Personal computing discussed
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biffzinker wrote:MX-2 and MX-4 are also good compounds. Also one of those "can't go wrong" choices. Whether its better than AS5 or not is somewhat debatable but it will definitely do the job.Arctic Cooling MX-2/MX-4
mortifiedPenguin wrote:Whether its better than AS5 or not is somewhat debatable but it will definitely do the job.
biffzinker wrote:Did you observe any temperature issues with that? I'll readily admit that my old tube lasted about 8 years before drying out to the point that it wouldn't spread properly. Any idea if that would be the equivalent of it curing?'ve had Arctic Silver dry out as well.
Flying Fox wrote:I only used a little bit a few years ago at a job and I don't recall it being much better (if at all) better than 99% alcohol... at least visually. Not so sure how well it does at the sub-visual level.what about the ArtiClear remover
ChronoReverse wrote:I use Arctic Ceramique because a couple of degrees doesn't matter to me but stability of the compound does. I'd rather not deal with a silver compound that will dry out in a couple years.
Flying Fox wrote:Somewhat OT question: what about the ArtiClear remover, is it any good? Really better than 99% alcohol?
just brew it! wrote:Not that it matters so much any more since 754/939 is long gone, but it might help to turn the PC for a few minutes to soften the compound.I've actually had a different problem with Ceramique - it is so sticky that when you go to remove the HSF it rips the CPU out of the socket even with the retention lever down. This was mainly an issue with older Socket 754/939 where the retention bracket went all the way around the socket and was higher than the base of the HSF, making it impossible to twist the HSF to help loosen it. On current motherboards you should be able to gently twist or apply lateral pressure to "break the seal".
vandy wrote:I went with prolimatech pk1 after reading skineelabs reviews. Very easy to work with and easy to clean plus good performance.
Stay away from ic diamond !!!!! I fell for the hype and the damn thermal paste scratch the heck out of my CPU heat spreader and the heatsink base. Not to mention it stains and lingers. I had to wipe the base of my heatsink and cpu 16 times with alcohol to get it clean.
Compared to article silver 5 and pk1 the ic diamond made my cpu run about 6 degrees higher. Horrible stuff.
Tested all three on the same day.
Ryu Connor wrote:As for reviews this website appears is the most comprehensive I've found.
Ryu Connor wrote:vandy wrote:I went with prolimatech pk1 after reading skineelabs reviews. Very easy to work with and easy to clean plus good performance.
Stay away from ic diamond !!!!! I fell for the hype and the damn thermal paste scratch the heck out of my CPU heat spreader and the heatsink base. Not to mention it stains and lingers. I had to wipe the base of my heatsink and cpu 16 times with alcohol to get it clean.
Compared to article silver 5 and pk1 the ic diamond made my cpu run about 6 degrees higher. Horrible stuff.
Tested all three on the same day.
Meanwhile I've never seen damage and saw a 10C drop in temperature (albeit versus dried up zinc oxide). It is messy to clean, but that's why I use things like carburetor cleaner. I don't really see it as any worse than cleaning arctic silver.
As for reviews this website appears is the most comprehensive I've found.
IC7 wrote:Note from the manufacturer
We have had much long term feed back from people with two years installs with no change in temps or issues with "etching"
The material components of IC Diamond are about as inert as you can get, otherwise the compound is comprised mostly of carbon (diamond/carbon black) with a couple % polymeric binders - which is not a basis for any chemical etching or corrosion I am aware of. A minor stain or oxidation may occur if contaminants from cleaning are not removed properly which can be removed in about 10 sec. with a dry cloth and a little IC Diamond.
We test on a mirror lapped die and sink @90-100 psi with high wattage (200 W) and have witnessed no "etching" despite tests running months at a time the surface finish it is unaffected.
just brew it! wrote:Back on topic, for the past couple of years all I've been using are the little tubes of compound that come with the Cooler Master Hyper TX3. I use TX3s for all of my builds now, and the compound that comes with them seems to work well.
vandy wrote:I'm not going to argue with you if its carbon or what not. All i know is that my CPU and heatsink is scratched and I am very sure it is caused by IC Diamond.
