Which is better

Which one of these u guys think is better
http://cgi.ebay.com/Arctic-Cooling-Turbo-MX-2-Thermal-Compound_W0QQitemZ360124801327QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item360124801327&_trksid=p3286.m20.l1116


http://cgi.ebay.com/IC-Diamond-7-Carat-Thermal-Compound-1-5-gram_W0QQitemZ150333044846QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item150333044846&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318|301%3A1|293%3A1|294%3A50

 

the arctic cooling stuff sounds like it's ceramic-based, which offers worse performance than silver-based compounds. can't say anything about the diamon-based IC grease.

 

ICD7 is pretty much the best thermal paste on market right now.

 

ICD 7 is the best thermal compound on the market......and a great choice for using as a replacement for both the thermal pad on the chipset and the thermal compound covering the CPU. Its pretty thick stuff, and using it, you dont have to use the copper shim with the chipset as this easily fills that gap. AC MX-2 and Tuniq TX-2 are both very good, but there have a much thinner makeup than ICD7.

http://hardwarelogic.com/news/137/ARTICLE/2752/2008-03-03.html
http://forums.hardwarelogic.com/f213/thermal-compound-18312.html#post153380

Between ICD7 and undervolting the P8400 I've personally seen a 9C drop at idle and 20-25C drop under load (it varies depending on ambient).

Stock:
IDLE..............36C/36C
LOAD.............70C/69C

Replaced Thermal Compound:
IDLE..............31C/31C
LOAD.............58C/56C

Undervolted Processor:
IDLE..............27C/27C
LOAD.............49C/48C

I have a T9900 coming in tomorrow or Wednesday and will be testing the difference between it and the P8400 (performance, temps, undervolting, power consumption, etc).

 

do do a right up on the new processor.. i'm interested in it if it's worth it and the differences in performance, heat, batt. power, etc..

 

had AS5 but now run with MX-2. temps 4-5 C lower.

 

so which should i go for, im about to order in about an hour or so.

right now im running with antec 5 formula which to me is the same as artic silver 5. Just trying new things.


THANKS IN ADVANCE

 

it's up to you. try something new.

 

I would hands down get the ICD7. Since I first read about it I've been interested in it.

 

yep, you are right. ICD7 is new compound.

 

u guys r a lot of help i just ordered the ICD7. Really appreciate your time in helping me decide on this

 

post the temps.

 

Of course i will. I will post 4/13/09 or 4/14/09 or when ever it arrives okay guys

 

U think putting ICD7(IC Diamond 7) on the gpu will be a safe thing to do.
I think it works for cpu and gpu but Im not sure.


THANKS IN ADVANCE

 

Yep, won't be a problem.

 

Thanks Hep for your help.

 

just remember when applying the ICD7 that it is a lot thicker than your typical thermal compound. I'd compare it to playdough.....you'll apply more of it than the typical grain of rice size dab. I'd recommend a large pea sized dab.

 

Argh, just when I got my new tube of AS5

 

Just ordered a 4.8 Gram tube. Since it is so thick I may experiment with it on the CPU and northbridge. Diamond could work out even better than the copper mod......

 

Yeah... if you used a sheet of diamond. Just because the thermal paste is a different material doesn't mean you want it to be a heat conduit.

 

U guys think if i leave the copper mod and apply this ICD7 it will decrease the temps by more or will it affect the ICD7 from performing at its best.Any ideas guys will be gladly accepted. I know ICD7 is hard to work with from what i hear cuz i promised myself this will be the last time i open my laptop for good i dont wanna mess up the computer so applying this perfect without a flaw is very important to me.Its either keep the copper mod and apply ICD7 or no copper mod and just a pea sized amount of ICD7.

Im getting my ICD7 tube on Saturday so i need a quick response.
I will put the temps up as soon as the tube arrives ok guys
-Any test i should conduct to see the difference in temps for gpu and cpu-

THANKS IN ADVANCE EVERYONE

 

You definitely want to leave the copper in, you just want to remove the old thermal paste first.

 

I don't know that I agree with that. First, the ICD7 is much thicker than typical thermal compounds. It also requires more pressure, which may be a problem when you add in a copper ship.

As I posted with my results, the ICD7 is really ideal for replacing a thermal pad. Adding another material, or layer to the equation is going to negatively influence the performance if anything.

