Thermal Compound

[stymie222]

I am about to change my CPU fan. I have some Artic Silver left from my first install. Im not going to overclock and I really dont do any extreme gaming, just flight sim/games. Should I use the thermal compound that comes with the heatsink/fan ? Or go with the Artic Silver? Is the Artic Silver that much more heat conductive? Why is there so much more thermal compound [thick pad] on the stock heatsink/fan ?

Intel P4 prescott640 LGA775 3.20G
Intel D955XBK mother board

[Mr.Ferrari]

Wait so your buying a new HSF correct?

In that case, which one exactly? There are a few in which I wouldnt bother replacing with AS5.

As far as application goes, www.arcticsilver.com if you are not already familiar.

Stock hsfs tend to not have the best TIMs (thermal compounds), therefore more of it is sometimes used.

[stymie222]

Intel sent a replacement fan. At 170 deg F., my fan does not kick in to high speed anymore. It only gets up to 3100rpm . It used to . This is a build that has been working great for over 8 months. I doubt if my thermal would suddenly fail after all this time. Ive been reading some other threads which indicate that Artic Silver fills in the micro gaps. then why [again] is the pad on the stock fan/heatsink so thick?

[Mr.Ferrari]

Wait, so this is on the same heatsink? Or did intel send you a whole new heatsink fan assembly?
If thats the case, then use the stock thermal pad on the heatsink.
No need to replace it.

And what are you using to get these temperatures? Does the computer become unstable?

And the thermalcompound on the stock heatsink is not of the quality arctic silver is. They have to use more, its just the way they do it.

[stymie222]

Yes this is a new fan/ heat sink.If you have the time please read my post under mb&cpu titled "Intel Desktop Control Center". Ive been trying to get an answer for two weeks on this and other issues. No my pc has never become unstable at thes temps. Zone one has been a little hotter than when I first started but intel has increased that zone temp to max 149Deg F.

[glc]

Thoroughly clean off the top of the CPU with isopropyl alcohol to remove all traces of the original material and just use the Intel-provided material.