ComputerBB

Let me first start off by saying that when I first built my system, I was not using any thermal paste. I was running an Athlon 1.33GHz CPU on a Thermaltake Volcano 6Cu+ and I was getting temperatures of around 60 degrees (centigrade) at idle. After reading many online forums and trying to overclock a little, I realized that my cooling solution was at best, sub par. I decided to bite the bullet and buy some thermal compound. I went to the local radio shack and decided to buy that white stuff that comes in a tube. I went home and applied a thick layer of the stuff. That was a bad move. The temperatures were higher with a thick glob of thermal paste than with no thermal paste. I then redid the thermal paste, added a thin layer this time, and the temperatures were much better.

After about a year or so, I upgraded processors from an Athlon 1.33GHz to an Athlon XP 2100+. Needless to say, the old heatsink just wouldn't cut it. I decided to buy a Thermalright Heatsink and some Arctic Silver 3. That was possibly the BEST decision I have made with PC cooling ever. With the new combination, my computer had a faster and much cooler CPU.

Remember, when applying any thermal grease, always use very thin layers.

Yes, and you need the thermal paste to conduct heat between the CPU and the heatsink

Huh. I get 40C from my P4 2.4C wiht the retail heatsink with no paste, etc.

Put paste on man.. That isnt good that you dont have thermal paste on

40C isn't bad either.

It isnt, but it would be alot safer with thermal paste because something might go wrong, and your CPU will fry

Intel CPU's do not fry. They shut down until they are cool enough to run again. Plus, I have warranty.

40C is terrible for non-OCed, well cooled house, no clustering, passive (not %100), and Intel CPU.

My CPU is OCed 25% in a poorly insulated house in a room of 4-5 active computers all at %100 usage. 3/5 of those CPUs are Athlon XPs. Plus I have a heavy duty Video Card pumping out heat. And I am only 56C.

When I had my PC in my room with all the other conditions active, it was 35C.

Why are you assuming that I have a well cooled house?

I am in a nicly cooled house, 73-73 with an Overclocked P4 2.4C to 2.8C and my CPU is running at 36c

Because I have been in your house.

It is like truly 90F in this room.

Your house is like 70F.

Edit: Opps, sorry.

Do you mean farenheit

My thermostat says 82.

It is still less than 90F.

I've been to your house. It is 78, or sometimes 79.

That is the temperature of the house, not the computer room.

CCB056 in the computer room says, "It is 90F in here."

How do you live like that?

I've never used anything but Artic Silver. The guy who built my first comp (as I watched) told me it was the best, I researched it and agreed.. So I stuck with it.

Artic Silver 5 is by far the most superior thermal compund on the market today, hands down.

I recently switched from Artic Silver 3 and my temps dropped an additonal 4*c

I have friends who use the stock "thermal pad" that comes on an AMD heatsink.. and I always get to hear about how they "need" to switch over to a water cooling system. If they too switched to Artic Silver 5, they could save a couple hundred dollars

Artic Silver 5 isnt the solution maybe for their issues

What do you mean from that.
4C is amazing from Artic Silver 3 to Artic Silver 5

I think that the best combination of heatsink, fan, and thermal compound are these:
Deep Impact (DP-102)
Dual 80mm Aluminum Fans
And of course, Artic Silver 5

It costs only $93 (w/o shipping) and makes a great Birthday or Christmas gift.

Yeah, I'll give someone thermal paste for their birthday. lol

Can you give it to me?
I only have Artic Silver 3.
I like 30C!

I need some too!

Only one thing concerns me about the Deep Impact.. the size of it. I'd truely hate to order the darn thing and then find out I have clearance issues with my Asus A7N8X-E, and have to RMA it back to Newegg

I've been using the Swiftech and I think I'll stand by it's performance. Paired with a 92mm Tornado to it (on a fan controller) and it's almost unbeatable, as far as conventional HS/fan combos are concerned.

I have used Radio Shack Thermal Paste since I first started building computers, and it has always shown superior performance. I've even researched it (due to the nagging little voice that says cheapness doesn't always pay) and I have always found that side-by-side testing of high-performance and overclocking always shows Radio Shack's *now discontinued* Thermal Paste to be superior to almost all other pastes, and when compared to, say, the overprice Arctic Paste, it's a great bang for your buck if you don't want your buck to go bang. Later on I might post the latest article I have found on the issue. The point is that once upon a time you could save a lot of money and time by running down to Radio Shack... now, they've affilated and taken a pay-off (my opinion) and forced us to go outside of well-budgeted spending for simple cooling.

My Two Cents... later I'll make it a Nickel.

Well, to each his own.. I guess. I know you won't find any Radio Shack shizz inside my case.

It's Artic Silver 3 or 5 for me.. and NOTHING else!

I use the thermal paste that spire makes..lol

The radio shack stuff can be better if you use a very thick layer of AS3 or AS5. You always want to use THIN layers.

Right, the paste, ceramique, is just meant to fill in any gaps that would be between heatsink and die/heatspreader. Since the heat spreader/heatsink probably arent perfectly smooth. If applied properly, AS should be better, since Silver is a better conductor and it is made with some silver in it :\

monte84 wrote: If applied properly, AS should be better, since Silver is a better conductor and it is made with some silver in it :\

Contains 99.9% pure silver:
Arctic Silver 5 uses three unique shapes and sizes of pure silver particles to maximize particle-to-particle contact area and thermal transfer.

That's just a wee bit more than some

Conclusion
Arctic Silver 5 is by far the best thermal compound on the market, at least here in Norway. We don't believe we exaggerate if we say that Arctic Silver 5 will be the thermal compound most overclockers will use in the time to come - unless there should come some other stuff that proves to be better on the market, of course.

Arctic Silver 5 receives two awards: "Recommended" and "Editor's Choice" for superior performance.

Quotes taken from http://www.overklokking.no/annet/arctic ... index.html... and Monte, of course.

A comparison of thermal compunds can he found Here