My switch from IC 7 Diamond to ArcticSilver 5 to Prolimatech PK-3

The IC 7 Diamond my Malibal Satori (P170EM) came with started to 'deteriorate'. I'm not sure how it happened on a laptop that's less than a year old, but the highest CPU temps would go as high as 104C. This happened when I converted video files into DVD format. I use an open source program called DVD Flick, for those interested. I would run it at the highest priority and run two instances at once, since I found simultaneously making 2 different DVDs faster than doing them one at a time. The GPU on the other hand, I only occasionally play F1 2012, DotA, SC2, BF3, and some others, would go as high as 90-something. The temp would usually hover around low 90s. Remember,I only play these games occasionally and not really for long periods of time.

What bothered me the most were the CPU temperatures during idle. It used to be in the mid 40's when I first bought the laptop, especially with my Notepal U3 cooler (see sig). It went from that to high 50s to low 60s at idle even in my frigid office or with the Notepal U3.

As for everyone saying the IC 7 scratching the surfaces, it's true. I saw hairline scratches, more on my GPU than CPU, when I removed the compound (see pics below). I was very careful not to scratch it but it looks like it's hard to prevent with the IC 7 compound. Maybe you can get away with tiny scratches like on my CPU, but I believe it's inevitable. For what it's worth, Malibal did a pretty good job applying the compound. They were a little on the "too much" side, but it was clean and not sloppy or all over the place like some vendors.

I highly recommend using a small microfiber cloth to clean the old compound off. I tried using alcohol pads and ArtiClean. Both work extremely well but with ArtiClean removing the old compound faster. I used the ArtiClean #1 to soften the compound then I wiped it off with alcohol pads. Once I got all the old gunk out, I used the ArtiClean #1 again and wiped down all the parts where the old compound used to be. Once I'm satisfied with how clean everything was, I used the ArtiClean #2 and wiped down all the surface that the #1 solution touched. I then applied the new compound.

I bought two different TIMs: Arctic Silver 5 and Prolimatech PK-3.

Here's the summary of my findings doing similar tasks when I had IC 7 and now with ArcticSilver 5 and Prolimatech PK-3. Keep in mind these are real world usage ( read: my real world usage), not a scientific lab test, so your results will definitely vary.

IC 7 Diamond (in Celcius) with official AMD 13.8 Beta drivers:

CPU - Min: 50-60s (lowest temp for any core) / Max: 104 (highest temp for any core)
GPU - Min: 0 / Max: 90s

This screenshot is of the Arctic Silver 5 using Open Hardware Monitor:




This screenshot is of the Prolimatech PK-3 using Open Hardware Monitor:


Here are pictures of me changing the thermal compound:
















Watch out for this!


It should look like this...

ArcticSilver 5


Prolimetech PK-3


Applying that much compound results to this...

 

I just repasted with AC-5 a few weeks ago, yet I am still getting max temps on my 3630 of around 86-87C

 

If you look at my AS5 max, at 88C, is a little higher than yours. I don't think it's bad considering it's running for a few minutes at 99% utilization. My GPU temps wasn't what scared me though, it was my CPU temps. I knew I couldn't let it go above 100C like that too often if I wanted to keep this laptop around for a long time. That's what really prompted me to repaste.

AS5, from the 14 hours I've observed has been great. A whole lot better than the 'deteriorated' IC 7 I had. So far, though, I think PK-3 is even better. IC 7 was great when I first got it but the scratching thing was always a turn off. I saw this opportunity to finally switch to a paste equally as good, if not better, and has no issues with scratching the surfaces.

 

It's just odd that it gets so high for an unlocked cpu. When i first got the computer back in january, temps never went above 70. Then they started climbing and climbing until i hit 103C (105 is thermal shutdown). I had IC7 applied at factory for the gpu; never seen it go above 70c.

Nice pics and guide as well.

 

If the application was not perfect, air bubbles may have expanded/contracted ruining the paste job.

 

What Meaker say is true, Ajfountains. It's kind of tricky with our laptops because our heatsinks don't use clamps like some desktop PCs. The heatsink can wiggle around or if you let go, the heavier side will plop down and lift up the opposite side, ruining the paste job.