 

Thermal pastes are simply not made for conducting heat long distances... You may not "know if you agree with that" but it's simply not what the grease is made for, and it's not going to conduct heat well over a long distance. I know it's thick, but it's still not meant to be anything than a microscopic gap filler.

 

Well their is a big gap after removed the thermal pad and i didn't knoe their was that much space in between so what i did is applied a lot of (antec formula 5) so it can make up that gap so in the end the paste was still kinda far from the heat sink so my temps were still high.

What i was thinking of doing was is applying a thin as possible layer of ICD7 so i can put the copper piece in between. Hopefully by keeping the copper piece that will decrease the temps by at least 2-3c after applying ICD7 in between like a sandwich. Im going for at least a 2-10c drop from my present thermal paste. I will conduct some tests from before and after so u guys can see whats up with this ICD7 stuff ok guys.

Any tests u guys recommend doing for cpu and gpu.


THANKS IN ADVANCE

 

Wait until you get the ICD7, then you will understand what I'm talking about.

For the processor, run an instance of Stress Prime 2004, for the GPU you can run rthdrbl 1.2

 

Chances are copper much better heat conductor then any thermal paste. Without copper you will need an insane amount of thermal compound for your north bridge and the GPU to reach the HSF as there is about 1mm clearance.

 

When you are talking a distance this small, its irrelevant.....and still the performance is far better than the stock thermal pad, and arguably better than layering three different materials. Having replaced the thermal pad covering the chipset in the P-7811 FX and several desktop video cards, I can attest to a dramatic drop in temperatures.

Here, I'll save you the time of doing some research or fact checking

Air...........................* 0.025
Water.......................* 0.6
Glass........................* 1.1
Aluminium..................* 237
Gold.........................* 318
Copper......................* 401
Silver........................* 429
Diamond....................* 900-2320

 

so u think putting the copper piece, will decrease the performance of the ICD7 from performing at its best.

 

Yes I do. First, Diamond is much better at conducting heat. Second, ICD7 is nowhere close to a typical thermal compound, as I said, its viscosity is much closer to a clay or dough than the thermal compounds most are used to. Third, think about this rationally....if you have different layers of different materials, don't you think that would affect the cooling performance? Whats better, on e solid material between the chipset and the cooler, or three different materials with different makeup, and different cooling properties?
If you have any doubt, try it both ways to make sure, and go with what you feel comfortable with.

 

You're acting very pompous for someone who does not actually know what they are talking about.

According to what you're saying, filling a gap with AS5 would be better than using a copper shim as well.

A few problems with that. One major one is that those specifications are for a solid piece of the material, not a paste made of tiny fragments of that material. The thermal conductivity of these pastes because of their binding agents only applies when transferring heat a short distance, which is why Arctic Cooling provides their thermal specifications at 0.001 inches thick. As this number grows, thermal resistance grows and that conductor becomes an insulator. Last I checked insulators don't make good heatsinks.
AS5 only offers their thermal conductivity in a bizarre unit that myself and my chemist friend were unable to convert into the standard form of measurement for thermal conductivity... but I can tell you this - it's much lower than 429W/m K. This was clearly done for marketing. The same applies to ICD7, who don't even list their thermal specs - only those for a pure, solid diamond.

I wish I had the numbers to give you, I'm not going to give up yet but I make no guarantees. Because of the intentionally vague specifications of these products, it makes it extremely difficult to calculate their efficiencies in different conditions.

Hopefully this has been informational to you and will be met gracefully, but it rarely seems to be that way on the internet.


EDIT:

I've decided to simplify the above a bit for everyone.

What is the purpose of thermal pastes?
To fill gaps between two materials (usually a processing unit and a heatsink) that would usually be filled with air.

What's wrong with air?
Air is a very poor conductor of heat compared to other materials, such as aluminum, copper, gold, silver, and diamond. It's the reason we put a heatsink on a computer to begin with.

An extreme overclocker wants the most heat dissipation out of their cooling system, so what do they do?
They lap their heatsink and processor, which gives a mirror finish. The mirror finish is because the surface is now much flatter than before on a borderline microscopic level.
But this is not perfect, even two mirror finished surfaces against each other will still have microscopic gaps of air. So what do we do? We take microscopic particles of materials that do conduct heat well, like copper, silver, or diamond, and we put those in between. But since direct contact will always be better, we want as little of this as possible.

