the AS to do it's job. The system is now running just a few degrees above ambient when at idle in the bios, and under light load it's still only hitting 38C. Which is not only not bad, it's freakin' awesome considering the computer is sitting in a sauna of a room.