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what to expect with arctic silver?

post #1 of 33
6/5/04 at 10:00pm
Thread Starter 
I just applied some AS5 to my heatsink and CPU, but I think I did a pretty cruddy job of it. It seemed to start out okay, after starting up the temp rose very very slowly and I had to wait a long time for the fans to kick in! Later using henrik's maxfan I was able to get it down to 41 degrees (usually could only keep it at 44-45 with that) However after having it no for a while now, it seems to not want to cool down. It idles at about 46-45 with maxfan now. Is this normal and should I just wait a while after it cools down and becomes more effective, or should I re-apply it?

I think the coat may not have been even enough, and I shifted the heatsink slightly when putting it in.
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post #2 of 33
6/5/04 at 10:25pm
i just put some on last night, now i idle around 45-47 w/o maxfan....with it, i get as low as 38 at idle.
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post #3 of 33
6/5/04 at 10:40pm
Thread Starter 
How did you get the coat on evenly? I spread it on with the edge of my library card but it made parts that were not quite even. I think I'll try re-applying it with a razor blade.
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post #4 of 33
6/6/04 at 12:43am
mine was like that too...some areas had less than other. My laptop is also elevated a good 2 inches from the desk...which might be a factor.
I think you should be alright...what were your temps before u put the AS on it?

PS...I cant remember what model of 8890 i got....i think it is 8890-v, its got the 3.2 and 1gig ram, is that what u have?
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post #5 of 33
6/6/04 at 2:43am
Thread Starter 
Lower, actually, so that's why I'm almost certain I did something wrong. Probably the coat isn't thick enough. I have one like yours.
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post #6 of 33
6/6/04 at 3:30am
Thread Starter 
Well, I got someone who knows nothing about computers but is more coordinated than me and had a razor blade to do it. My advice : use a razor blade, not your crappy library card.It spread much more evenly this time and is actually cooling down. It's taking a while but it's doing it, I'm hoping I just need to break it in for a few days. I was able to get it down to 38 with maxfan and it has not yet gone above 57 (it used to IDLE at 55) Well, so much for that since I just got it to go to 61. We'll see in a few days if I did something terribly wrong.
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post #7 of 33
6/6/04 at 8:32am
Violet, Just FYI: Using anything other than your finger to do it is unnecessary and may create an uneven coating. The way I do this is to squeeze a little blob onto the center of the processor. The blob should be no bigger than a grain of rice, say. The, using and up/down "patting" motion (ok, no wisecracks ;-), I "dab" the goo across the entire surface of the processor. You should feel it sort of pulling away, in a sticky way, from your finger. Up/down patting. Once you do this, you will know exactly what I mean. It can't be easily described. Again: no more than a grain of rice. You are looking for a VERY THIN EVEN coating. too much is bad and useless and could cause it to leak out from the side of the processor. When you are done, you should actually be able to see your fingerprints in the goo.

Hope that helps.

Disclaimer: I am sure other people use other methods than this, but this is one that I found described somewhere and it works quite well.
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post #8 of 33
6/6/04 at 11:11am
do NOT ever use your bare finger to apply thermal paste.
the oil from your fingers will **** up [H]ard your temps.
If you want to use your finger, put a plastic bag (ex; Ziploc) over!
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post #9 of 33
6/6/04 at 11:38am

Umm..

A very quick google search turned up this, from The heatsink guide

Quote:
How should I use heat sink grease?

You should apply a very thin (paper thin) layer on the heatsink with your finger before installing it. Don't use too much - the thinner the layer, the better. Then press the heatsink firmly on the CPU. Thermal compound is a very nasty substance, it is sticky and kind of hard to clean off your fingers. It does not conduct electricity, so don't panic if you spill small amounts of it on the CPU's pins. Thermal compound does not get hard, it will stay sticky for years. You could even reuse it when you buy a new CPU. I have read that somebody claimed that the "grease" would indeed dry or break down chemically, which I doubt, because silicon doesn't dry and is chemically very stable. In any case, even if it would dry, it would still leave the active ingredient there and would still perform its function.
And this is not the original source that I got the technique from.. more searching will turn up other references.

