How Often Do I Replace Thermal Compound?

[faxon]

:laugh: i bet you half the people here wont even get that to boot.

 

[Gillbot]

ZOMG, next will be Di-Hydrogen Monoxide cooling!

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: Idontcare

Originally posted by: Zap
make sure that the nitrogen is around 75% pure.

I personally spend a little extra and go for the 78% purity stuff when it comes to my nitrogen of choice for tire inflation.

Since tire pressure is measured in pounds, I use weight. Good luck with your volume measurement, bwahahahahaha!

Originally posted by: Gillbot
ZOMG, next will be Di-Hydrogen Monoxide cooling!

Shhhhh, NDA... remember? Sheesh, next thing you'll be writing for Fud or Inq.

 

[ch33zw1z]

Originally posted by: laezyre
I used AS5. Maybe it's time to replace it. Last I read, using a plastic scraping device and rubbing alcohol and q-tips worked. My room temp is warmer now in the spring. It's about 75-77 F, and this winter it was about 70-72 F. I'm going to do a better job of dusting this weekend. With my setup, what core temps should I expect?

One final disclosure: After I applied the AS5, it appeared that I had used too much. I used a clean paper towel(I know, stupid move) and wiped off about half. That was in April of 2008.

Thanks for the help.


E8400 cpu with vendetta II with AS5 thermal paste
and bolt thru kit
msi 8800 GT
G-Skill 4 gig memory
WD 250 gig sata HD
MB ga-p35ds3l rev. 2
psu 430 Watt (can't recall, but good brand)

Only thing you forgot to list is your case . It sounds like you may want to reapply the AS5. Are you familiar with the method Artic Silver suggests? HERE I use AS5, and a TRUE. this method works good for me. It has taken a couple applications before to get the best results...due to user error

 

[laezyre]

Thanks for rescuing the thread and for the link.

My case is a mid tower cooler master centurion. I really like it except that is has no removable MB tray. Can anyone suggest a good case that has that? I know I should ask that in cases and cooling, but you guys are talking about leaf blower jobs and tire pressure.....

 

[seemingly random]

Originally posted by: laezyre
Thanks for rescuing the thread and for the link.

My case is a mid tower cooler master centurion. I really like it except that is has no removable MB tray. Can anyone suggest a good case that has that? I know I should ask that in cases and cooling, but you guys are talking about leaf blower jobs and tire pressure.....

Removable mb tray cases don't seem as magical as they once were for me. I'm not sure why - maybe cases are designed differently so that there aren't obstructions to inserting the mb + cpu + hsf. You're either screwing with the mb or the mb tray. You'll notice that there aren't many offerings at, say, newegg. They would certainly offer them if there was a demand for them.

And, people are being reserved only talking about tire pressure and not rim jobs.

 

[ch33zw1z]

Originally posted by: laezyre
Thanks for rescuing the thread and for the link.

My case is a mid tower cooler master centurion. I really like it except that is has no removable MB tray. Can anyone suggest a good case that has that? I know I should ask that in cases and cooling, but you guys are talking about leaf blower jobs and tire pressure.....

I currently use a P182, no removable mobo tray but it's a small price to pay for the airflow you get. I had a Lian Li PC 60 USB prior, great case and had a removable mobo tray. It was louder than the P182, but was an excellent case overall. IMHO, removable mobo cases are overrated. How many case fans can you fit in the CM?

 

[craftech]

Originally posted by: seemingly random

Originally posted by: laezyre
Thanks for rescuing the thread and for the link.

My case is a mid tower cooler master centurion. I really like it except that is has no removable MB tray. Can anyone suggest a good case that has that? I know I should ask that in cases and cooling, but you guys are talking about leaf blower jobs and tire pressure.....

Removable mb tray cases don't seem as magical as they once were for me. I'm not sure why - maybe cases are designed differently so that there aren't obstructions to inserting the mb + cpu + hsf. You're either screwing with the mb or the mb tray. You'll notice that there aren't many offerings at, say, newegg. They would certainly offer them if there was a demand for them.

And, people are being reserved only talking about tire pressure and not rim jobs.

One thing the removable trays provide is an easy way to support the board when you insert the CPU fan pins. You can more easily prevent the board from flexing and you can see if the pins are going into the holes without accidentally separating the plastic split ends when you push down.

John

 

[Idontcare]

Originally posted by: seemingly random

Originally posted by: laezyre
Thanks for rescuing the thread and for the link.

