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Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound

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#1 ·
Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound

Description:
Contains 99.9% pure silver: Arctic Silver 5 uses three unique shapes and sizes of pure silver particles to maximize particle-to-particle contact area and thermal transfer. 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 could potentially cause problems if it bridges two close-proximity electrical paths.) Absolute Stability: Arctic Silver 5 will not separate, run, migrate, or bleed. Performance: 3 to 12 degrees centigrade lower CPU full load core temperatures than standard thermal compounds or thermal pads when measured with a calibrated thermal diode imbedded in the CPU core. Coverage Area: The 3.5 gram tube contains enough compound to cover at least 15 to 25 small CPU cores, or 6 to 10 large CPU cores, or 2 to 5 heat plates. 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.

Details:
DetailValue
BindingPersonal Computers
BrandArctic Silver
EAN0840556003052
Feature3.5 gram tube will cover 20 to 30 small cpu's
Height2.24 inches
Length3.23 inches
Weight0.22 pounds
Width2.83 inches
LabelArctic Silver
List Price$5.95
ManufacturerArctic Silver
MPNAS5-12G
Package Quantity1
Product GroupCE
Product Type NameCOMPUTER_COOLING_DEVICE
PublisherArctic Silver
SKUPI-72452
StudioArctic Silver
TitleArctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound
UPC840556003052
 

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#2 ·
I love it

review by blupupher

I love Arctic Silver 5. It works very well for me and does what it is supposed to.
Easy to apply and to clean up.

Many bash it, but it still places in the top 10 in almost all legitimate tests compared to other TIM's. The difference between them is maybe 2-3?C, and for all but the most extreme users, that will not make a difference.

It does take time (200 hours) to reach maximum effectiveness, but really, you want to complain that something works better with use?
Some say it is hard to apply and clean up, I have found it is no harder (and sometimes easier) that other TIM's I have used.
People claim it is conductive, it is not. It is capacitive.
capacitive =
1) The ratio of charge to potential on an electrically charged, isolated conductor.

2) The ratio of the electric charge transferred from one to the other of a pair of conductors to the resulting potential difference between them.

conductive =
The ability or power to conduct or transmit heat, electricity, or sound.

I also did a little experiment with it applying it directly to CPU pins. See HERE.
Basically, don't get it where it does not belong and your fine. If you do get it where it does not belong, clean it off and your fine.

ProsCons
It worksit is not free

Ratings
Overall5
 
#3 ·
#5 ·
Works very well

review by thetalljs

So I have a 4 year old laptop that has a couple upgraded components. Recently, I noticed it running overly hot, so decided to tear it down, clean out the fans and heatsinks, and renew the thermal paste.
I purchased the AS5 paste maybe 2 years ago because I used it then to do the same. Back then, I didn't do the curing/break-in process, but decided to do it now.

My gawd, what a difference!

Computer idle temperatures started around 67 to 68 degrees celcius when first using the computer after applying the paste.
Each day you have to turn the computer off and let it cool down for at least 3 hours, or overnight is best.
And each day, I've noticed the temperatures drop. Second day, it was down to 66-65 degrees.
Third day today, it's down to 60!

On full load playing games, it hit around 86 the first day. Second day down to 84, right now am testing it and it says 80 was max.

I have the video card slightly overclocked to 700mhz, and memory clock to 1300mhz, so you'd expect it to run a bit hotter than normal. I applied AS5 to the card and the memory modules (because thermal pads were melted and I couldn't buy more at the time), and to the CPU.

I have an Asus G53JW with Nvidia 3D, Intel i7, 460M graphics, 16GB RAM GSkill and another brand, a base 750GB HD and added a 500GB WD Black.

ProsCons
Significant temperature drop after break-in periodLong break-in period

Ratings
Overall5
 
#6 ·
Works very well

review by thetalljs
I just used some of this on a recent build and have been seeing excellent (low) temps too, even without the break-in routine

gotta luv it ..........
 
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