Arctic Silver 5 is the best thermal compound on the market. There are other types that might be better for specific purposes (Arctic Céramique for example), but for cooling a CPU, this is the best. I've used it extensively for quite a few computer builds as well as a few 'special projects' like replacing the thermal compound on an Asus Formula X48 motherboard's Northbridge and Southbridge heatsinks.
The results are always a 4-10c drop in CPU temperatures under load. You will not notice a huge difference at idle. The real gains in heat dissipation come when the CPU is being pushed. Also, don't trust the board maker's proprietary software to tell you what your temperatures are; download a good program like RealTemp 2.41 or Everest for free (use google to find them). Either will give you more accurate numbers than Asus PC Probe, or whatever software your board manufacturer supplies.
There are some saying Arctic Silver 5 didn't lower their temperatures. That is almost certainly because they're using it incorrectly, which I can understand since the instructions provided are minimally useful. So for those of you who are not familiar with applying thermal paste, here is the process:
1. Remove the old thermal compound. This is accomplished by using Isopropyl alcohol to dissolve and loosen the old thermal paste. I recommend purchasing an ArctiClean kit. For minimal cost it will give you the compound remover, as well as an excellent surface preparer. Apply a several drops of the cleaner to the top of the chip and let it soak for 20-30 seconds. You might have to reapply more drops of cleaner again depending on how much thermal compound was present on the chip to begin with. Wipe all the waste off with a lintless cloth or cotton swabs.
2. Apply a surface cleaner. You can use more alcohol, or the surface preparer that comes in the arctic silver kit. Make sure there are no traces of the old compound: you can tell that the surface is perfectly clean when you can wipe it with a new q-tip and it comes away pure white.
3. Apply Arctic Silver 5. DO NOT USE TOO MUCH! If you do, it will squish outside the edge of the chip, get on your motherboard, the CPU locking mechanism, your hands, etc... It makes a real mess. Start with a small amount and add more if necessary. The idea here is to get a THIN, EVEN LAYER across the entire chip surface. A toothpick actually work's really well at spreading the paste around. You should not be able to see any part of the metal of the chip when you're done. Less is more in this instance; many people think they need to slather this stuff onto the chip, but trust me that does nothing but make a mess.
4. Install your heat sink and fan assembly. I recommend getting an aftermarket heat sink as those provided by Intel are notoriously poor. Zalman makes some great ones. Do NOT buy one that uses push pins to lock in place. You want one with screws and mounting bracket so that it is very securely attached to the motherboard and in turn, your CPU. This is probably equally important to applying the thermal compound correctly, because all the compound in the world won't help you if the heatsink isn't making solid contact with the chip's surface.
If you follow those steps, you will see a massive improvement in your core temps. Just remember that heat dissipation is achieved by the fans in your case and heatsinks, not the compound itelf. The compound simply allows for a much better transfer of heat from chip-->heatsink. I swear by Arctic Silver, and I promise you it works if you use it correctly. Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound
When i built my system i used the stock gel attached to my amd 64 heatsink.running at idle my computer recorded temps from 46-49 C and rising. At first i got a couple of case fans but still i had the same problem.According to amd these temps are normal but i heard of people with systems with much lower temps . i was afriad my system might shut down under heavy gaming.So i went out and bought AS 5 , i can tell you it is the best investment i made on my system. After removing my heatsink i removed the previous thermal gel compound and adding this , then i put my system back together and started up and .. Wow my idle temps dropped to 41 C and stayed there ,after playing half life for 15 minutes i found the temps only increased to 45 C.there is a break in period for the gel which is 200 hours, after that the gel is optimized and artic silver claims the temps will drop even more (4-12 C).It has solved my heat issue, for the cost under 10 dollars.I guess i don't need watercooling after all.Even if you arn't into gaming
this will protect your computer processor and help it run more effciently.
My cpu isn't frying, so I guess it's working.... I haven't noticed a significant drop in cpu temps like so many other people claim to have with this product. I have used this on at least 5 processors too. I've tried different methods of applying this stuff and re-seating the HSF, but I never can get results that many other people claim to get. - Cpu Grease - Thermal Paste - Cpu Coolers - Cooling'
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