Since AS5 is really more like a bunch of little microscopic silver balls in different sizes than a full block of silver, you're losing a lot of its ability to conduct heat because you're losing a lot of surface contact. On a microscopic scale, you've got the same issue you started with - your thermal materials do not have flush contact with each other. Fortunately, on such a small scale an oil based filler will suffice, but honestly? You could probably use a microscopic [and highly dangerous because of its ability to be inhaled] dust of copper, silver, gold, or diamond instead.

 

Really? I'm not trying to sound "pompous"....I'd consider myself pretty knowledgeable in the field, and can provide references if need be.

Thats not what I said at all, but please, continue generalizing and twisting the facts to support your position.

What I said was that the space between the heat sink and the chipset is not THAT large, and using ICD7 alone will work perfectly fine. I also said that mixing surfaces will inhibit the cooling properties. I ALSO said that ICD7 is nothing like any other thermal compounds (BTW, do you have any experience with ICD7?). Where other compounds have a very liquid texture, ICD7 is extremely thick, and during extensive testing on my part, replaced thermal pads exceptionally well.

Again, selective listening......Yes, if you soak the CPU or chipset, or GPU in a typical thermal compound, its counterproductive....nowhere do I argue that. I do say that mixing different materials does basically the same thing......it might be better than the stock thermal pad, but that does not make it the optimal solution.

We can simply go by results, by my extensive testing, working with several different companies, my ROCKET SCIENTIST FRIEND (Does that trump your chemist friend?), and other review sites and testers that I've worked with during several rounds of testing. ICD7 wasn't the absolute best thermal compound, but it was top 3, and ideal for this situation (If you want to know OCZs Freeze was the best, followed by ICD7, then Shin Etsu G751, and TX-2/MX-2). But for this particular application, ICD7 is what Irecommend for the chipset because of the thickness, and the space.

I'll tell you right now.....give up....its a worthless and frustrating venture. By the time you factor in all the variables....its impossible to give an exact answer. All you can really do with thermal compounds is narrow it down to the top 5-6, and grab the one that fits the situation, is readily available, is cheapest. I'm not a big fan of Arctic Silver 5....its great stuff, but I think the results are very similar to MX-2, TX-2, OCZ Freeze, and ICD7.

This sounds kinda funny coming from a guy that calls me pompous in one sentence, then goes on to say I don't know what I'm talking about....yet evidently has never used ICD7 or done much research into it.

Actually, lets break that down even more. Heat sink surfaces are either poured or machined, and are never perfectly flat, some are uneven, some have machine marks, some are scratched. The goal of thermal compound is to fill those imperfections while also providing as much mating surface between the CPU IHS (Integrated heat spreader, which is also almost always flawed.) and the heat sink. So, saying that the thermal compound "fills the space" is accurate, but only in the most general terms.

Honestly, lapping a CPU is a waste of time. I shake my head in amazement at these guys. More often than not, its simply a matter of someone stroking their E- ("I lapped my processor and dropped the temps 7C!"), then take into consideration the risks of screwing up the lapping, removing any chance of an RMA, etc. Let me also toss out there that the chipset and notebook CPUs do not have IHS, so don't try to lap the tops (dont laugh, I've seen people do it). Lapping a heat sink has its advantages. Thermalright HSF are notorious for imperfect finishes (but are some of the best coolers).
No one is arguing the principle of what you are saying, but you are both taking my recommendation way out of context, and basically changing the whole argument.......but again, you seem to think that by trying to flame someone, it gives you some sort of credibility. I have to ask again, have you worked with ICD7? Have you ever used it? I'm guessing no.

Look, I'm going to close this up by saying wait until you get the ICD7, then try it without the shim. As I've said, I've done some pretty extensive testing with it (and more than 30 other compounds). I've yet to see an instance where it failed to dramatically lower the temperatures....and I've used it in several different scenarios. Once you get it, you'll understand what I'm talking about, and understand why its a better choice than AS5 and a copper shim. If it were a bigger gap, then I'd recommend a thermal pad like the Cool Labs offering, or to use the copper shim as others here have. As its only a 1mm gap, at most, I am telling you the ICD7 will work fine on its own.
If nothing else, put it on the chipset alone, secure the cooler to the board, and then remove it to see the spread/imprint left......you should see that it works perfectly.

