Bigb21

Up until recently I have been running 6 Case fans and my CPU temps at idle where around 39-40C. I wanted my cpu temps to be lower so I thought well I switch over to water cooling I saw this affordable kit that Thermaltake makes called the BIG WATER KIT only $119 well I installed it today and have run several tests only to find out my temps are almost exactly the same whats real sad is I havent removed any fans except the heatsink/fan and I even applied artic silver paste before installing the waterblock but my question is, that I used almost a whole 3.5gram tube on my cpu could I have put too much paste on my CPU and this is affecting my temps or is this really a waste of money water cooling kit?

steveo42024

Well Imo its a waste of money and DAMN is that a ton of paste!!!! Little bigger than a bb sized dot is plenty.

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Bigb21

so would you say that having that much paste is making my temps higher?

Transonic

It's honestly a combination of both.

1. The TT kit isn't the best kit out there, there's plenty more that are still affordable and provide better quality. Then there's custom, which is even better, might not be as cheap but temps are way better.

2. AS5. Yeah that's way too much. You only need a little dot then you spread it around so that it's about paper thin throughout the whole chip it's covering. Too much AS5 can definately cause problems. Use a clean tissue with alcohol to remove all the AS5 and reapply it.

Here's a link on how to apply AS5.

Let us know if you have any more questions.

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Burn

Use my FAQ on spreading thermal paste- it's much more in-depth than the one on Arctic Silver's website. A link is located in my sig.

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Transonic

:withstupi I knew it was somewhere close by.

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Bigb21

what if I kept this kit and purchased a better water block how much of a difference would that make? and which one for a reasonable price under 100 bucks would be the best? Or would it be better to upgrade my pump?

zerohour

DAMN! That is alot of thermal paste. The Bigwater kit is really not a bad kit in any sense, many people on here have awsome temperatures with that kit. Although you will get better temps with a custom kit, i would say keep this because you already paid for it.

Use rubbing alcohol and take off ALL that thermal paste because that is definatly causing your problems. Like someone else said, only a drop slightly bigger then a BB will do it. If you dont feel like that is enough, you can put another drop but that is really all you need. You probably put 30xs to much this time.

About the waterblock - Keep it! buying a new waterblock will result in a big change in your system. That waterblock has custom Bigwater fittings and 1/4inch tubing. There are very few waterblocks out that have 1/4in tubing that would fit that waterblock, so new tubing would also be required. Then the same custom fittings are on the radiator etc etc etc.

My advice: keep the Bigwater kit and waterblock. However use rubbing alcohol and take off ALL the thermal paste. Then make a drop in the middle of the CPU only a BB or so large. Doing this will definately take care of your temps. With a good ambient temperature you could see drops of 10C.

Goodluck and keep us posted!

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Snerp

You must have stock in Artic Silver. I've installed 6 CPUs and 2 GPUs + Vid Ramsinks and I still have 1/4 a tube of AS in my 3.5 gram tube. Make sure not to get it on any of the traces on the actual motherboard because AS 5 can conduct electricity.

-Snerp

fstfrddy

Wow you flooded it man! and don't be too concerned about your idle temps, They ar dependent on ambient temps, you are pumping room temp water to the cpu so it is not going to get colder than that. What counts are Load temps, see what you get there after reapplying the thermal paste properly. Here is a pic, this is plenty.

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