Reapplying Thermal Paste...

[Unkno]

Well, I'll soon be getting back my RMA from sapphire and I would like to lower the temperatures (since it loads pretty high...). This would be my first time taking out the stock cooler and I was wondering if all i do is apply AS5 to the core (after cleaning the old stuff) and if it's possible to just keep the old thermal pads for the ram. Would i notice a difference if i removed the thermal pads and used something else? What should I use instead of the thermal pad then (heard AS5 is bad on ram), would the thermal grease that came with my Zalman CNPS9500 work (is it conductive)?

 

[imported_mystery]

The X800GTO2 stock cooler does not use thermal pads for the memory. I used Arctic Silver 3 on both memory and core and it did reduce my temps quite a bit. I run high 20's idle, and mid 50's under load (fan 100% all the time).

 

[orangat]

Originally posted by: Unkno
....... What should I use instead of the thermal pad then (heard AS5 is bad on ram), would the thermal grease that came with my Zalman CNPS9500 work (is it conductive)?

I don't see any reason why AS5 would be bad on RAM since it should be better.
I think this myth came about from noobs who haven't read the faq on applying AS5, its no longer a smooth easy running paste like the AS3.

If the memory chips have thermal pads, then stick with the thermal pads with no paste unless the hs design has good contact w/o the pads.

 

[5t3v0]

If you're going to the bother of taking the HSF off, get a 3rd party cooler. My Arctic Cooling ATI Silencer lowered my gpu temps by as much as 10C and it lowered my cpu & chipset temps 2-3C because hot air from the graphics card exhausts out the back of the case. It's a cheap bit of kit but it is bulky and has a low clearance between the fan casing & mobo. My Epox has a very low profile chipset HSF but there's only a few mm between it & the bottom of the Silencer fan casing.

I fitted the Silencer with Arctic Alumina which is a ceramic compound as I'm nervous about using metal-based ones (unfounded perhaps). The cooler actually ships with a tube of AC MX-1 which is supposed to be pretty good stuff. While I got lower temps, it didn't help my core overclock at all, but it did with the memory, probably because of the thermal pads and larger conductive aluminium plate at the back. The original cooler didnt have ram pads, it had a tiny back plate pressed loosely against the ram with a badly applied splash of thermal paste on each chip. You could certainly improve thermal conductivity if you reapplied the ram heatsinks with a decent compound.