Arctic Silver II Question

[Albinus]

Hi Guys,

I recently decided to replace my generic thermal compound on my Pentium 4 with Arctic Silver II. I followed the instructions from their website and had a nice even coat over the heat spreader. Isopropyl alcohol was used to clean the chip and HSF, and I also prepared the HSF as they say to do.

Problem is, I have not noticed a change at all in my load temperatures. The Pentium 4 is of course a hot-running chip, and with the old stuff on it was running at 61 degrees under load, with the same ambient temperature I am getting 61 degrees with the Arctic Silver II - am I doing something wrong? I would have expected about a 2 degree drop in temperature. Can anyone offer any suggestions?

Thanks guys :wave:

[Mr. C]

Have you got a good airflow into and out of the box albinus?

[Albinus]

Well, using what I have on hand (which isn't a lot I must add) I have got a "respectable" level of airflow. 4x 80mm fans blowing into the case with an 80mm fan at the top acting as a blowhole, which pumps out warm air (so it must be getting out). I just thought that most people get around 2 degrees better cooling from using Arctic Silver II I would as well :(

[Mr. C]

To be honest, most cooling articles I have read are in relation to AMD processors.

I truly don't know what you should expect from a P4:?:

Certainly sounds like air goes in and out of the case, I think maybe just make sure a goodly amount of it is getting to the right spots.
Certainly disappointing the AS II didn't do something, you'd expect a little bang for the buck. Unless that's as cool as it's gonna' get with the setup as it is now.

Anybody know of a database for P4 temps?

[JealousMidget]

Just wondering how long it has been. I think I read that it takes a couple days to "break it in" once you apply to AS. If it hasn't been that long, you might want to give it a little time, before you declare failure. If it has been a lot longer than that, maybe Charles is right, and that is as good as it gets for that P4.

JM

[Albinus]

I found an interesting thread on OCAU's forums, here's the link:

http://forums.overclockers.com.au/showthread.php?s=&threadid=32340

My temperatures aren't too bad when compared to some of these guys :eek:

[Mr. C]

Just ran this down from the Intel P4 Data Sheet




Doesn't look like you could be in too much danger, just my opinion though

[Albinus]

Well here's what my thermal monitor is reading ATM - ambient room temperature is 31 degrees:

[Mr. C]

You could invest in a higher RPM fan I suppose?
Just doesn't seem it should be necessary with no OC'ing going on.
I really must do more investigation tomorrow on P4 temperatures.

[Onyx]

I'd hazard a guess that the new retension mechanisms for the P4 secures the sink on top of the chip fairly well, thus removing the margin of cooling provided by a better than std thermal interface material.

AS was designed/developed back in the days when HSF's were plonked onto chips with a hugely variable clip force (flimpsy to super tight), thus it might have provided better thermal transfer in the worse of those conditions. As I understand, the P4 has 4 screw/bolts that firmly attaches the sink to the mobo, trapping the chip as the meat in the sandwich, thus exerting an even amount of pressure on it.

Frankly I'm not surprised AS2 didn't provide much of a temp diff... I'll try my peanut butter and jelly mixture next time ;)

[Albinus]

You could invest in a higher RPM fan I suppose?

Not likely....... I'm already running a 4500RPM 27cfm Y.S. Tech model, next step up is the 6800RPM 38cfm screamer, which I can't hear myself think over - it's sitting on my desk next to me because of its noise level :(

But as long as other people are getting higher tempertures than me I'm happy :p

[Mr. C]

Albinus, according to Intel's web page on P4 Thermal Management

[Albinus]

I'd hazard a guess that the new retension mechanisms for the P4 secures the sink on top of the chip fairly well, thus removing the margin of cooling provided by a better than std thermal interface material.

I think you are spot on the mark here Onyx, my HSF is held on by two very strong clips, one at either end. It's a lot of force I can tell you ;)

Your PB&J combination might work wonders - who knows :D

[Wiggo]

I think that ya have two choices here
1/ Get use to those temps and stop thinkin' of ya PIII
2/ Get ya self an airconditioner and bring the ambient temp down
so that's about it I think. :D
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[Bahamut Zer0]

As JealousMidget said- ASII takes at least 48hours to 'kick-in'

When I applied it to my XP1600+ idle temps were 44degrees
ASII kicked in 2 days ago, and idle temps are now 38 (give or take 3 degrees)

Ive found the P4 chips, and to some extent the P3 chips dont really benefit from ASII whatsoever. I just use the grease and put up with temps around 50-60degrees. Not like I use the bloody things anyway...

Celerons however- the love the ASII compound. So there is definatly something going on with the P3 & P4 there....