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#1
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Thermal transfer material squeezed out? Just the facts.
We have a bunch of folks who have installed and removed heat sinks to
and from CPUs, along with the question of whether excess material is squeezed out by the pressure of heatsink clamps. Maybe we can clear things up. Here I solicit observations related to the hypothesized squeezing phenomenon. To retain focus, I propose that for the first 48 hours of the thread we keep reasoning, deduction, conclusions, and controversey to a minimum, and stick to observations and observed patterns. The arguments if necessary can start a couple days from now. The emphasis is on the description of relevant details, especially brands and characteristics of materials and components used. |
#2
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Matt wrote:
The emphasis is on the description of relevant details, especially brands and characteristics of materials and components used. I installed a retail-boxed XP 2500+ Barton with stock heatsink and fan on a Biostar M7NCD Pro mobo maybe eight months back. The heatsink had a gray patch of wax-like thermal transfer material maybe a half to a fourth of a millimeter thick. Hooking the HS clamp onto the motherboard with a screwdriver required considerable force. After running the machine for a few days, I removed the heatsink from the CPU and found IIRC that I could see the surface of the heatsink through the layer of thermal material, at least in some spots. Definitely I could see a ledge of material that had been surrounding the die: I could see the imprint of the die in the material, and the imprinted area had a very thin layer of material. Also I could see the purple surface of the die through the remaining thin layer of thermal material. All of this is to say the material appeared to have been almost all squeezed out. I used 91% isopropyl alcohol and coffee filters to remove the used thermal material (easily), and reinstalled the heatsink using Arctic Silver 3 and following as well as I could the AS3 instructions. I seem to recall removing it again to check whether I had used enough AS3, found that I hadn't and reinstalled using more AS3. I did observe a breaking-in period for the AS3 installation, which is to say that the CPU temps did improve a bit (1 to 3 deg C? I forgot how much) after a few weeks of use. Sorry I don't recall many details of the AS3 application, except that the recommended amount was not enough, meaning that the die did not the first time make a complete AS3 print on the heatsink. |
#3
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Matt wrote:
We have a bunch of folks who have installed and removed heat sinks to and from CPUs, along with the question of whether excess material is squeezed out by the pressure of heatsink clamps. From what I've seen, the excess (using plain 'ol white HS silicone grease aka radio shack type) get's mushed out the sides no problem. Maybe some thicker (arctic -insert your favorite low temp sounding metal-) type doesn't do this? I've never had a problem with a rice sized blob, smear it around a little and clamp the HS down. It always has a very thin layer when removed later and never had any problem removing a HS with this stuff either. -- Stacey |
#4
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Stacey wrote:
Matt wrote: We have a bunch of folks who have installed and removed heat sinks to and from CPUs, along with the question of whether excess material is squeezed out by the pressure of heatsink clamps. From what I've seen, the excess (using plain 'ol white HS silicone grease aka radio shack type) get's mushed out the sides no problem. Maybe some thicker (arctic -insert your favorite low temp sounding metal-) type doesn't do this? I've never had a problem with a rice sized blob, smear it around a little and clamp the HS down. It always has a very thin layer when removed later and never had any problem removing a HS with this stuff either. The stuff that oozes out can form a HEAT dam and hold IN the heat! Use thermal grease very sparingly, only enough to fill the micro voids in the two surfaces, and not enough to keep the heat sink seperated from the top of the cpu. |
#5
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"Patrick" wrote in message . com... Since the proposed cease fire and waiting period is now null and void.... The stuff that oozes out can form a HEAT dam and hold IN the heat! Then clean it off. Did you have problems with diapers or something when you were a kid? Use thermal grease very sparingly, only enough to fill the micro voids in the two surfaces, and not enough to keep the heat sink seperated from the top of the cpu. By definition, it's impossible for something as coarse as human fingers or related tools to fill *only* "micro voids" in the 2 separate surfaces, so don't bother trying. |
#6
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"Patrick" wrote in message
. com... Since the proposed cease fire and waiting period is now null and void.... The stuff that oozes out can form a HEAT dam and hold IN the heat! In , jeffc typed: Then clean it off. Did you have problems with diapers or something when you were a kid? Use thermal grease very sparingly, only enough to fill the micro voids in the two surfaces, and not enough to keep the heat sink seperated from the top of the cpu. By definition, it's impossible for something as coarse as human fingers or related tools to fill *only* "micro voids" in the 2 separate surfaces, so don't bother trying. I've always applied Thermal Grease with a razor blade. (Read that somewhere) In other words, just put a little dab on the CPU and use the edge of the razor blade to kind of very gently scrape it on...that way you get a very even fine coat with very little thermal grease used. Always has worked for me. I've always heard the smaller amount the better, as long as it covers the CPU, as your only trying to fill in microscopic little 'pits', not big cracks. ....Allen |
#7
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Patrick wrote:
Stacey wrote: Matt wrote: We have a bunch of folks who have installed and removed heat sinks to and from CPUs, along with the question of whether excess material is squeezed out by the pressure of heatsink clamps. From what I've seen, the excess (using plain 'ol white HS silicone grease aka radio shack type) get's mushed out the sides no problem. Maybe some thicker (arctic -insert your favorite low temp sounding metal-) type doesn't do this? I've never had a problem with a rice sized blob, smear it around a little and clamp the HS down. It always has a very thin layer when removed later and never had any problem removing a HS with this stuff either. The stuff that oozes out can form a HEAT dam and hold IN the heat! ?? Since the heat is being transfered between the -top of the CPU- and the -bottom of the heat sink-, that doesn't sound reasonable. How is that going to stop heat from being transfered between those two surfaces? How much heat do you think is being transfered out the side of the chip to the air between the tiny gap between the sink and the CPU board? Use thermal grease very sparingly, only enough to fill the micro voids in the two surfaces, and not enough to keep the heat sink seperated from the top of the cpu. If there was enough staying between the top of the CPU and the heat sink to "seperate" them, it wouldn't have squished out from between them! Given how tight most clamps hold the heat sink down, the posibility of that seperation happening is nil. Now maybe with some sort of "ultra silver" HS grease it's so thick this is a problem? I wouldn't know about that one.. I agree you don't need to use any more than needed to cover the CPU and if you insist on using conducting material you have to be very careful, that's why I don't use that stuff. I've used silicone grease for over a decade of building computers, overclocked etc and never had the first cooling related problem. -- Stacey |
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