ARtic silver making temps go up? What did i do wrong?

Hey guys, I tried to apply thermal paste to my xps 1530 CPU the other day with artic silver... i tested it on day 1 and my temps were at 86 C after I applied it ( my CPU temps would be as hot as 95 before!)... after letting it settle for 3 days i tested it again, and before orthos could even get to 5 minutes my cores were already at 90 c! I had to have done something wrong? I followed the directions perfectly... I only used about a grain of rice , i used a lint free cloth, artic cleaner etc..... my only concern is that I tinted the heatsink incorrectly, first off the heat sink is the part which rests directly above the CPU chip, holding it firmly in place correct? If so, I follwed the artic S websites directions and placed a small mount of silver on the heat sink and spread it around, but maybe I used too much... Is the layer on the heat sink supposed to be as thin as the layer on the CPU ( roughly the thickness of a white piece of paper). Would it be wise not to tint the heatsink at all? I really need help before I go about doing this again.

 

Sorry to hear that. Quite a few things could possibly have gone wrong actually. One time I applied AS5 and when I put my heatsink back on I didn't realize that there was a wire (from the wireless card) keeping my heatsink from even contacting my chips. So my temps soared even while doing nothing . So make sure there are no wires in the way. Honestly I don't see the need to also apply AS5 on the heatsink itself. I suggest you apply only on the chips, CPU and GPU. As for the method of application I use a combination of the spread and the rice-dot method. So apply a very thin layer of AS5 paste on the chip and then after that put a little dot in the center (which will make sure there are no bubbles in that crucial core center). Now when remounting the heatsink you have to make sure you put the whole thing down in one motion, and not lift it again (put screws back on while still applying pressure on the heatsink; not too much pressure though ). This will hopefully create that all important seal for thermal conduction. Also make sure you're putting the heatsink back on correctly and not tinting it (m1530 manual should detail that). The heatsink's function is not really to hold the CPU chip in place but to help pull the heat produced by the chips away from it.

When you say "let it settle for 3 days" I hope you actually used the laptop in that time. If you didn't use it, you should use it as that helps create a better "seal" for the paste. Use it in cycles (load -cool off - load- cool off...) to help. This is called the cure period and could actually improve the pastes cooling ability over a 200 hr period after the initial application. Good luck with the reapplication and be confident. It's all good as long as you ain't breaking nothing .

 

What were your ambient temperatures before and after? A hot day makes all the difference in the world to temperatures

 

Well assuming you did everything correct with the implementation for AS5, and you dusted everything out as well. The the only thing that I can say is let the paste cure and see if things change from there. Remember that thermal paste is not at 100% effectiveness right out of the tube.

 

Maybe you forgot to plug the fan back in.

 

when you tint, the goal is to work the paste into the heatsink - like the groves and indentations. the heatsink will also absorb some of the material as you work it in. when you're done there shouldn't be much paste visible, maybe just a tad discoloration. use whatever tool you used to work it to remove excess. focus on the cpu die with the needed amount to make the seal work, and I recommend using pure spread method in the case of xps 164x.

 

what is the pure spread method?

 

I believe it is where you cover (like spreading peanut butter on bread) the core as opposed to the rice method. Dont quote me on that as I dont know the terminology, rather only the methods.

 

That's why I used ICD7 Thermal Paste. It's non conductive so you don't have to worry about tinting or using the exact amount of paste, it also eliminates bubbles. Simply blob it on the chip and tighten down the heatsink. Done! It's one of the best thermal pastes available.

 

Exactly what I used... 10 bucks at MicroCenter too...

 

I think I might try this out... Would the ICD7 work on the GPU unit? Also, what is the other CPU looking thing south of the CPU intel chip on the mx 1530? Is it the second core in my core 2 duo? I put thermal paste on that... It's only been about 12 hours since I did it, and I did a really good job applying it this time with the exact right amount. I am ideling at like 56c on my CPU cores, but while typing this message my GPU is running at 70C ( bummmer).. Hopefully it will go down in the next few days, because after I ran ORTHOS it showed that my cores got to 86C and my gpu went up to 90c!!! This is just a TAD bit better than before i put the paste one, but not nearly the results I was looking for!... but I have yet to wait the full 200 hours So i cannot be so quick to judge!

 

Yes, thermal compound(ICD7) should also go on your GPU; it will be quite evident.

As for your other question about your proc. I am not so sure....

 

Thermal paste will work on anything where there isnt a big gapp between the heatsink and the chip (requires shimming as well... which includes the use of thermal paste too ). Just put it on anything you think needs it and you should be good.

Secondly, I can say for certain that they "CPU looking thing" is not another core. Both cores in dual core CPU's are on the same chip. More than likely it's the north bridge, you may as well put paste on that too while you're at it, never did anyone any harm. This would all be so much easier if you just posted a photo of what you're talking about though.

 

To the OP, the correct way of applying AS5 is to use the right amount. Too much and you can actually watch your temps go up and with AS5 you can actually short things out. I'm living proof that you can use too much.

The correct amount is the size of a grain or bead of rice on the CPU. It doesn't sound like much but it is when you squeeze the heatsink over the CPU. As others have mentioned, clean the CPU and heatsink then place a bead of AS5 in the center of the CPU. Place the heatsink on top, push down on the heatsink then gently and slightly twist the heatsink from side to side to get any air bubbles out if they are present.

