Innovation Cooling will donate 100 syringes of IC Diamond 7 Carat thermal compound to SPCR forum members. In return, Innovation Cooling seeks test data on how well the thermal compound performs in your system.

Who is eligible?

You must be a SPCR forum member and reside in the US or Canada. The company will only ship to the US and Canada at this time.

If you are eligible and wish to receive a sample, then:

1. Make a post in this thread stating you agree to test ICD7. You will edit that post later with the results of your testing.
2. Email me (mikec at silentpcreview dot com) with "IC Diamond" as the subject line with only your name and shipping address in the body of the email.

The first 100 qualified responders will receive free ICD7. Supporters of SPCR who have Friend, Patron or Lifetime Patron status will be moved up the queue over non-supporters.

Here's Andrew Lemont of Innovation Cooling to provide details of IC Diamond 7 Carat TIM application and testing:

----------------------------------

Hello and thanks to all who have agreed to be a part of this test.

This will be the place to post your benches, test, and results from your IC Diamond 7 Carat thermal compound you received.

Introduction

At Innovation Cooling we have done extensive tests on our own compound as well as all our competitors and I can say from our results that I have never tested a compound that performs better although a couple come close initially on thermal performance due to a more liquid, lower particle bulk loading. This enables a better wetting of the surface to fill imperfections in the adjoining surfaces. They look great after the first couple hundred hours but what happens after 1000 hours? or 2000 hours? It is well documented in numerous published papers that low viscosity TIMs are prone to bake out and pump out. Intel and others in the OEM market recommend particle bulk loadings above 90% to minimize these effects. While this increases reliability in the long run as it is harder to pump a solid than a liquid and performance is measurably impacted as many here will probably have experienced when using thermal pads, gels, phase change, tapes and other OEM type products.

With IC Diamond we believe we have an ideal combination of thermal performance and reliable performance. Our data on a one inch synthetic die with thermocouples on die and sink show only a 1.1C delta @ 100 W. In other words a mechanically thermal perfect contact between the two would only net an improvement of 1.1C @ 100W.

Purified synthetic diamond has a thermal conductivity of 2,000-2,500 W/mK compared to 406-429 W/mK for pure silver.

Go to Innovation Cooling for info on thermal performance/contact and pressure testing/troubleshooting and any other info you would like.

Application

Go to this link for correct application methods.

Every manufacturer has their own prescribed method of grease application and for this test I would use our method out of the gate and no other. The application method has been tested extensively by us and independently by over 127 forum users. Lines, grains of rice, razor film spreads, BB sized, ultrasonically spread with a vibrator, mixed with other pastes have all been tried. Our recommended application is what works. Application is simple and easy.

You may find heating it up a little bit makes it a lot easier to get out of the syringe and helps with the spreading so mount the heatsink ASAP after application to CPU.

If you have an HDT cooler you should try using the above method first and the method used for HDT coolers later if you wish to see which works best for you.

Make sure the Heatsink and CPUs are well cleaned using Isopropyl Alcohol 90%+ pure, Arcti Clean or something similar.

Data Required

I appreciate the effort here from all participating members. Any comments pro or con are welcome as well as any suggestions. There is no bad data in this test, it is what it is, just report the result.

The data we would like is:

"Before" test data prior to dismantling your system. Make sure all heatsinks and CPUs are clean, free from dust, securely mounted, etc. We would like good data.

1. Ambient temps to be taken at idle and load.
2. Idle and load temps obviously. Use a program like LINPACK, Prime95 or OCCT and set to max stress the CPU and allow to run for 2 hours. IC Diamond needs about 2 hours to settle in or cure. Under normal heat sink loads, temperature drops about a degree in that time period and only another 1/2 overnight, so 2 hours is a good point to take a reading. Use Core Temp or Real Temp as these seem to give the most accurate readings. Real Temp also shows the max temp each core reaches during the load test. If you use another program just note down which one.
3. Note initial comparison paste and any exceptional conditions as well as heat sink type.
4. PWM disabled so fan speed is constant for both tests.
5. Note your system specs and settings.

Remount with IC Diamond 7 Carat Thermal Compound and repeat as above.

Submit results for any TIMs you use as a comparison also so we can compare results.

Feel free to make any observations, comments or suggestions. We are trying to refine our message, application and problem troubleshooting so the information you supply to us is valuable to us and much appreciated.

That's basically it. You are pretty much on your own, whatever result you get is what it is. I may comment occasionally or suggest troubleshooting points but not much else. At the end of the exercise we will provide a chart of the results with links to the data for viewing and suggested corrections.

Thanks again all for your time and effort!

Andrew Lemont
Innovation Cooling

Alright, I'm up for it.

PS: sorry about the double emails - sent first one by accident and didn't include my address.

I'm willing to test! Though my system's changed too much from this original setup, I'll update me sig.

I agree to test ICD7. I love Tuniq TX-2 and have always wondered how a diamond based compound would fair. (or is it fare?)

I agree to the terms and to test the ICD7...i could use some new thermal paste anyway.

I'll send the email out ASAP. I'm using some generic paste on the E6750 right now, and i've got some AC MX-2 on the 9600GT...would be interesting to see if temps change any.