When you put back the heatsink, use both hands holding both ends. Put it down slowly while lining up the holes for the screws. As soon as you're close to the processor, push on it straight down, straight down is the key, and don't let go. With the free hand (the one holding the other end), start putting the screws back in a criss-cross pattern without tightening them. Once they're all on and a few turns away from being complete tight, tighten them one by one, counter-clockwise. They're numbered too so you can follow in that order if you want. This ensures you don't let any air bubbles form.

 

why the temperature for ICD 7 paste higher than other paste ? while most people recommend it

 

excellent thread and a great example of why i registered on these forums. great pics too. +rep

 

I honestly don't know what happened. I used to recommend IC 7, too, because it was great. For a long time it was awesome. There are even screenshots somewhere of my temps with IC 7 while my laptop was still new-ish. For some reason, it quickly deteriorated. When I took the heatsinks off, the compound wasn't terribly applied or anything. It was a little bit on the "too-much" side but it wasn't overflowing or anything.

Here's my honest review of IC 7 since I've experienced using it for almost a year:
1) It's great at helping lower temperatures when it was at its best...
1a) but not as well as AS5 or PK-3...
1b) and it didn't stay with the great performance for long.
2) It's not as hard to clean off at all like others say.
3) It does scratch the die carrier surface.

Now PK-3 they say is hard to apply compared to PK-2, with PK-1 in the middle, in terms of application difficulty. Since I read this everywhere including Prolimatech's website, it got me thinking "WOW! PK-2 must be SUPER easy to apply" because PK-3 was as easy as AS5 to apply which was as easy as any paste I have ever dealt with. I put a 2-3mm sized pea, since the recommended size for desktop CPUs is 5-6mm (by builders), and that was it. There was no fuss.

My recommendation for thermal compound, at least between the three I've tried, is PK-3. According to reviews and professional, scientific lab tests who followed cure times, etc., the difference is just 2-3C. For me, however, the difference between AS5 and PK-3 is a LOT more than 10C in some cases with PK-3 coming out on top. Since posting this thread, I've been monitoring my temperatures to make sure I don't eat crow with the way I've been raving about PK-3, and so far so good. Time will tell.

 

Thank you!

 

I've been using AS5 for years but I think I will give this a try, it's only 15 for a 5g container. That's what I paid for my AS5 at radioshack... I know pricey lol.

 

Just to update my PK-3 experience, I've since applied the paste on an HP Compaq and an HP Pavilion dv6 laptop and the overheating issues and random shutoffs are completely gone. The stock foam, sticky thing that was there for those two laptops were replaced with PK-3 and the heatsinks were cleaned up. The temps went from 86-90* C to mid-50s under heavy load (running Ubuntu compiling AOSP roms). Idle temps are low 30s. I'm sure other good thermal compounds out there can do an equally awesome job on these low-end laptops, but I just wanted to say that I'm REALLY getting my money's worth out of that tiny PK-3 syringe I bought. Lol.

 

Sweet, what Nexus you build for I build for my N4

I ordered my paste. Will paste my new sager when I get it from pro-star

 

This thread is awesome! Great info. I'm in a similar boat but I haven't repaired yet- this is my first time, I just bought my Clevo last September. Will it void my warranty to repast with AS 5? I bought from mythlogic and they have yet to get back to me

 

it's about that time for me to deal with the temps on my laptop.
i will most likely clean the dust out (still looking for a good tut) + re paste.

great post, it's helpful to see images with descriptions. vthanks

 

No, a repaste won't void your warranty. One of the selling points of Clevo is user upgradability . They make it easy to disassemble.

 

Thats what they tell you, until you try to upgrade ur GPU and find out u cant =D

 

Great write up and good pictures. Nice job.

I see new Clevo special editions ship with IC Diamond. Are these going to fail after a year as well? I wonder if I should ask for AS-5 or PK-3, as they will last longer?

 

Heat + Time will do this to all pastes, AFAIK. Good temps for a year is not bad. Consider a repasting as a sort of "Spring Cleaning." Watch your temps and repaste. when you notice an increase that is too high. It will probably be a gradual increase as the paste is breaking down.