My case is a mid tower cooler master centurion. I really like it except that is has no removable MB tray. Can anyone suggest a good case that has that? I know I should ask that in cases and cooling, but you guys are talking about leaf blower jobs and tire pressure.....

Removable mb tray cases don't seem as magical as they once were for me. I'm not sure why - maybe cases are designed differently so that there aren't obstructions to inserting the mb + cpu + hsf. You're either screwing with the mb or the mb tray. You'll notice that there aren't many offerings at, say, newegg. They would certainly offer them if there was a demand for them.

And, people are being reserved only talking about tire pressure and not rim jobs.

I have a few cases with removable mobo trays...absolutely LOVED them and the convenience they provide...but that was before I got into using aftermarket HSF like the Tuniq. Ever since then my removable trays have become absolutely worthless to me.

Now if they would make the tower case itself another inch or two wider so my HSF could slip thru the opening in the back then a removable tray would become value-add to me again...although I mus acknowledge that as soon as a wider case dimension became the standard then the HSF guys would just make HSF's that were an another 2" taller and defeat the whole purpose again.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Originally posted by: Idontcare

Originally posted by: BonzaiDuck
AS5 is supposed to slowly degrade over time, but I doubt this would require attention to "replacement."

According to the documents it gets "better" over the first 200hrs. There's nothing on their website discussing replacement period or that it degrades in any manner.

I'm not trying to call shens or BS or anything, I'm just perplexed that if this is true then you'd think the producer would actually have it documented and in their manuals or usage guidance.

And since it isn't there (I've looked, me no find it), it begs the question "who" decided this info is correct and factual?

Good point. I must've read that either here on the forums more than once, or here and another forum. I saw it SOMEWHERE. It might even have been in an IC Diamond promotion, forum or some discussion of longevity for nano-diamond versus silver-based TIMs.

I stopped using AS5 in favor of either homemade nano-diamond TIM or the IC Diamond. Maybe I had AS5 as a TIM without replacement for a little under 2 years, never noticing (or measuring) any degradation. But I DID measure the difference of IC Diamond over AS5 for a Conroe and Kentsfield core (and their respective thermal wattage), so I stick to the former.

 

[daw123]

Originally posted by: Gillbot

ZOMG, next will be Di-Hydrogen Monoxide cooling!

Oh no, not Di-Hydrogen Monoxide - use at your peril!!! :Q

Even a politician wanted it banned (this is hilarious).

 

[laezyre]

I'm using a rear case fan positioned exactly behind my vendetta 2 exhaust flow. The push-pull thing. I have a side intake fan as well.

So the AS5 is the only TIM that needs to be changed on a regular basis? Just my luck..

 

[Idontcare]

Originally posted by: laezyre
I'm using a rear case fan positioned exactly behind my vendetta 2 exhaust flow. The push-pull thing. I have a side intake fan as well.

So the AS5 is the only TIM that needs to be changed on a regular basis? Just my luck..

No. You don't change it for the sake of changing it. If you happen to have your HSF removed for any reason then yeah go ahead and clean it up and apply new AS5.

But don't remove your HSF for the sole purpose of removing and re-applying AS5 just because its been there for a while.

 

[Zenoth]

Originally posted by: Modelworks
If you really want the best thermal connection, use what they did on the voyager probe that is still functioning after almost 30 years and billions of light years away.
Gold leaf. Chosen because if they had to switch off heating, normal compounds may freeze in space. Gold leaf conducts wonderfully and you never have to worry about decay.

Most optimistic you are. The Voyager 1 spacecraft has barely reached the Termination Shock, which is roughly 15 light hours away from the Sun (or around 16 billion kilometers). If we managed to created a spacecraft which within a period of 30 years would be able to travel billions of light years from us I don't think humanity would still be sitting duck on Earth only.

But anyway, more on topic, I myself am using the same AS5 I bought about six years ago or so on my current system than the one I used on my previous A64 4400+ system (I mean the same AS5 tube). And I never removed it once after it was applied, and I never noticed any loss in heat conductivity efficiency over time, the accumulation of dust is indeed the one thing that will affect conductivity over time, to any possible extent.

 

[laezyre]

I'm gonna have to get out that leaf blower then.

 

[taltamir]

billion light years = the distance traveled at light speed over a billion years.
to get the speed divide by one billion by 30 = 3,333,333c (3.3 million times the speed of light).