IC Diamond wrote:Lots of urban myth out there that lead to misunderstandings.
Diamond while being harder than most materials has an MOHS of 10 on the hardness scale it should be noted that aluminium oxide ( MOHS of 9) which is found in AS5, Ceramiq, Shin Etsu, MX4 etc. is only slightly or incrementally harder.
Aluminium oxide is what your typical sandpaper is comprised of and is found in most lapping compounds. Diamond will cut glass but so will aluminium oxide and is actually the preferred material when cutting or polishing glass.Aluminium oxide is an electrical insulator but has a relatively high thermal conductivity (30 Wm−1K−1[1]) for a ceramic material. In its most commonly occurring crystalline form, called corundum or α-aluminium oxide, its hardness makes it suitable for use as an abrasive and as a component in cutting tools.[5]
In nearly all thermal compounds the manufacturers use variable sizes of grit in order to maximize physical/ thermal contact between particles but generally you will find most in the 400-600 grit range same as you would find in 400-600 grit sandpaper which is why when lapping IHS/Sink you see little or no thermal improvement advantage with a refined lap with say a 1200 grit.
Our grit sizes are comfortably in the same size range as other manufacturers use in their compounds.
Abrasives have to move in order to work or to be abrasive. When cleaning a part all compounds should be adequately re-liquified with a good solvent like acetone so they can be removed without any undue scrubbing action that would polish or scratch. Proper procedure is just good shop practice.
Just to note that we do buy our diamond from the largest USA manufacturer of diamond and is same quality/type they sell for optical lapping. The particle screening process has been pretty well established for over 100 years and if you understand the process you would understand that large particles or rocks as a component of our compound is highly unlikely. This is why you do not find lumps of corn seed in your flour or rocks in your toothpaste or pebbles in your table salt.
We contract mix our compound in a clean room environment in million dollar mixing machines with the mix heated and under a vacuum. the manufacturer samples all received material and tests for conformity to specifications. The compound is sent to us in containers that are attached directly to our dispensing machines for syringe filling so no chance of foreign particulate matter can enter the system.
There is no way to determine the source of your divot from your description, I might suggest secondary contamination at your site as a +1000X sized particle diamond off the norm while not impossible is highly unlikely and as noted we make every effort possible to provide a uniform stable product.
just brew it! wrote:Also seems to me that even small amounts of diamond would be enough to cause *some* abrasion if the heatsink is shifted around after being mated to the CPU, or if it is not wiped gently enough when being cleaned off. I'd be surprised if the scratches are deep enough to make a measurable difference in performance though.
vandy wrote:What are you afraid of?
Ryu Connor wrote:vandy wrote:What are you afraid of?
I use IC Diamond in my desktop, PS3, and both laptops, so apparently nothing?
I've re-applied it at one point or another in three of the four objects too. I haven't seen any damage other than harmless staining.
I've also used the others you list. Albeit I would note that zinc oxide doesn't contain aluminum oxide.
vandy wrote:Ryu Connor wrote:vandy wrote:What are you afraid of?
I use IC Diamond in my desktop, PS3, and both laptops, so apparently nothing?
I've re-applied it at one point or another in three of the four objects too. I haven't seen any damage other than harmless staining.
I've also used the others you list. Albeit I would note that zinc oxide doesn't contain aluminum oxide.
I wasn't asking if you are afraid of using IC Diamond...............
Seriously, rub IC Diamond on a mirror or shinny surface and tell us if you see abrasions on the surface.
I'm saying it does, because I tried it. I rubbed IC Diamond on a mirror and it scratched the hell out of it.
Rendus wrote:Considering the things people do with mirrors that don't leave a scratch (drugs, including pretty vigorous use of razor blades against powder and crystalline... substances), to scratch a mirror with a paste that's a suspension of diamond dust would be pretty impressive - either a Gorilla arm or a cheap-ass plastic mirror with a thin film atop it.
Rendus wrote:But if your HS base is so mobile it can rotate and grind against the suspension and the CPU heatspreader, you have some pretty major issues - It makes me wonder if any scratches are due to different mounting and application techniques.