ICD7 NIGHTMARES! My mixed experience with it in a G73JH (with pictures!)

Hey guys! Just thought I'd share my experience using this subforum's favourite paste: IC diamond 7. Sad to say it has been very mixed.

I have pasted 3 computers in my household with it, my desktop CPU, my housemate's desktop CPU, and my partner's G73JH CPU and GPU. Both my housemate and partner are experiencing huge heat issues. The G73JH gets up to 99 (cpu & gpu) playing DOTA, and 65~ idle temps.

This is a very very VERY far cry from my own PC's performance where with a stock cooler I am idling happily at 38 degrees, 70+ load on an i5-14670k at a modest 4.1ghz overclock. The ICD7 is working magically here!

So I figured I have myself to blame and probably botched both of the other computers.. I've uploaded a few pictures of how the ICD7 paste looked when I opened the G73JH to repaste (with Noctua NT-H1), so you guys can help me see if there are any signs of a shoddy paste job! I couldn't really distinguish what might have been air impregnations but suffice to say it did not look right.

As if the inconsistent thermal results weren't enough, I have noticed that ICD7 leaves VERY persistent residue on the chips and coolers. I have used Arctic Silver 5 and it never did anything like this! I basically gave up trying to wipe it off the surfaces but I'm still concerned it might have an effect on the efficiency of heat transfer

The residue it leaves can be seen in the G73JH pictures. It seems to be only on the copper interface surface and not on the mirror-like chip surface. It's on both CPU and cooler for the desktops. It really seems like it's etched on there instead of simple residue.

I wonder if either of these problems of this have to do with how thick ICD7 is. I'd love to hear of everyone's experiences with this paste and if they had similar problems or solutions. I only started tinkering with repasting, flashing BIOS and reformats recently and am keen to learn from mistakes!!

Unfortunately, I am probably sticking with Noctua NT-H1 from now, if only because applying a TIM that doesn't have the consistency of blu-tack (i exaggerrate!) makes for a much less frustrating repaste

CPU chip after separation
CPU heatsink after separation
CPU heatsink showing etching (this was after a good scrub)
GPU and its heatsink showing etching!

 

You can clean off the residue with timclean style products, IC diamond will leave tiny scratches which should not affect cooling performance.

 

To me, it looks like you put on too much. Which can make it harder to compress down to a super thin coating. Remember, you want the chip and heatsink to be as close as physically possible. The thermal compound is just for the tiny gap that is always there.

As said, the scratches are not a big deal.

 

IC diamond is a very thick paste so using just enough is doubly true for it.

 

It did seem like there was excess paste, especially since it oozed out the sides. Thanks for the input! If anything I'm glad it oozed out because it shows that in spite of how thick it is, it still spreads. That was one of my main concerns when I first applied it.

I'll soon be opening up the housemate's desktop to replace the TIM and I'll get pics of that one too. In spite of his terrible heat issues, I'm pretty sure I did the 5mm pea that was recommended for full sized CPUs.. I'd be interested to see just what was going on under there.

Can you recommend any specific TIM cleaners? I have tried to google them but I don't seem to be having any luck finding dedicated cleaners

 

I recommend using isopropylalcohol, and ICD7 is not really a good paste. Plus it may scratch the surface which may worsen the heat dsipatch.
If you want a good thermal paste I recommend Phobya nanogrease extreme.

The heat conductivity of Phobya's paste is more than three times higher, and I asure it makes quite a difference. I use it and my gtx 770m´s max is 67C at full load overclocked and overvolted.

Phobya nanogrease extreme 16W/mK

ICD7 4.5W/mK

 

I would only use ICD7, It was used by my retailer over 2 years ago and my temps are exactly the same as when my machine was new. There are MANY threads that explain how to apply it properly in great detail.

 

That's really interesting and quite a jaw-dropping temp on your gtx770m. I should do more research on that product but I'm quite happy with the results from the Noctua NT-H1 so far and I've already dropped some serious money on TIMs whilst only doing minor overclocks!

I'm also trying to decide whether to get a 770m or 8970m equipped sager to replace my partner's G73. It's about time that old horse was retired anyway. Did your 770m have high temps with the stock cooler?

 

I have the GTX 770M in my MSI GT683DX(msi 16F2) and it only has one fan After installing the card a while back I used arctic silver 5 and the card usually went up to 75-80C load, and then I tried mx-4 and the results were the same.
I really didn't think a thermal paste could make that much of a difference but it really did.
And my cpu was idling at 50-55C and went up to 80C+ load and now it idles at around 40C and max out at 70C load.

 

What were the ambient temps like?

 

The MSI series does really well with thinner thermal pads too. You want that plate as close to the core, with the best and minimum amount of paste.