Questions about heatsink fan

[pillar]

Ok I just got my motherboard & cpu in 2day, but after checking out the heatsink fan for the intel cpu, I found something rather weird. In the copper area on the bottom of the heatsink fan, I found 3 strips that look to be the thermal paste. Do you guys think this will be enough? If needed, I will take a pic of the bottom of it just so you guys can help me further. Also I checked out some vids on how 2 apply AS5 on a cpu. The video said to only put a dab of the material on the cpu. Is only a dab enough for the cpu to properly work because it just doesnt seem like that would be enough? I know that I dont want to overdo it, but then again I dont wanna under do it. Any comments/suggestions would be greatly appreciative!!

P.S. I wont install the heatsink fan on top of the cpu until I feel confident enough by your words.

 

[Frank Booth]

Spend some money and get arctic silver 5. That is the best there is if you install it right. Almost 2000 ratings 91 % 5 stars. I would use that with a Zalman cooler.

[link=hyperlink url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835100007[/link]

[blockquote]Product Rating: Rating + 5Rating + 5Rating + 5Rating + 5Rating + 5
Total Reviews: 1956[/blockquote]

 

[Ephyu]

The bottom of the stock cooler will have a cheaply made default thermal paste on it. I'd recommend carefully wiping this off (don't scratch the heat sink) with something that won't leave fibers behind. Then apply quality thermal compound. And yes, a dab is enough. Thermal compound is intended only to fill the tiny, inevitable gaps between the processor and heat sink as well as filling irregularities and scratches. If the heat sink is applied properly and hasn't been damaged, these gaps should be nearly microscopic. More than a tiny dab would either create more material for the heat to try and pass through (a bad thing) or cause it to leak out around the processor base. In the case of a conductive thermal compound such as AS5, this could damage your processor or motherboard by shorting it.

AS5 actually isn't the best. [link=http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186020]Arctic Cooling's thermal compound[/link] is non-conductive (meaning, applying too much won't ruin your computer by shorting something out if it drips) and performs better.

Same with Zalman. Zalman and Thermaltake get name-dropped a lot because they're the expensive, "fancy" brands. They perform okay, but you can get just-as-good, if not better performance out of a much cheaper cooler. If you're using a AMD processor, use [link=http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185125]this[/link]. If using an Intel processor, use [link=http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186134]this[/link].

 

[Parallax]

Be sure to use rubbing alcohol to clean both the top CPU surface and the heat sync's contact surface if you're working with equipment that's already been installed using a heat conducting paste.

Additionally, a dab is all that is recommended because - even with the most non-conductive thermal paste - too much paste will provide enough material to provide conductivity for electrical discharges in your system. I myself use an X pattern across the CPU's contact surface to ensure that there is a reasonable distribution across the CPU so no distinct arrays are disadvantaged when conducting heat to the heat sync.

 

[Frank Booth]

I like the Zalman for the all copper construction. I have the huge one on my 775, almost one kilogram of copper. I have 3.4 Ghz HT and it runs very hot, 70 Celsius or so; my cooler keeps it under 60. The thermal conductivity of copper makes it ideal - better then gold less then silver. That the paste is not conductive i am not sure it enhances its properties. Could not find specs on the MX2 to compare it to the AS5. The performs better part i can only see less then 2 degrees improvement on the AS5 from their site, but i cannot find independent sources. 1.5 degree is a margin that can disappear easily.


[blockquote]
It should be noted that AS5, although slightly conductive and capacitive, is not as great a danger to electronics as believed. Its ability to capacitively couple adjacent traces only becomes a problem under high pressure. This is one of the reasons the Ceramique compound was developed.
[/blockquote]

 

[/dev/null]

I use AS on all of my builds - personal, family, etc. Good stuff. You will need to scrape the thermal pad off of the bottom. I use a pen cap from a bic, or something soft like that to remove the junk. Also a bit of isopropyl alcohol helps remove the old junk.

 

[pillar]

well the cpu & heatsink fan worked, but mobo had issue w/ hd so im havin 2 rma it & replace it w/ another mobo ( & for some odd reason newegg is chargin me a restocking fee to replace the mobo which is whack) but ya im thinkin of gettin the arctic cooling freezer 7 heatsink fan.

 

[-nocturne=-]

Just a bit of advice... I wouldn't use normal rubbing alcohol to clean the base -- the household stuff has 'salts' added to it for balance, and you'll never quite get it squeky clean. Acetone is a good thing to use, but solvent-grade ethyl alcohol is the best.

While you have the HSF off, you might as well also lap it. Very simple to do... just buy a few different grades of aluminum oxide sandpaper, and you'll be done in less than 5 minutes. There's plenty of guide out there (even videos on youtube), so I don't feel the need to go into much detail about it.