I have tried other Thermal Interface Materials (TIM) and I went back to Artic Silver 5 thermal compound. It is simply the best and I have gotten the best results with it for many years. The product is ideal for CPUs, Northbridge, Southbridge and GPU components that are heat sinked. I have used it on desktop computers, laptops, servers, and Xbox 360's.
When using the product a little dab will do the trick. If you use too much it will squeeze out from under the heat sink and make a big mess. The proper amount is about 1 ½ to 2 times the size of a grain of rice. If you look on the internet there are several guides on how to use the product including photos. Sometimes on a large CPU I spread the compound in a very thin and even layer with and old credit card like tool. On one rough heat sink assembly I had to work a drop of the compound into the surface with a credit card and this filled in the micro abrasions in the surface and improved the temperature drop by 4 degrees C. The key is that you want a thin and even layer of the compound on the entire top surface of the CPU so that all the micro flaws in the surfaces of the CPU and the heat sink are filled with the silver in the product to provide maximum thermal conductance of heat away from the CPU and into the heat sink assembly. Do not use to much compound, people tend to use too much or not enough and the science is to do it just right!
Before you apply the compound clean all the surfaces and make sure they have no oil, finger prints, or dust on them. Make sure you have removed the old thermal compound from the surfaces. Some old compounds get rock hard and can be difficult to clean. I have used Goo Gone and it is by far the best cleaning solution I have ever used. Don't use too much and clean only the CPU and heat sink. Then wipe all surfaces dry and wipe again with an alcohol swab and a Q tip if necessary to clean up the old compound. Then give it a final wipe with ¼ of a coffee filter as they are fiber free paper and you should have a clean surface. These surfaces must be absolutely clean and even the oil from a fingerprint that you can't see can cause a problem.
Mount your heat sink and I like the aftermarket heat sink fan assemblies or water cooled blocks as they install with screws and you can make sure that the heat sink is firm and tight with the CPU. The factory supplied heat sinks with push pins bother me as I have seen many people swear they are tight and they are not. You will not get ideal cooling unless you do a professional job of installing these key components and you may damage your CPU.
The Artic Silver 5 compound has an aging time of around 200 hours and the temperature will improve by about 2 to 5 degrees after the aging process is done. To properly age the compound you should use your computer until it heats up (about one or two hours) and then shut it down and let it cool off and use it again. Do this multiple times. This heat and cool procedure sets the compound up properly and improves the thermal interface. Good luck and have fun!
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Dont forget the thermal past
enjoy this product i enjoy building pc's works well with any processor
Top reviews from other countries
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Juan ÁngelReviewed in Mexico on December 22, 2019
Excelente desempeño térmico de Artic Silver AS5
Acabo de escalar el CPU de mi Laptop y estoy feliz de haber utilizado esta pasta térmica en mi nuevo procesador Intel Core 2 Duo T9600 2,80 gHz, pues ha logrado mantenerlo a una temperatura más que adecuada (nunca sobrepasa los 75 grados centígrados en condiciones exigentes de carga continua con múltiples aplicaciones abiertas de ofimática, gráficos, navegación, audio y video, y en baja actividad o reposo se mantiene en los 38 grados centígrados), cosa que no ocurría con la pasta que utilizaba anteriormente (era la Cooler Master High Performance, buena pero no como ésta). Adiós a los constantes encendidos del ventilador que se venían produciendo en mi Laptop Dell Inspiron 1545. Sin duda la Artic Silver AS5 marca un notable desempeño, el cual satisface las necesidades de temperatura y estabilidad del sistema informático que utilizo día con día. Por eso me atrevo a recomendarla sin reservas (las reseñas positivas que he leído aquí sobre esta paste resultaron ciertas). Amazon como siempre puntual en la entrega del producto!!!Excelente desempeño térmico de Artic Silver AS5Juan Ángel
Reviewed in Mexico on December 22, 2019
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- ⚡ Pushpendra Singh Patel ⚡Reviewed in India on December 7, 2018
Just Go For It- Wont be disappointed! Its AS5
Arctic Silver- Age old name & professionals choice for any high end machine. Had its name in mind since years. So when the need came ordered one.Just Go For It- Wont be disappointed! Its AS5⚡ Pushpendra Singh Patel ⚡
Reviewed in India on December 7, 2018
Product comes in open poly packaging. There is neither any blister pack nor any seal. Appears like product is imported in bulk & then sold in loose packaging. Only a Zip lock poly bag with a syringe containing 3.5 AS5 compund.
But it appears genuine & performs well.
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PROS
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1. Its old & trusted name in thermal paste world
2. Will bring down temperatures by 10-20 degrees. More important is system will be stable under load & run for longer durations at higher frequencies.
3. Qty is also good. If applied in right qty without wastage, it may last for approx 4-5 repaste jobs, on cpu & gpu.
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CONS
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Only con being, though not electrically conductive its slightly capacitive, and if not applied carefully, will spread outside to small components on die & create trouble.
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USAGE SCENARIO
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I used it in my old Dell XPS L502x & Inspiron 15R (all stats are wrt xps one), to replace stock thermal paste on CPU & GPU.
CPU throttling due to excess core temperatures 95 Deg + on load. On even small load, it shooted up to 100 & then throttling will occur.
High temp were due to dust accumulation on vents, fin & old expired thermal paste.
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HOW TO
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1. Using cleaning solution (eg isopropyl alcohol available at chemist shop) & swab, clean out old paste. Be careful. Clean dies to mirror finish.
2. On square die, apply a drop. Neither too big, nor too small. Will depend on die size & your guess. On rectangular die, apply a line. When heatsink is pressed on to die, due to pressure it auto spreads consistently. Its preferred method, i did not go for spread method as it may sometimes leave air bubbles which is a no go.
*pic attached with illustration on square/rectangular die & real application on rectangular die
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BEFORE APPLICATION
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Cold boot, no apps running, core temp was 63 Deg, CPU at 800mhz
On full load via prime 95
After 2 min 95 deg & cpu at 1700mhz
After 5 mins 95 deg & cpu at 1500mhz
After 15 mins 95 deg & cpu at 1100mhz
Fan: at full rpm, continuously whirring.
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AFTER APPLICATION
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Cold boot, no apps running, after 15 mins core temp was 50 Deg, CPU at 2400mhz
On full load via prime 95
After 2 min 79 deg & cpu at 2900mhz
After 5 mins 82 deg & cpu at 2700mhz
After 15 mins 82 deg & cpu at 2600mhz
Fan: less noise and triggers less. Very lesso n high rpm
So it appears like, huge difference in performance & power saving!! Its been a few days after application, n laptop seems to run cool & there is visible boost in performace on load.
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FINAL VERDICT
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So getting AS5 was not a bad investment! You can surely go for it. Just be careful in its application as though not electrically conductive, its capacitive & if not used in desired qty may spread out to small components on die & create trouble.
Also be patient after application as it takes around 200 hours to cure or to reach its full capacity. Thats burn in time for AS5.
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- Deon DeeReviewed in Australia on October 30, 2024
Perfect for repairing a 16 year old pentium CPU and heatsink.
