Arctic Silver

Adeptus Titanicus

Hiya's

I'm waiting on a Zalman 7000A AlCu that's I know is gonna come with some thermal grease. However, as I ultimately intend overclocking a wee bit, is it worth getting some Arctic Silver? I read reviews/press stuff that claim you'll get a few degrees out of it over other types. Any opinions on this? Will the Zalman goo do a good enough job for an overclock?

If it is worth getting some Arctic Silver, does anybody know where I get this over the counter as I don't think I want to place an online order just for a tube of goo. I know the same question has been asked before (last year), but I was looking to see if there's any more info as the only answer in that thread was to go to Maplins, where they were charging 20 yo yos!?!? (In that case it'd cheaper to order from overclock or something)

Thanks!

AT

Creamy Goodness

www.hitide.ie sells it but it ain't over the counter

i'm using arctic silver 3 with zalman 7000CNPS-CU idle temps are 34-35 load 45-47 pentium 4 3ghz

I don't know if i got goop with mine but i can't remember as it was a while back (4-5 months)

Adeptus Titanicus

Yeah, I saw it on their website, although a little late. I'm actually waiting on the Zalman from them (ordered 2 weeks ago with a PSU that wasn't in stock). Unfortunately they're out of stock on the Silver too, and I don't think I can wait another two weeks.. I have all these bits just waiting for a PSU!

I suppose I could go with the Zalman goo and replace it later with the shiney stuff... I'd just need to order something else to make it worth while

edit:
Actually, meant to say those temps look pretty good (given my limited knowledge ). Is that running at stock speed? It's the same CPU as the one I'm slapping the Zalman on.

neokenzo

Well I used the goo that came along with the Athlon 64 box. Its fine so far. On Idle its been between 35C-39C and heavy load the max it has gone is 49C. But thats on Athlon. I dont know whether Pentiums generate more heat.

Bosco

Using a good heatsink like the Zalman on a heat-spreader equipped CPU like a new P4 you do not need silver based thermal compounds. It is with small contact area CPUs like the P3 or athlon XP that the quality of your thermal compound becomes a major issue. Just apply a thin layer of whatever Zalman give you and you'll be fine.

Adeptus Titanicus

OK, thanks guys, what you are saying makes sense. I'll stick with what I get (hopefully today! Grrr).

AT

aaf

I've got some unused Artic Silver 5 Compund 3.5g. Bought it when I ordered my processor put didn't need to use it. Let me know if you wanna buy it from me.

WizZard

neokenzo,

You have almost the exact same setup as me but I'm using Arctic Silver 5 compound and my idle temps are between 20-25C. Under heavy load it goes to around 35-40C.

I presume it would be the thermal compound that would make the difference??

neokenzo

I thought with the Artic Silver it would make a slight difference but I didnt think it would make that huge of a difference.

WizZard

Maybe its not just it. Have you all the case fans working in the Damier?

I have the Xaser III with all seven on at low speed, but thats the only major difference in our machines

Col_Loki

I presume it would be the thermal compound that would make the difference??

Thermal compound wont make that ammount of a difference TBH, couple of degree's mabye.

Comparing temps is dodgy to say the least.
A different motherboard will read different temps,
different chips - some run hotter than others,
his system is overclocked so the Vcore is increased,
you both might have different ways of getting load temps - ie prime95 will push your system more than almost anything else , big difference between say SiSandra torture test on CPU and Prime95's.
Even if you have the exact same motherboard , the temp sensor mightnt be that accurate.
Do ye both have the fan set to the same setting?
The way the fans are setup is also a factor (case air flow), ideally id have 2 blowing air in from the bottom and 3 extractors on top and side.

Wizzard those temps are very very good, overclock it!!

neokenzo your temps are still perfect, pretty good infact.... still nice room for more if need be.

