Use Artic Silver 3 or Arctic Silver Ceramique?

Wedge · Post by **Wedge** » Wed Jul 02, 2003 11:03 pm

I've read conflicting info on these two products.

I understand that the ceramique will not short anything out in the event that I spill some in the wrong spot; however, I am reading conflicting reports on which is the best for cooling.

Can you guys shed some light?

geordie · Post by **geordie** » Thu Jul 03, 2003 12:49 am

Ceramique is between AS3 and Alumina for cooling, so go for AS3

Post by **Ralf Hutter** » Thu Jul 03, 2003 5:00 am

I've been using Ceramique since it became available and my findings are that it cools the same or maybe 1-2°C more than ASIII. Based on my experience (I've used it on at least 10-12 builds) I'd say "flip a coin" if you're using an Intel processor or use the Ceramique if you're using AMD.

Wedge · Post by **Wedge** » Thu Jul 03, 2003 6:20 am

I'm applying it to an Intel, so I suppose I'll go with the Artic Silver 3.

Thanks guys.

cliche · Post by **cliche** » Thu Jul 03, 2003 6:32 am

accidently spilt some AS on my GPU ram when adding some GPU cooling. Fried it.

So have bought some ceramique instead

Gandalf · Post by **Gandalf** » Thu Jul 03, 2003 12:43 pm

That's bulshit. AS is not supposed to be electroconductive.

cliche · Post by **cliche** » Thu Jul 03, 2003 3:37 pm

Gandalf wrote:That's bulshit. AS is not supposed to be electroconductive.

Nice constructive comment there.
Did u not read the comment from AMD regd AS not being recommended due to potential thermal conductivity http://www.xtremetek.com/info/index.php?id=14

[H]ardNews 1st Edition Saturday April 26, 2003
Posted by Kyle 10:38 AM (CDT)

Arctic Silver Voids Warranty:
I guess if you burn up that AMD CPU, don't expect them to give you another if it has silvery slop left on top. XtremeTek points out what AMD sez:

Artic Silver is made up of a matrix with conductive particles. There is the possibility of creating electrical shorts on the package. Any failed processor used w/ Artic Silver or any other thermal grease other than Shin Estu G 749 would be subject to warranty voiding.

I have more info to back this up my this my eloquent friend

Including a dead 4600.

cliche · Post by **cliche** » Fri Jul 04, 2003 1:38 pm

Also

The choice of thermal compound is up to you, I have used Arctic Silver 3 on my core, and Arctic Alumina on the memory. PLEASE DO NOT USE ARCTIC SILVER3 ON YOUR MEMORY CHIPS! I have been told that if even the slightest bit of AS3 gets between the legs on the memory chips your card will most likely not work anymore, SO BE CAREFULL WITH AS3! You can get away with using AS3 on the core because it doesn't have any legs that it will squeeze out onto when the heatsink is applied, unlike the memory. Keep in mind you can just use Arctic Alumina all round (or any other NON-CONDUCTIVE thermal compound) and it will work fine also.

And

You only need to apply the AS3 to the raised section of the core, and remember to be very careful not to get any on the PCB. You can be a little more carefree with the Arctic Alumina as it is a non-conductive compound, so don't be too worried if some get on the legs of the memory

http://www.techimo.com/articles/index.pl?photo=42

that enough 4 ya

Zhentar · Post by **Zhentar** » Fri Jul 04, 2003 6:11 pm

its okay to get conductive stuff on the core; I've seen direct die cooling for AMD cpus (that means you spray water directly on the core, no copper interface at all) though they tend to fail after a few months, its probably not from conductivity on the core.

Now, memory chips its probably more important.

Nevin · Post by **Nevin** » Sat Jul 05, 2003 5:24 pm

cliche,

Our silver compounds will not conduct DC current, so the memory on your video card will not be "fried".

Our silver compounds are capacitive, so they will pass very high frequencies. The capacitance allows crosstalk on the memory chip signal leads and prevents proper operation. A good cleaning of the leads with high-purity isopropyl and a soft-bristle toothbrush usually cures the problem.

Nevin House
Arctic Silver, Inc.

cliche · Post by **cliche** » Sat Jul 05, 2003 5:36 pm

Nevin wrote:cliche,

Our silver compounds will not conduct DC current, so the memory on your video card will not be "fried".