Lock down your heatsink and you are good to go.

edit: I personally use Arctic Ceramique and it does a great job and doesn't conduct.

 

MX3 all the way, it's thinner than artic silver, non conductive, non capacitive and is about the best you can buy (give or take half a degree).

I'd stay away from that tuniq stuff though, although it works well if you can apply it properly, actually getting it on in the first place is a pain in the arse. When they say "thermal paste", they really do mean the "paste" bit.

 

what is the correct way for applying MX3? And is it as effective as silver? I am pretty sure I did it properly, so I think I will wait the 200 hours before jumping to any negative conclusiosn. My GPU idles at like 70 and my cores at like 58... if my GPU is under 90C when i do an ORTHOS test in the next few days, than this would have been a success. If my cores are lower than 86 it would have been a success as well!

 

Couldnt agree more with MX-3. Any thermal paste for that matter is hard to work with for beginners, like me. Since its non conductive and non capacitive, all the better to buy it.

 

Just put a tiny little dabble in the center of the chip and then put the heatsink straight down on top of it. Once it's down, don't lift it, if you do then you have to clean it all and start again in case you got air bubbles. If there's a little bit of wiggling room (I doubt it, laptop heatsinks are vast;y different in shape to desktop ones) then you can twist it a little bit in either direction to make sure it's got to the edge of the chip. If you want, just get a piece of glass and use that to get an idea as to how much you should use, just push it down like you would the heatsink and see how far it spreads. If it goes all over the edges then you've used too much, if it doesn't cover the chip then you've uesd too little. Bear in mind that the "pea sized blob" rule is for desktop processors, which are much bigger. Also, people talk about the blob method not getting as good coverage, for laptops this really isn't a problem as the paste has less distance to travel as the dies are smaller. Also, just to make sure, the "chip" is the shiny bit, the green stuff round the outside doesn't count.

Once you have the heatisnk on top, all you have to do is screw it down. I like to do each corner a little at time with the screws to make sure it goes down nice and straight to get as good coverage as possible. Also, when I said "push the heatsink down", the screws will get in the way and it won't make complete contact with the chip, don't force it or the screws can rip tracks on the mobo, rendering your computer useless, the chances of that happening are pretty slim though and they usually have pretty decent sized blank patches round the screw holes to make sure this doesn't happen.

Also has no curing time either.

 

The difference between all these thermal pastes when applied correctly is a few degrees at most, so if you have AS5 or something else, I wouldn't go out and get another (also conductivity won't matter if you've applied it correctly).

It really does not make a significant difference the actual method. The key is to apply the proper amount so that it can fill in the microscopic valleys on the surfaces of the CPU and heatsink since the thermal paste is a better heat conductive material than air. Not enough will obviously be less efficient for heat transfer, but the more common error is to apply too much as to act like an insulator and/or in the worse case scenario, conducting electricity to a nearby metal component.

AS5 should not give you higher temps than stock, so if you do have these results, then something went wrong and you should clean it up with alcohol and reapply.

 

same thing happened again... waitied three days...on day 1 my temp was 86, and today my temp is 88..... something must have gone wrong.... i am ordering MX3....i'll keep you updated on how it works? So it sounds that MX3 is a little more forgiving on how much should be applied

my stock heat is actualyl over 90C degrees... so it helped a bit... but not so much

 

Going from 90 to 86 is actually pretty decent, I wouldn't expect much more from simply changing the paste. Bear in mind that you're only changing the thermal resistance of a small hairs thickness layer when you use different pastes.

 

yes... i agree going from 90 to 86 isn't bad... but within three days my temperatures were back up to 90!!!! that isn't good at all!

I just recieved MX-3 in the mail, and was wondering if there is anywhere else on my computer that could use that paste on it to help it cool. My only other thinking is that my fan is dying... it says it runs at like 3800rpm? is that a good speed?

 

Only points that need compound is on the GPU and CPU.

 

From what I remember, 3800rpm is one of the standard fan settings, you'd probably know if the fan was dying anyway as they don't usually die a slow painful death like the rest of the computer, once the motor is busted it's busted and that's all there is to it and you'd know if the bearings were going too (that is if it uses bearings at all).

As for aplication points, anywhere where there is an interface between a chip and a heatsink it can technically be used on, for example it is possible to put it on the GPU memory too but in practice it's not realy worth bothering about seeing as it's pretty cool usually and there are sometimes thick thermal pads requiring shimming.

 

Sometimes the gap is too wide and there is inefficient contact, so you need to add a shim or piece of metal to conduct the heat.

 

how do i know if this is the case? I mean my GPU temps were going all the way up to 98C probably to 100C if I didn't stop it! That was just trying to load an easy game like WoW.... Maybe I just ed up the AS-5? I'm going to be putting on MX-3 today and hopefully this problem will be solved forever

 

I think everyone is missing the obvious question of in what kind of room are you using your laptop in and the ambient temperature. If you are in a hot room using a hot computer thermal paste is the least of your concern.

If you say your temps dropped for one day, did you move the computer? was it hotter the next day in the room, these are all questions we need to know. You can apply as many different compounds as you'd like but still see no cooling difference.

 

You'll still see a difference, it's just that hotter rooms make for less of a difference.