 

Well i have used IC7 for 1.5 years for now. Can say that its the best compund yet. Have used AS5 before, it was good and much easier to apply. But compared to IC7 it has around 200hour burn-in period, when it reaches it's true performance. With IC7 you have instant performance, no waiting period. And i apllied the IC7 to my Gateway P7811-FX CPU and GPU, and it made wonders. I lost around 20 C from GPU max temp!!! It was around 95 vs 75. And idle performance is better around 7 C. My CPU never goes over 48C with playing multiple hours. It used to go near 59C. But i have never aplied it to NB, but im tempted to try that out now. To see if there is temp improvment. Altough i dont need that anymore, because NB runs much cooler now, when CPU and GPU are not burning. And no more TSZ0 spiking also.
I do reccomend IC7 over AS5 anyday. Only its very sticky and hard to apply on surface. Takes a bit longer to apply, but performance wise its worth it.

 

The misconception I think a few people have is that all thermal compounds are applied the same. When we were testing out the various compounds, I saw many people all doing the same thing, applying a small rice sized grain to the center of the IHS, and then clamping down the HSF. That generally worked ok with the silver based compounds, and some of the synthetics.....but the different textures mean you need to apply the different compounds according ot the directions for it, as one method doesnt work for every compound.

What makes ICD7 ideal for the chipset, or anywhere there is a thermal pad is that thickness, and the fact you use quite a bit more than typical compounds (a large pea sized glob). My results are very similar to yours, 48-49C under load (Orthos for 60 minutes), and the TSZ0 temps idle around 40-42C, and sit stably at 64-65C under load.

I wouldn't sit here and bring this up, or recommend the stuff if I didn't have outstanding results. I just hadn't seen anyone else try this, and between myself and a few friends who have this notebook over at HardwareLogic, we've tried it, and it works really well. I have not tried applying it to the notebooks GPU yet, mainly because its such a PITA, and because its my understanding that the thermal compound applied to the GPU is pretty decent.

 

Wish I still had a system I could do your suggested test on, but I don't. Maybe you're right, who knows. But that is not what thermal paste is designed for and in all of my testing in the past what you are saying does not make sense. Perhaps 1mm is just small enough, but it's still quite a bit for a thermal paste to carry heat.
I was not attempting to twist your words, sorry if it seemed that way.

I guess we will have to agree to disagree, but I feel you have been rude to myself and others in your posts. Maybe if you could provide some of those supposed sources you have I would feel better about it all. The reason I said you sounded pompous was that you posted a chart from wikipedia showing the thermal conductivities of different pure, solid materials as if this was proof that the paste form of these same materials would be better than the solid forms of others. Ultimately, we want to know if ICD7 has a higher thermal conductivity than a pure sheet of copper. Unfortunately, we don't have that information.

Oh, also I didn't say my chemist friend backed or agreed with me. I just don't have the science or math background to be creditable when doing thermal conductivity conversions, so I sought help there. I was making a totally separate point, which is that they don't want you to know the true thermal conductivity (which would surely end this argument definitively to your side or mine) and showing the extent they go to to confuse the consumer.

 

So wait, you have no experience using the ICD7, but completely dismissed me, my experience, and my recommendation? Hmmmmmm. Ok, We'll just move on from that and I guess "Agree to disagree".....

I know what thermal compounds are designed for, having written several articles on them, and having done extensive testing, its not rocket science. However, as I said, ICD7 has drastically different properties, which make it ideal for this particular application......it was something that came to mind while I was working on different cooling methods for graphics cards, and wanted to see if there was a way to replace the thermal pads covering the ICs on the cards....I noticed a marked improvement in overclocking ability of the cards memory after using ICD7, and realized that it was a good replacement for the thermal pad used on the P-7811 FX chipset.....and after trying it out on mine, and confirming the results with friends, I felt very comfortable in recommending it to others.

As far as thermal properties.....any time you layer materials, you are going to lose a little bit of the ability to transfer heat....regardless of the materials used.....going from the chipset to thermal compound to the cooler is best case scenario, but only out of necessity.....adding multiple layers of different materials is only going to make heat transfer that much more difficult. Let me also say that different materials also react differently in different applications....copper draws heat better than aluminum, but aluminum passes off heat better than copper....which is why you see many coolers use a copper base and aluminum fins (cost is also an issue).

