Can I use arctic silver 5 on an 8800M GTX ?

I hear some debate about whether or not AS5 is safe for gpus, do you think I can use it for the 8800M GTX?

Thanks!

 

I've used is on a few dozen gpu's over the years. No problems at all.

 

Yep, works fine. It's the conductivity that people worry about when using AS5 on the GPU memory especially. It should work, but if you want to avoid issues you can always try using something non-conductive like Arctic Silver Ceramique. (but it really doesn't matter if you apply it correctly anyway)

 

as5 states to be non conductive on the label, so where is this coming from? and yea it's fine to use as5, it's a thermal compound after all.

 

Ok thanks, but applying it, what technique do you guys recommend to apply AS5? I have the arcticlean kit so i will use that to clean the heat sink but should i do the pea size dab, or should i spread it thin with a card?

Also Justin from Xotic posted this pic. http://www.xoticpc.com/laptop/review/8800_5792/8800whtsnk.jpg Doesn't that seem too messy and too much paste?

 

It's not usually, but because it contains silver by design, it can short out traces if you use too much. See the quote from their manufacturer page:

Arctic Silver Incorporated - Céramique 2

By comparison, here is Ceramique (which has NO conductive materials in it)

Arctic Silver Incorporated - Céramique

It's better, but not perfect. An analogy would be a bullet-proof vest. It's not actually bullet proof for all cases and situations, so they still advice caution

 

it states to be non electrically conductive as i stated, what your referring to is that it can build up with static electricity if used in excess, but then again almost any other compound can do that as well if used as a big chunk.

you want to spread the as 5 all over the core and cover every microgap, not to thin but not going crazy either. the purpose of compound is to cover microgaps between heatsink and cpu, the purpose of good quality aftermarket compound is to be able to transfer heat better then the cheap stuff.

 

... the card he sent me is missing a whole module at the top right! Look:



How could it possibly work? I don't even want to put it in my system now, it might ruin the whole thing. ergh.

 

i guess you wont be using any as5 =\ it wont work, you'll crash, short circuit and cause other dangerous problems to your laptop, including possibly fire.
your missing a coil

 

AS5 IS NOT conductive in any sense that can damage components. It is slightly capacitive, which is what people get confused over. Either way, it's safe to use.

 

Ew, it's missing a voltage regulator. If the card isn't dead already, it'll fry as soon as power or a load is put on it. . . though it most likely won't damage your laptop if you try it out.

 

I'd prefer not to even try and just get that guy to give me my money back or send me a replacement. I can't believe this guy would send me this paper weight after I paid. So annoying because I spent the day going to the post office getting the card then coming home reading about AS5, cleaning it etc. Its a massive waste of time and I can't get my laptop online.

Thanks for all your help though guys I really appreciate it. I will let you know what happens.

 

yes exactly what i said about AS5, not conductive and the part he's missing is the inductor coil in relation to the buck regulator, just to be even more accurate.

 

Anyone else want to comment about AS5 and this card?