I did the A-silver III on my Area51m based on the sager models.. I found that the heatsink is alot diffrent then those shown on GE's pictures. I have knoticed a few things when doing this..

1. when I removed the heatsink the cpu stuck to the sink and came out of the socket.. [I though I had destroyed the cpu/mobo with that]

2nd. when I did the mod I knoticed that the temps @ idol got higher but when the fans kicked in it actuly droped the temps LOW I hit 39* C idel with the fans blowing..

3rd. Before hand with running games and cpu burn in test before the bod I could hit over 70*c now I never go over 62*c

Im going to redo the mod with some Asilver 5 as soon as I can get some and will post the review..

Thanks for your help..

By the way if you look at the keyboard in the pictures that is just my backup keyboard for if my wireless KB batteries go dead hehe.. I haven't used it in ages

No prob...I'm glad you could use the info!! Have you got around to doing this with the AS5 yet? I ask because if the temp difference is significant then I'm going to redo mine with 5 also

For the love of crap can we please make this sticky.

I'm a little confused... I'm ready to do the whole shebang to my 5670, but when I opened it up, I saw that the fans were connected to what I assumed is the heatsink. I just need a little clarification: on the 5670, are the fans attatched? It appears to be so on the alienware in the picture. Thanks!

If you haven't removed anything yet, then I would assume if fans such as the ones in the Alienware pics are attached to it, then it is probably the heatsink. Look for things such as mounting springs or hints that would point to it being the heatsink. Can we get verification from a 5670 owner?

Get a copy of the 5670 and 5680 service manuals. That will provide a definitive answer. From the CLEVO's mouth, so to speak.

I shoulda said that to begin with lol

Well, I've got some AS5 coming in the mail now, so before long I'll see if we can get some temperature drops going...

lapped my heat sink, I couldn't believe how uneven it was, it took about an hour.

applied artic silver 5.

I also lapped my processor (ever so gently)

I have never checked the temp, but the fans come on less often, and when they do it is very short lived.

My heat sink was like the one pictured above (green alienware) I just removed the fans 3 screws apiece and went to work.

I found a good way to limit the amout of artic silver was to apply it to the cpu evenly, and then put the heat synk in place and wiggle it.
then remove the heat synk and wipe clean

I would repeat this process until when I removed the heat synk it and the processor only had a thin layer of artic silver on it.

Glad to hear the positive results robjen! I've been meaning to redo mine with AS5 instead of AS3 but the homework is starting to pile on...

Great tips also!

Just be sure to notice the term "VERY GENTLY" when he refers to lapping the cpu die. That's livin' life on the edge

here is something from the arctic silver site:

Important Reminder:
Due to the unique shape and sizes of the particles in Arctic Silver's conductive matrix, it will take a up to 200 hours and several thermal cycles to achieve maximum particle to particle thermal conduction and for the heatsink to CPU interface to reach maximum conductivity. (This period will be longer in a system without a fan on the heatsink or with a low speed fan on the heatsink.) On systems measuring actual internal core temperatures via the CPU's internal diode, the measured temperature will often drop 2C to 5C over this "break-in" period. This break-in will occur during the normal use of the computer as long as the computer is turned off from time to time and the interface is allowed to cool to room temperature. Once the break-in is complete, the computer can be left on if desired.

it sounds like the break in is achieved through heating up and subsequent cool downs when turning the machine on and off. also, 200 hrs would be about 25 days if you were to have the computer on for 8 hours a day.

Exactly right. That said, though, the actual temp drops from the AS5 settling won't be very significant and will be more visible when under load than when idle.

Thanks for the extra info, thenoser!

After i did this Thermal Compound on my Laptop My fans are on most of the time but its not hot or even worm air coming out so i dont know why they are on but its sliteley worm aim coming out wile playing games like COD(1280x1024), BF1942(124x768), Marrowwind(1600x1200) in all games Details are maxed but i might open her back up to see if i did it wrong...

You don't want a big gob of thermal goo...only enough to fill in the nooks and crannies that the lapping doesn't get. Even w/ 3000 grit paper, you'll have tiny valleys, etc. As to wet/dry, I don't see a problem. IMO, the main reason to go w/ wet sanding is to help lubricate the heatsink so that it doesn't catch as you move it on the paper -- insures a better lapping. But dry is fine as well.

OK when i lapped the heatsink i for got to use water on the sandpaper will that effect any thing at all????