As far as companies telling you whats in their products, I'll agree 100% with you, countless times I've called these companies and been given a run around when asking about the makeup of their products, or how they came to the conclusions they did...sometimes its just a matter of talking to the right people, or finding the people who know. You'd be surprised that several companies don't even make the compound they sell, Shin Etsu makes a lot of the thermal compounds, and sells them to different companies to bundles with coolers, etc. This explains why a lot of thermal compounds look, taste, and perform identically (and yes I said taste.....they all taste like crap).

As to the compounds themselves, there are some definite tiers, 5-6 that really stand out, a few that fal slightly behind them, a large percentage that are clumped together in the middle, and a small group of generics.....look around at several thermal compound reviews that have cropped up over the last year, and you'll notice that the results are pretty much the same. One thing I will say is that application makes a big difference. Most people do a poor job of cleaning up the old compound, and a poor job of correctly applying the new compound (most of the time applying too much). Using ICD7 requires you to use 2-3 times as much as typical thermal compounds, a reason I've already explained, but more often than not, I see people apply too little ICD7.

If you'd like to try some, contact me via PM, and I'll see about having them send you some, or maybe setting up a round of testing here on the forums.

 

As far as "being rude".....where was I rude? I posted a thermal properties chart so someone didn't have to go digging for it....I thought it would provide a little interesting information for people.....its not something that many people know about or even considered, and I'm sure that if they saw the whole chart that I have, they'd be really surprised by some of the thermal properties.

I posted in a thread, trying to help a kid out, and twice you bashed me, my opinion, and my experience (without knowing anything about me). I shared my experience on the matter with someone who asked, and without any firsthand knowledge, you twice directed tirades at me.....but I'm being rude? Then after explaining things as thoroughly possible, and then someone else sharing their experience, you still cant just let it go. To me, its just the tell tale signs of a forum know it all.

I don't like being confrontational, and started posting here because I really like this place and felt I could contribute a bit. I was forced to step away from the industry for health reasons, but wanted to stay connected and maybe help some people out along the way. If I know something, have experience, or an idea....I'll chip in....if I don;t know, then I'll flat out say so...and find someone who can help you.

 

Sorry that you feel I was bashing you, it was not my intention. Perhaps I misunderstood what you were saying all along. Sometimes, it's hard to read what people mean on a forum. I still think that thermal conductivity chart you posted was vaguely irrelevant though, (and this is why I was probably thrown off so much on what your point actually was). It seems your claim is ICD7 is applicable here primarily because of its consistency, while I thought your claim was more just "diamond is a better conductor than copper so use all diamond not some diamond and some copper," which is also why I mentioned AS5 at all - silver has a better thermal conductivity than copper, and I thought those were the terms you were working off of... I guess it's really not important what my interpretation was if that is not what you meant.

Anyway - perhaps this is an instance where what you are saying is true. I have not personally tested this case so I will step down here and say that you are correct and that I am not.

 

Its applicable here because its a high quality compound....the consistency makes it a good solution as a replacement for the generic thermal pad.

How is the thermal chart irrelevant? Whatever thermal compound you use, its not 100% pure....most are 92-99% pure....and the thermal chart is relevant because the properties still apply....whether its a solid hunk of the metal or not (Just an FYI, most solid hunks of anything are still not 100% pure).

My point in regards to the shim is that its a workaround, mainly because there isnt really a better solution. Layering thermal materials like that...while better than the generic thermal pad, is not optimal, you are talking about 5 layers (including the chipset and cooler) instead of three layers......so by simply using the ICD7, you are removing two layers and replacing it with a quality compound........and I would not have even brought this up if I hadn't verified it myself.

Like I said, hit me via PM and I'll see if they will send you a sample (as I see you are a professional), and I'll try to get them to set some sort of testing up here on the forums, if we can get enough people involved.

 

Unless you want to send me a sample of that ICD7 (been holding out on buying a tube until I build an I7 system) for my desktop, I don't really have anything too good to test on right now.
I used to have a few M1330s which would have been perfect to test this out on - ~1.5MM between the GPU and HSF which is also bridged by a thermal pad.
I don't anymore though.

Offer is appreciated.

 

Get me your addy, I still have a few tubes lying around here from testing.....as well as about 80 misc tubes of various thermal compounds.

Save it for your Ci7 system, and if you have any left over, tinker with it if you have the chance. I was just talking to the Innovative Cooling people, and they said they have people using it for a variety of applications, including an XBox 360.

