Thermal Compound

[jedimasterk]

just ordered an Athlon XP 1800+ Retail. I understand that the heatsink/fan already comes with thermal compound on the heatsink. Is this compound good or should you remove the compound and replace it with arctic silver. I also understand that if I bought it OEM I would have had to buy arctic silver, but their is thermal compund already on the heatsink.

[Raptor2150]

Retail? Why'd you get a retail?
Anyways, I think it really depends on whether or not you plan on OC'ing that baby. If not, don't worry about it, the retail setup should be just fine. If you are planning on OC'ing you'd probably want a whole new cooling setup with ASII.

[sapasion]

In addition to ASII if you have OC intentions [and let's be real you would not be here if you didn't ] I'd go a step above a retail HSF. You'll want a 7K+ rpm fan sitting on top some copper cooler. Personally the SK-6 from thermalright is excellent but there are other good ones too.
http://www.amdmb.com/article-display.php?ArticleID=133


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My Humble Rig

[jedimasterk]

I've never installed thermal compund since this is my first major upgrade. What is the best way to apply it. How much do you need. Is it best for a newbie like me to use what already comes with the heatsink/fan combo. I talked to someone who used the compound that was already on the heatsink/fan and had no problems overclocking.

[talldude]

allrights. The generic pad that comes with heatsinks plain sucks. It gets sticky and it's hard to remove if you ever wanna switch heatsinks. Also, it is not as good in conducting heat between the sink and the core as AS2. AS2 has good instructions on how to put it on. I'll summarize: place a very small blob on the core, put a plastic bag or glove on your hand, spread the blob with your finger so that there is a very very very very (you get the point) thin layer on the core (should be so thin that it barely covers the whole core). Then apply your hsf and there you go.

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squire of an OC Crusader
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[jedimasterk]

So you don't need to spread it on the whole core just about 3/4 of it.

[Raptor2150]

What? You put it on the entire surface of the core. Also, spread some over the heatsink itself and then wipe it off. This fills in the tiny gaps in the heatsink itself. www.articsilver.com does a great job of explaining it.

[Molo]

Originally posted by jedimasterk:
So you don't need to spread it on the whole core just about 3/4 of it.

You cover the entire 1sq.cm. core, just don't treat it like whipped cream on a sundae. It should look like a coat of paint.

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More than you'd want to know about someone else's computer

[alphaash]

Actually, if it looks like a coat of paint, you have too much on. It should look like a skin. The idea is to fill the gaps in the surfaces (minute gaps), not to cushion the heatsink.

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I want to be a Knight of the OC's, but I guess my invite is still in the post....

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Abit KT7A, 1G Athlon @ 1.1G (not much but it is fun), 512Mb Yum-Cha PC133, Geforce2MX Classic

[jedimasterk]

Now how can you determine what part of the heatsink will cover the core. Do you guess!. You obviously can't mark it with a pen. In other words cover a decent area of the heatsink with AS2 than wipe it off. Is the isophrol achohol that you get in a drug store good for removing the existing compound on the retail heatsink.

[ynd69]

Moving to cases and cooling.

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~ Baron ynd69 of the OC Crusaders ~

System Specifications

Trance - Is it in you?

[yargman]

Yeah, rubbing alcohol works fine for me

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I dun like Red River Rats