 

Understanding these are your own lets has some fun testing which is cool, with that said.

These tests are all within error. What did you use to generate the heat? Did you take both results at the same time into your testing? Also AS5 needs to break in to get best results.


You also applied Paste to the CPU incorrectly, with that said you looked like you got decent coverage.

For Rectangle Exposed Cores you want to apply like this

 

This. This is precisely what happened to me. Prior to the experience (told in the OP), I thought a paste job would last at least 2-3 years. But after a year or so, my IC7 started to lose it's potency, so to speak.

 

My little disclaimer was that my tests wasn't scientific, but rather from "real usage". The stuff I do with my laptop and the room/temperature I do them in don't vary by much, if any.

From what I read, AS-5 didn't need time to cure like PK-3. Maybe I was mistaken.

As for applying the paste, I tried what you showed (albeit, a thinner version) and then I tried the bead. I removed the heatsinks to see how it covered the die carrier for each and it looked about the same. The picture you have in your post is already considered "too much", by the way. The point of using thermal paste/compound is just to "fill" the gap from CPU/GPU to heatsink with the assumption that both surfaces don't make total, complete contact. This way heat may be transferred efficiently. Therefore, the thinner the better. Hence why I went with bead. There's a YouTube video that shows all the different methods which holds true for rectangular die carriers, too. I'm no expert in this, though. I only went with what I learned by researching.

BTW, in the last image, you see the CPU didn't get much coverage. That was a mistake. I put the heatsink on and I lifted it by accident, which introduced air bubbles. So I took it off right away. That's why it looked like that. But as you can see, the paste went from corner to corner, but not evenly because I didn't get to press the heatsink down completely.

 

From the product web page for AS-5,

Important Reminder: Due to the unique shape and sizes of the particles in Arctic Silver 5's conductive matrix, it will take a up to 200 hours and several thermal cycles to achieve maximum particle to particle thermal conduction and for the heatsink to CPU interface to reach maximum conductivity. (This period will be longer in a system without a fan on the heatsink or with a low speed fan on the heatsink.) On systems measuring actual internal core temperatures via the CPU's internal diode, the measured temperature will often drop 2C to 5C over this "break-in" period. This break-in will occur during the normal use of the computer as long as the computer is turned off from time to time and the interface is allowed to cool to room temperature. Once the break-in is complete, the computer can be left on if desired.

 

So it takes over a week!? Well, it's good I chose PK-3 then. I don't really have time to wait that long for the compound to cure. I must have read wrong. Thanks for pointing it out.

 

Yes AS5 takes a long time to properly settle in, part of the reason it was not popular for those opening their systems up often.

 

Artic Silver has a long curing time of approximately 1 month. Do be really careful. It is conductive and make sure to clean the area around the GPU if overflows to the circuit during the paste job. You really dont want to short out your expensive vid card.

 

You are correct, more does not mean better. It is still some sort of plastic compound. When too much is applied, it acts more like an insulator, rather than dissipating heat.

I used the traditional method of using a credit card and spread the thermal paste evenly over the complete surface, and try to make it as thin as possible.

 

Regarding AS-5 being electrically conductive, the web site says " Not Electrically Conductive: Arctic Silver 5 was formulated to conduct heat, not electricity. (While much safer than electrically conductive silver and copper greases, Arctic Silver 5 should be kept away from electrical traces, pins, and leads. While it is not electrically conductive, the compound is very slightly capacitive and couldpotentially cause problems if it bridges twoclose-proximity electrical paths.)"

As for how to apply it, well it depends on the chip. See this for specifics. http://www.arcticsilver.com/intel_application_method.html The Haswells are all done by putting down a vertical line of compound.

 

You guys should look into coollabratory liquid pro, I have been using it on desktop cpus (delidded) for awhile with great results. Looks as if your heatsinks are all copper which would be perfect for it (has gallium in it so it will destroy aluminum). Its pricey but blows everything else out of the water (I use PK-3 when I cant use CLP). Note it is electrically conductive so be careful if you decide to go this route.

CoollaboratoryLiquid Pro - the first heat conduction paste of 100% metall

 

pk-3 needs cure time?

 

No, most don't these days.