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IC Diamond 7 thoughts.

post #1 of 19
Thread Starter 
I've heard good things about IC Diamond TIM but i've also heard people saying it can ruin your waterblocks. So my question is, is there a genuine risk of this past damaging my blocks or my cpu? I will be moving onto watercooling my gpu as well so is there any risks with this paste on a gpu aswell?


Thanks.
post #2 of 19
I used it on both my cpu and gpu blocks without any issue and would (and have) gladly do it again.

It is abrasive, so if you have a perfect mirror finish, it could cloud that up a bit. If you have microgrooves, it can stain them. Purely cosmetic changes however.
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post #3 of 19
Thread Starter 
If it's only cosmetic, i'm not bothered. Think ill buy a tube asap. Thanks for answering me smile.gif.
post #4 of 19
It's a good thermal paste by all means BUT its diamond particles are hard enough to scratch the surface of chips which is a major turn-off for cosmetically minded people.

I would recommend Prolimatech PK-1 as it offers equal if not marginally better cooling performance minus the cosmetic drawback. Cooljag Shin-Etsu X23-7762 thermal compound is a good pick too thumb.gif
Edited by Bruennis - 10/13/12 at 4:34pm
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post #5 of 19
It's a good TIM but too thick and not worth the hassle IMO.
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post #6 of 19
I suppose I should mention that the IC Diamond performs better under temperature extremes (useful for sub-zero cooling) and as mentioned by others, it is indeed quite thick (although contrary to what they may say, that isn't always a bad thing).

If you're just slapping it on your waterblock or air cooler for normal operations, you can save yourself a bit of work (and money) by doing as others have suggested and using more mainstream modern pastes.

If you're doing something out of the ordinary (or are using poorly machined surfaces), give us some details so we can see if IC Diamond would be a good choice.
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post #7 of 19
Thread Starter 
I'm just using it for water cooling with my EK blocks, no plans for LN2 any time soon. I have heard that the load temps can experience significant drops even under air. If it helps I'm using the gelid TIM that came with my EK block.
post #8 of 19
Although I mentioned earlier that IC Diamond can stain a block with grooves, it also has the nice side effect of being able to fill in those grooves, improving it's performance. Works well with older direct heat-pipe air cooler designs too for filling in the grooves on those.

As far as I know however, most if not all newer EK blocks have nice mirror finishes, so you're just going to cloud that up. Purely cosmetic, but it isn't going to help your temps much either. Maybe 1-2c over the stuff you already have (assuming perfect mounts for both).

I'd just keep what you have for now unless you have reason to suspect you have a poor mount. If you want to play with some IC Diamond, be my guest, but don't expect huge gains for your application.
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post #9 of 19
I would really recommend PK1 over IC7, as the performance difference between the two is indistinguishable (I have seen PK1 outperform it), and IC Diamond will remove the writing on the chip's IHS, possibly creating warranty issues, and negating the ability to use the Intel Overclockers ProtectionPPlan.

PK1, Phobya HEGrease, and if you want to get extreme with your TIM, Liquid Metals will all be better options.
     
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post #10 of 19
Quote:
Originally Posted by nleksan View Post

I would really recommend PK1 over IC7, as the performance difference between the two is indistinguishable (I have seen PK1 outperform it), and IC Diamond will remove the writing on the chip's IHS, possibly creating warranty issues, and negating the ability to use the Intel Overclockers ProtectionPPlan.
PK1, Phobya HEGrease, and if you want to get extreme with your TIM, Liquid Metals will all be better options.

Liquid metal has a very high chance to damage your chip, IC diamond does not. For this reason alone, IC diamond is better for "extreme" cooling - at least as long as you intend to use the chip after your bench run. Suppose liquid metal is good for suicide runs if you have that kind of money to blow.

Also, IC diamond doesn't really remove your IHS writing. It might fade it a bit, but it's still perfectly readable (at least mine is after several re-seats).


At the end of the day though, you're right. There isnt much point to IC Diamond for normal use with well finished blocks. Not because it isn't great, but rather that with normal use, pretty much all modern TIMs have reached the point of diminishing returns, and IC Diamond is just more expensive and harder to apply.
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