This is not to say that a bag is a bad idea. The arctic silver site suggests this, but I can tell you that the bare finger is, in reality, fine. I have done this many times with perfect temps every time. But again, use a bag if desired. At least you wont have to wash your finger off afterwards!
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post #10 of 33
6/6/04 at 5:14pm
Thread Starter 
Well, if that's what works for you, that's fine..I think the razor blade worked very well and the technique in the 5670 or something.

What I am worring about now is any goop on the edge of the CPU. Can it drip down if it's only a very small amount? I don't want to have to open it and re-apply it but if this means my computer will be damaged in a few months when it drips down, I guess I should. I know I didn't use too much but I may have gotten some on the side.

It seems that my fans are still always on, but I"m going to chalk that up to the fact that it's really hot right now. At least it's cooler.
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post #11 of 33
6/6/04 at 7:18pm
violet, The goop is non-conductive, so that should not be an immediate short type of problem. If there was a whole ton of it extra it could possibley leak into an area where it shouldn't be, I suppose. Depends on how much there was that squished out. This guide is very good. Like I said before, you only need the thinnest coating possible that completely covers the chip top.
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post #12 of 33
6/7/04 at 4:41pm
Thread Starter 
Yup, it was very thin and very even...how come the fans are still always on and I'm on 55-52 a lot..*cries*
Hopefully it's the insane hot weather.

Could anyone tell me possibly how I could have bungled this and made it run hotter than it should? I cleared the heatsink and processor very thorougly, and rubbed some AS into the heatsink, then put a very thin even coating of AS on the processor.
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post #13 of 33
6/8/04 at 3:09pm
the best instructions are from arctic silvers website. use eludwig's link. and dont skip any steps.
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post #14 of 33
6/8/04 at 3:20pm
As per the instructions found on Arctic Silver's website:
Quote:
DO NOT use your bare finger to apply or smooth the compound (skin cells, and oils again)
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post #15 of 33
6/14/04 at 2:46am
I cant figure out why your temps are so high... What are the temps in the area that you live at? Casue I live in Okinawa, Japan (tropical island) and with a "stock" 8890-v, no AS or anything, w/ maxfan idle at 36C and run no higher than 55C after hours of gaming. I did have a problem with mine running really hot before I figured out that I needed to clean my heatsink, was ideling at 55C and running at 73C after 3 mins of Counter-Strike!! Im trying to think if your processor is overworking itself with unnecessary processes or something??
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post #16 of 33
6/14/04 at 2:50am
Thread Starter 
36c?? I've never heard anyone go that low even with maxfan.

It has gotten to around 90 degrees F around here. It's not TERRIBLY hot...

And my heatsink must be fairly clean because I just cleaned it to apply the AS.

I'm just going to wait the break in time to see if it gets any better.
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post #17 of 33
6/14/04 at 3:10am
Thread Starter 
Also, I do not have any processes running in the background really, is having around 95-96 idle process too low?
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post #18 of 33
6/14/04 at 3:33am
36c is my typical idle/browsing temp with maxfan on my 8890, Violet. I've hit as low as 27c, so it's not that odd. I figure I could squeeze another degree or two out of it, but I removed the back feet from my system and replaced them with two of the feet used on the front of the system to give it a lower profle and to keep them from stabbing into my legs when I'm lapping.

-Hal
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post #19 of 33
6/14/04 at 3:38am
Normally if if I turn maxfan on and just and watch it at idle, it will get to 38C, bu the times Ive seen it at 36C is when I left it just sitting there with maxfan on and went and did other stuff for a couple hours. Id come back kick the screen saver off and it would be at 36C, now as soon as I moving the mouse around opening windows it would go to 37~38C. Actually I belive Ive had it at 34C once, it was one of the times it was siting at 36C and I wanted to see if I could get it lower, so I lifted the lappy off the desk and possitioned it so an oscialting fan was blowing on the intake fans... I still cant think of what would make your core run so warm.... I know you said you cleaned the heatsink, did you check to see if there was and build-up on the fans, clean that if there is anything. About the only thing I can say is try wiping the contacting surfaces on the heatsink/cpu really really clean and see what turns up...
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post #20 of 33
6/14/04 at 5:25am
Thread Starter 
Gosh, what is wrong with my system??
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