-edit-

If there's enough i'll even test it on some other computers lying around here, even the laptops

I'll be glad to test out this TIM.

I heard about this TIM when it premiered and I've always wanted to try it. When will they ship out the syringes? I'm going to be moving soon, so if they're waiting for the full 100-name list before shipping I'll have to give my new address instead.

EDIT: Whoops, forgot the magic words. "I agree to test ICD7"

EDIT2: Email finally sent.

I'd be willingly to test. Be interesting to see how it performs over the stock tim on my stock amd heatsink.

Introducing myself - Andrew from Innovation Cooling

Thanks to Mike for setting up the giveaway for you people and thanks to those that agree to test as there is some work involved in mounting and remounting sinks I believe most will enjoy favorable results.

These beta test/giveaway's Besides introducing people to our product has provided us with much useful information. The application procedure was developed and defined by users on other giveaway's as well as isolating and troubleshooting problems in mounting/thermal performance and has been of great assistance in refining our marketing message.

I expect a good run here as reading over the forum it looks to be a most professional crew here.

Again thanks.

Andrew

You got that right, working with heatsinks, taking them on and off is a pain, but looking at the program (SpeedFan for me) and seeing those lower temps (even if it is by just 1 degrees) just makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside. (Funny, because the feeling inside of your is the inverse temperature of the processor...warm and fuzzy inside me, cool CPU, warm CPU, not warm and fuzzy inside me)

I am game. I haven't used up all my Artic Silver 5 yet. Email sent.

Be glad to test it vs. the AS5 and TX2 I normally use (and the ungodly number of OEM tubes I have that came with aftermarket coolers). Email sent.

Yep, I'll test it and post results of it versus AC5 and some stock stuff from Xigmatek.

And yes, I know I'm new- i'm not joining just for the free thermal paste. I've been reading around but never really active on this particular board. But this test made me make the switch.

Sounds interesting Mike. I'd be able to test against ceramique and/or AS5. Count me in.

Thank you for giving me the chance to try the IC Diamond.

Short version:
Got 3 to 4 degree lower temperatures with IC Diamond vs. Zalman thermal grease.


The particulars:

System:

CPU: Athlon XP 2200+, at 1,350 MHz (Thoroughbred B core, underclocked, standard voltage 1.6v).

[Addition - turns out the CPU was (unintentionally) underclocked. (FSB set to 100 rather than 133 it should have been at).]

CPU Cooler: Zalman CNPS 3100 copper flower heat sink. 120mm Scythe fan mounted on FB123, running at 12v

Motherboard: MSI K7N2 Delta ILSR (northbridge fan replaced with Zalman heat sink NB47j - fanless)
Graphics card: MSI GeForce FX5600 XT (with stock fan - noisy and annoying).

Case: Antec P180, 2 hard disk drives in main compartment, Scythe fan mounted in front position.

Top vent is closed off, rear vent has fan mounted but fan is not on, vents by slots covered.

Before testing I cleaned fan filters, cleaned dust off CPU heat sink.

To stress CPU - running Prime 95 from Universal Boot CD for Windows, using CPU stress setting.
To read temperatures - Speedfan (not controlling any fans, just reading sensors).

Results, all temperatures in degrees C:

Before (after running Prim 95 for over 2 hours)
Ambient 22
CPU 56
Case 42
thermal compound - believe was Zalman thermal grease (though might have been Radio Shack 276-1372A - silicone based heat sink compound)
It had been applied with the "grain of rice" size blob technique.

Cleaned off old grease with cotton rag and Alcohol (Oso Negro Vodka)
Applied IC Diamond.

After (running Prime 95 for 2.5 hours)
Ambient 26
CPU 56
Case 45

Adjusting for increased ambient temperature in the after measurement gives a 3-4 degree decrease in CPU temperature with IC Diamond.

Note: I probably did not use as much IC diamond as called for in the instructions, which seem to be targeted at CPUs with larger cores or heat spreaders. The CPU core is only about 7mm by 10mm, so a 5mm glob seemed excessive for this CPU.

Comments:
IC Diamond is stickier than regular heatsink grease - I didn't have problems getting it out of the tube (working on a warm day), but when applying it to the CPU die, it tended to form stringers that got on other parts of the CPU. (In consistency more like a slightly stringy glue than like a grease). So it was a little harder to apply (not a big deal, just behaved a little differently than expected).

[They should run a grammar checker on the IC Diamond web site. (Saw at least one double word.)]

i'll do it!
heard a lot about it, would love to give it a try.

edit...
dame, didn't see it was USA/canda only

Sweet, I wouldn't mind testing it against my Noctua paste.

I would love to test it espcially in my water cooling rebuild and my Acer Home server tweak

I would be very interested to test ICD 7.
Thanks

I agree to test ICD7.

I would like to test it too for my oc'ed rig

I will make the test on my OC to compare with the ocz freeze I use

I agree to test ICD7.

hey, im in. o wait "reside in the US or Canada" FAIL.

I agree to test ICD7.

I agree to test IC Diamond 7 Carat. I've been wanting to compare something new!

J.

I am down for some testing.

Sign me up as well.
will there be some instructions as to what we are to compare things to?

Will be glad to try this out

I would love to test this product, both in my desktop and tablet.