 

I think i'll try tomorrow that IC7 on P7811-FX NB. And see if it makes difference without that original pad. It might just work, because that compound is REEEAAALLLY thick and tacky. Like tar or somethng similar

 

Give it a shot! Its worked well on three different notebooks so far. I'm trying to get Innovative Cooling to sponsor some testing here for you guys. It helps us by solving the thermal pad replacement issue....and if everyone is happy with the results, it helps Innovative Cooling by giving them another market for their product.

 

Hello Capper,

I have got a question. I just ordered the ICD7, the main reason to do this
was your recommendation for use it on the gpu and chipset, as well as because we agreed earlier in this thread to try this paste.

But to the point, I still have the original thermal pads on the gpu and
chipset and I'm planning to change that. On the cpu I use the MX-2, in my
case it's much better then the AS5. I had them both.

So, my plan is to use the MX-2 on the cpu and the ICD7 on the gpu and chipset, or should I use the ICD7 on all three of them? What do you think about it?

I would really appreciate your opinion. Thanks in advance.


Cheers...

 

MX-2 is an excellent thermal compound....nothing at all wrong with using the ICD7 on the chipset and the MX-2 on the CPU. As to the GPU, I would honestly leave it alone. I've heard its a real pain to access, and that they actually did a pretty good job with applying the thermal compound.....meaning you would be taking a great risk for minimal gains.

Also, make sure you clean the base of the cooler really well. I used Arctic Silver Arcticlean, and it took me a few applications to get all the impurities off the base of the cooler. As I'm sure most people dont invest in Arcticlean, I'd recommend the highest percentage isopropyl alcohol you can find. You should be able to find some good enough stuff at a drug store....just make sure it doesnt have an lubricants or scents mixed in. You can also go to a hardware store and get a small bottle of denatured alcohol.

When cleaning, make sure you have a can of compressed air handy (to blow away any dust or hairs, etc. And do not use a paper towel to clean! Use a coffee filter.

 

Thanks you very much for fast replay. I will stick with my plan and will
use both compounds. As to the gpu , in the M series there is very easy
access to it. The hitsink covers all three, so there is no problem to swap
the stock pad with the ICD7.



Once again, thanks...

 

hello everyone:

( THIS WAS ALL DONE WITHOUT THE COPPER SHIM)

My ICD7 tube arrived today and finished the tube today.
SEE BOTTOM PIC.

Well here are the temps, they are calculated by playing
Call of duty 4...... 30mins high settings
Bioshock ........... 30mins medium/high settings DX10
SEE TEMP PICS AT BOTTOM
The one in the left is the after and the one in the right is the before ICD7

Before ICD7
CPU......76c/74c max
GPU......84c max
ACPI.....77c max

AFTER ICD7
CPU......70c/70c max
GPU......77c max
ACPI.....74c max

WHAT I GAINED FROM PUTTING ICD7:
CPU......7c/4c less
GPU......7c less
ACPI.....3c less

 

Nicely done! Undervolt that bad boy and you should be good to go!

I've talked with Innovative Cooling, and if we can generate enough interest, and get enough volunteers to use and record their temperatures....then I think he will hook people up with sample tubes......If we can get enough people to post here volunteering, I'll start a new thread so we can get everyone a tube, and record temperatures.

 

Well Capper5016 u proved yourself to be more than truthful and for that u have earned my RESPECT.


And your idea about starting that new thread thing will be genius.
-I lost around 4-7c more in the GPU after that 2 hour wait period to attain peak performance I was playing (Bioshock for 3 hours straight DX10 medium/high settings) and my temps reach a max 69c man unbelievable (VISTA POWER OPTION:HIGH PERFORMANCE) I can sure go for a free ICD7 tube.


THANKS EVERYONE 4 YOUR SUPPORT

 

Thanks for the kind words buddy. I actually just really enjoy helping people, and really love this place....its a great community, and an incredible wealth of knowledge.

As to the ICD7, I just happened to be tinkering with a GTX 260 and thought that replacing the thermal pads with ICD7 might be a worthwhile adventure. After getting it all set up, I saw a dramatic improvement in both temperatures and overclocking ability. Putting 2+2 together, I thought the same would work for the NB chipset in the P-7811 FX.....and it did. So I confirmed the results with a few friends and decided to post it here.

As to the paste, I have talked to them, and if we can get a dozen or more volunteers to share pics, record temps, and give their impressions...I think I can make this happen.