Best Thermal Grease/Paste?

M

|MaguS|

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Jun 6, 2004
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Which one is the best, I have seen most people use Arctic Silver 5. Are there any better?
 
lapping your heat sink and then using as5 is better then as5 alone :p
 
I'm putting in my vote for Ceramique as well. It's non-conductive, easier to remove, and performes just as good when applied correctly.

I also second ryuji's comment on lapping the heatsink to make sure it's flat. I even lap the processor heat spreader as a lot of other people do.
 
even slks need a good lapp. the only heat sink that i have noticed that lapping is (maybe) truely optional is the zalman 7000 alcu. i felt that and it is damn smooth (dont mean it cant be made better)
 
its not that hard, get some 2000 grit sand paper, a very hard and flat surface (mirror), water the sand paper and do circle 8s. dont put much pressure and let it work till u got a reflective base.
 
|MaguS| said:
What tool would I use?
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your hand, i actually tape the sand paper to a table and move the heat sink ontop of it.. banging/dusting off the sand paper every one in a while.. probably not kosher but works for me
 
|MaguS| said:
What tool would I use?
Click to expand...

Hands, sandpaper, and a flat surface are the only tools you need.

You put the sandpaper on a flat surface, wet it (get wet sanding paper), and begin moving the heatsink in figure 8's across it. The water provides lubrication and also prevents the copper/aluminum from clogging the paper. Remember to rinse the heatsink and sandpaper frequently to remove the metal particles (this prevents scratching the lapped surface if the metal builds up in one spot). The whole process levels the bottom surface or the heatsink to better mate with the processor.

I would also reccoment starting out with something coarser than 2000 grit paper. If the heatsink hasn't been lapped from the factory I would start with 1000 grit, then 1500 grit, then move to the 2000 grit. You can get all three at Pep Boys or most other auto stores (in the paint/body aisle).

As soon as you start sanding you will begin to notice anomolies appear in the heatsink bottom. The sanding will reveal high spots (shiny), and the low spots will remain a little duller. As you get to the point of removing the anomolies move to the next higher grit paper. After reaching the 2000 grit all of the deeper grooves from sanding will be gone. For a final finish I always flip the sandpaper over and use the plain paper side. It serves to polish the lapped surface, and do a fine deburring that the grit side can't do. It's an old trick taken from the days of strait razors and barbor shops... they used a leather strap to finely hone the razor blade (remove burrs after sharpening on a stone).

Happy lapping!
 
I just use some thick generic white stuff. I know AS & AC, etc.. are better, but the difference is so small I figure its not worth the extra money for 1-2 degrees. I bought a tub of my stuff for like $6. And it will probably last me for 200 CPU applications. Which is more than I will probably ever do in my lifetime even!
 
i suggest u start on some older heatsinks first to get the feel, you dont want to screw up an slk
 
yea, most definately lap older heatsinks to practice on
the top performing thermal grease is probably AS5 but i still use and buy ASC b/c i feel that its the easiest to apply and its safer b/c it is not conductive
 
Good luck in lapping. It will make a difference. Just take it slow and don't put pressure on the heatsink when lapping. Doing that will only clog the sandpaper and make it skip across the paper too. It'sa common mistake. Even I did it the first try or two.
 
I use Shin Etsu for my girl's setup (AMD Mobile 2400+) and at idel her rig is chillin at 32C and case temp. is 28C.

Edit: O yea, her CPU I OCed to about a 3200+ speed.
 
Definately be careful with it. And I don't recommend trying it with one that doesn't have a solid base...I tried it once with a copper core in the heatsink, then the rest was alminum or whatever it is. It didn't turn out well...

And as for paste, I prefer Shin Etsu. After 3-4 days, it usually beats most it not all the competition.
 
I've used both ceramique and AS5 but can't tell a performance difference between 'em.
 
I guess i'll come out and be the first advocate of Nanotherm PCM+. If MBM5 reported my case temp at 27-28C when idle, my cpu temp would be at 29-30C (amd64 3000+@2350mhz, 1.6v). Otherwise it would idle at 32C.

However, when at full load, it would get up to 51C according to MBM, a pretty big difference if you ask me from idle to full load...oh, and im using an SLK-948U and a 92mm Sunon.
 
AS5 to me was a mistake. Very difficult to apply correctly so I quite using it. I used the thermal paste that came with my Cooler Master Hyper 6.
 
sharko said:
lapping kit
Click to expand...

Forget the lapping "kit", you can get more sandpaper if you just go to Pep Boys, and you can get it for less ($2.95 for a pack of 4 1/2 sheets). That's about $10 for a pack of 1000, 1500, and 2000 grit papers.

Same goes for a lot of other "modding" supplies.
 
I use Artic Silver 5. I like to do the following with a new waterblock/heatsink. I lap it.Then I apply Artic Silver to it and rub it in the base as hard as I can with latex gloves and my finger until the base is a dull gray. I then heat up the base with a cigarette lighter. Don't burn it, just heat it up. I then repeat the process. This melts the Artic Silver into the invisible pores of the metal. I then apply a very thin coat to the CPU using a razor blade (very carefully). This really isn't necessary for most people. I super cool my system so my cpu never gets hot enough to actually melt it in on it's own.
 
DanThePlanMan said:
I use Artic Silver 5. I like to do the following with a new waterblock/heatsink. I lap it.Then I apply Artic Silver to it and rub it in the base as hard as I can with latex gloves and my finger until the base is a dull gray. I then heat up the base with a cigarette lighter. Don't burn it, just heat it up. I then repeat the process. This melts the Artic Silver into the invisible pores of the metal. I then apply a very thin coat to the CPU using a razor blade (very carefully). This really isn't necessary for most people. I super cool my system so my cpu never gets hot enough to actually melt it in on it's own.
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nice info, imma try that the next time i pull off my heatsink
 
I went and had a small sheet of glass cut at a local glass shop, to lapp on. It works pretty good.

The only thing better, is a granite inspection table.
 
GoHack said:
I went and had a small sheet of glass cut at a local glass shop, to lapp on. It works pretty good.

The only thing better, is a granite inspection table.
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I was thinking of having a local machine shop mill and grind a piece of steel .5x6x9 inches for me to lap on. Don't know what that would cost though. Now where the heck would I get a granite inspection table? Gonna google it an about 2 minuits...
 
I like NTE303 paste. It works as good as AS5 and is much easier to clean up. Plus it doesn't dry up.
 
PsycoGeek said:
I was thinking of having a local machine shop mill and grind a piece of steel .5x6x9 inches for me to lap on. Don't know what that would cost though. Now where the heck would I get a granite inspection table? Gonna google it an about 2 minuits...
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I was simply pointing out that a sheet of glass is pretty flat as a comparison to a granite inspection table. :rolleyes:

By the way, I foregot about lapping plates. ;)
 
GoHack said:
I was simply pointing out that a sheet of glass is pretty flat as a comparison to a granite inspection table. :rolleyes:

By the way, I foregot about lapping plates. ;)
Click to expand...

Yeah, but you put an idea into my head. And I was just saying I had a similar idea, only in metal... Found a few granite plates on ebay I may bid on. 9x12.. nice size for lapping.
 
my vote is for nanotherm xtc. no money so no modding *yet* :D but i will when i have the ca$h.
 
On the newer processors with the heatspreaders over the core is it really that hard to lap them anymore? Back in the day I remember people actually lapping the exposed cores very carefully, the heatspreaders seem like cake compared.
 
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