Our silver compounds are capacitive, so they will pass very high frequencies. The capacitance allows crosstalk on the memory chip signal leads and prevents proper operation. A good cleaning of the leads with high-purity isopropyl and a soft-bristle toothbrush usually cures the problem.

Nevin House
Arctic Silver, Inc.

I bow down to your knowledge !
I must have done something wrong then

I'll be right back when I eat some humble pie

Zhentar · Post by **Zhentar** » Sat Jul 05, 2003 10:20 pm

so thats what they mean on all the capacitive warnings, I was wondering what that was all about. Thanks for the info, I appreciate it.

bluehat · Post by **bluehat** » Sun Jul 06, 2003 12:41 am

Nevin, could you give any information about SX-25 Prototype? Is it much better than AS3? How long do we have to wait until it's released?[/url]

Nevin · Post by **Nevin** » Sun Jul 06, 2003 4:16 am

SX25 is a prototype of our next generation silver compound.

Currently I am working on SX32.
(Silver eXperimental version 32)

No release date has been set.

Yes, it is significantly better than AS3.

Mr_Smartepants · Post by **Mr_Smartepants** » Sun Jul 06, 2003 4:33 am

Sounds good. How does the SX25-32 compare to other compounds (ie. Nanotherm, Shin Etsu, etc.)?

Hey MikeC, how about a cool "vendor" tag for Nevin here?

Nevin · Post by **Nevin** » Sun Jul 06, 2003 4:43 am

Nanotherm and Shin Etsu both make high-quality products. It is not my place to make comparisons to their products or reveal the results of my testing. I will leave that to the independent reviewers and ultimate users.

Nevin

Mr_Smartepants · Post by **Mr_Smartepants** » Sun Jul 06, 2003 5:25 am

And that would be the correct answer!!!!

Way to go for vendor integrity! I guess we'll have to wait for some reviews when/if you guys get this stuff out the door.

In the meantime. Can we have some numbers on how this stuff compares to YOUR other products? Like AS3, Ceramique, Alumina, etc.

Also, will this new formula pass AMD's (warranty-void) fiasco?

Nevin · Post by **Nevin** » Sun Jul 06, 2003 6:10 am

Our next generation silver compound will perform better than any of our current compounds. There are too many variables regarding contact areas, pressures, surface finishes, surface run-outs, and power dissipation to put a number on the difference.

The AMD warranty issue has received a lot of coverage, much of it incomplete or misleading.

The fact is that using ANY thermal grease or ANY heatsink other than the stock heatsink with the pre-applied thermal pad that came in the box with a boxed CPU will technically void the warranty on an AMD boxed CPU.

Shin Etsu G749 can be used by system builders to temporarily mount a heatsink to a new CPU to verify that the CPU works. Then the G749 must be removed and the stock heatsink with pre-applied thermal pad must be mounted on the CPU before the computer build is used or sold.

So on the boxed processors, you MUST use the supplied heatsink and thermal pad to maintain the warranty.

As the AMD warranty says:

This Limited Warranty shall be null and void if the AMD microprocessor which is the subject of this Limited Warranty is used with any heatsink/fan other than the one provided herewith.

http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/Tec ... 39,00.html

One thing that is often misunderstood is that AMD only provides a warranty on their boxed processors.

As they say on their site:

AMD's Limited Processor Warranty does not cover non-boxed products purchased from resellers.

AMD only provides a warranty on its line of boxed processors.

http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/Tec ... 67,00.html

There is no AMD warranty on OEM "tray" processors so there is no AMD warranty to void by using thermal grease or a better heatsink.

I hope this helps clear things up,

Nevin

grnarrow · Post by **grnarrow** » Sun Jul 06, 2003 10:50 am

Nevin wrote: Currently I am working on SX32.
(Silver eXperimental version 32)

No release date has been set.

How about an order of magnitude ballpark figure - weeks, months, years?

Nevin · Post by **Nevin** » Sun Jul 06, 2003 10:56 am

grnarrow wrote:How about an order of magnitude ballpark figure - weeks, months, years?

Yes, weeks, months, or years!

Probably late summer or early fall actually.

Nevin

bluehat · Post by **bluehat** » Tue Jul 15, 2003 9:46 am

Here's some comparison of AS3, ceramique and SX-25 old version. Already 3 C better than AS3.