WizZard

Yeah, I'm getting great temps. Athlon 64's are not great for overclocking AFAIK.
I have it running at 2.2ghz at the mo with the VCore increased to 1.6v. Unfortunately anything above this is horribly unstable. I dunno if its my lack of knowledge of overclocking or just the mobo/chip combination

neokenzo

Originally posted by WizZard
Yeah, I'm getting great temps. Athlon 64's are not great for overclocking AFAIK.
I have it running at 2.2ghz at the mo with the VCore increased to 1.6v. Unfortunately anything above this is horribly unstable. I dunno if its my lack of knowledge of overclocking or just the mobo/chip combination

Same here. I cant seem to push it anything about the 2.22Ghz mark. Anything above that and the system is not stable anymore. I've seen others with similiar mobo and chip pushed it further but I guess it depends what other hardware you are using. I think the 64's are fine for overclocking but its restricted to the mobo. AFAIK, the MSI Neo are better at overclocking but I think the Asus are much stable.

Col_Loki

10% seems to be a general overclock with these chips, the motherbaords have no PCI / AGP lock so your also overclocking your harddrives, GFX card etc which is one problem. Since the chips are so new aswell its hard to get a good overclock as the quality of the yield isint as high as as it will be when production is refined more.

Is your Ram holding you back at all? My NF7-S doesent like when you use dividers for the Ram - it limits your FSB by a big ammount..... am not sure about the AMD64 ones but i found when i run my Ram 1:1 with FSB i get a higher one (had Pc4000 Ram there for a while). Just a thought. Your system is still a great performer, not far from the FX-51 which costs a bomb!!

Did you try upping the Vcore a little more BTW, just to see if its your chip holding you back or another factor (FSB, Dividers, Ram etc etc)?

Adeptus Titanicus

Do you think there's any threshold at which something like Arctic Silver would make a real difference? Is it just a case of overclock, see how the temps are going, and if all the ventilation doesn't improve the levels then you might as well try the Silver?

Col_Loki

If better ventilation doesent improve temps then yea id try Silver, and make sure my heatsink was making good contact (ie not fitted wrong) and make sure my heatsink is doing its job.

I really should get some of the newer stuff and do some tests, but i found that airflow made a huge difference (on the air rig) and that adding another fan to my rad (water cooled rig)was a big difference in temps...... so im thinkin the contact is pretty good, ive gotten down to the 20's on an Abit and i dont think the thermal compound would improve that over 1-2 degree's TBH.

Adeptus Titanicus

Woo. 20 sounds pretty good.

Mine idles at about 30, but has idled at 28 when the heat was off in the room . That's with the Zalman and case fans down low. While running the Prime95 Torture test (from that other thread you advised in, the one that gives max CPU activity) it rose to 48 before I turned up the fans, then it settled to 46, under heavy load.

Doesn't sound too bad at the moment.

I want to improve general airflow anyway, in a tidy way, so my next project is to install hidden fan wires at the back of the case to go from the Aerogate to the main fans. The leads you get with them just aren't long enough to do a tidy job, so I'll see what wiring I can get and attach the sockets to that.

How much higher would a decent (theoretical) overclock take the CPU temp? Is it only the voltage that affects this?

Col_Loki

Volatge and workrate will affect your temp....... ie if your Vcore is at 1.8v and CPU at 2ghz , this temp will be lower than a CPU at 2.3ghz and 1.8v (just an example).

That 20'c was with watercooling, idle temp, and 2x120mm fans on a big rad at full speed (but bear in mind abit NF7 tends to over read by 7-10'C from other boards)..... so thats a good temp.

Im currently idle'n at 42'C with water cooling and one fan @5v (silent).

How much higher would a decent (theoretical) overclock take the CPU temp? Is it only the voltage that affects this?

TBH i use 60'C as a guideline not to go over, im more of an AMD guy than an intel but ive seen people running 60-65'C idle with intels without many problems. Generally AMD's tend to get higher Vcore than intel's. There is a thing about intels having instant death on high Vcore (northwoods) but im talkin 1.8v+

Id say keep load temps around 60'C and your sorted, give or take a few degree's. I generally try to keep temps that low atleast as i usually have high Vcore (and the two toghter aint the best) so im a bit conserative with figures........ but hey you wont go wrong and nothing will explode .