Kryonaut abrasive??

PowerPie5000 · 10 Aug 2018 at 20:48

I recently purchased an Alpenfohn Matterhorn Pure cooler along with some Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut paste (from OcUK) for a Core i7 6850k that I bought new a little while ago.

I had it all installed and running in an MSI X99 board that I wasn't too happy with, so I swapped it over for an Asrock X99 Taichi board earlier today... I was shocked to see how pitted/scratched the mirror finish on the cooler was and also the pitting/scratching on the processors IHS!!

What could have caused this? The cooler was new with a mirror finish when installed and the CPU was also brand new with not a single mark or anything else on it. I've installed processors countless times and this has never happened before! It's also the first time I've ever used Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut paste (I've always used the Arctic MX range). Is Kryonaut abrasive or does it have large particles? Maybe my tube is contaminated or defective?

Does anyone have any ideas? And is there anything I can do about this as I'm not too happy considering the installation went perfectly fine and everything was new!

LuckyBenski · 10 Aug 2018 at 20:58

How hard have you tried to clean it? Used isopropyl alcohol, and tough wipes like kitchen roll or coffee filters? It looks like dried paste residue that would rub off but coolers and IHS are pretty hard to photograph

PowerPie5000 · 10 Aug 2018 at 21:15

It does look like dried paste in one of the shots, but I'm very certain it's not. You'd think I used sand and not thermal paste looking at the condition. I wonder if it's anything to do with the nickel coating on the cooler.. Maybe it flaked? Although I had no issues with a Matterhorn Pure on my old Z97 rig a few years back (it always kept it's shine with Arctic MX-4).

I use isopropyl fluid and also have isopropyl wipes too. I use dry kitchen roll to wipe off the bulk of the paste, then rub it down with isopropyl and then finish with dry kitchen towel again.

The installation process went fine so I just don't understand how this has happened? The only thing I've done different is to use Kryonaut paste over the usual Arctic MX-4 after reading the reviews. I always use the spread method too and it's never failed me (looks nice and even when cooler is removed).

Is there anything I can do about this? I must admit it also feels like the cooler clamps down pretty hard on the X99's 2011 socket.

porfavor · 29 Nov 2018 at 14:26

Same issue on my 8700K, first time using Kryonaut instead of MX-4 and the die is scratched:

Space Monkey · 29 Nov 2018 at 17:42

porfavor said:
Same issue on my 8700K, first time using Kryonaut instead of MX-4 and the die is scratched:

Does your CPU still work?

porfavor · 29 Nov 2018 at 22:38

Yes, it is working fine.
I'm still curious how this could happen, it doesn't look like the typical scratches you would expect (caused by IC Diamond for example) but more like permanent residue or maybe some kind of oxidation/alloy.

Phixsator · 30 Nov 2018 at 08:24

Havent had that issue myself with Kryonat from thermal grizzly and i think ive replaced paste like 10-15 times over the last 3-4 months testing different things and trying different hardware.

EsaT · 30 Nov 2018 at 10:01

porfavor said:
I'm still curious how this could happen, it doesn't look like the typical scratches you would expect (caused by IC Diamond for example) but more like permanent residue or maybe some kind of oxidation/alloy.

Especially that precise 90 degree angle between marks in latter image looks like something, which would hardly happen if those were scratches.
Die itself having some slight pattern from some kind "machining" in factory and gathering some residue etc would be more logical explanation for that.
Also that perfect alignment with die of longer marks in first picture hints toward that.

porfavor · 30 Nov 2018 at 12:58

Phixsator said:
Havent had that issue myself with Kryonat from thermal grizzly and i think ive replaced paste like 10-15 times over the last 3-4 months testing different things and trying different hardware.

I thought the same, if this was the common outcome this paste wouldn't be recommended.

So it comes down to two potential causes:
1. Userfail: might be that i wasn't careful/patient enough on the applying and/or cleaning process with Isopropyl, but would such behaviour cause this kind of residue on the heatspreader/die?
2. Bad batch: could be possible that this specific charge of Kryonaut had some impurities (or simply was fake), which would also explain the underwhelming temperature performance that was exactly on par with the MX4.

Apone70 · 30 Nov 2018 at 15:29

I noticed a couple of marks on my heatsink today and I use Kryonaut, cooler still works fine but thought it was odd

8 Pack · 2 Dec 2018 at 11:55

Dear me..... Only used it on a couple of thousand cpu (conservative estimate) without issue..

WantoN · 2 Dec 2018 at 12:29

That’s a super weird issue, it looks like a load of grit has been crushed between the IHS and the cooler. I’ve never had a problem with Kryonaut, never noticed it marring any surfaces. I used kryonaut and conductonaut for everything.

The die could be from a slightly abrasive paper used to clean it, or delidding I suppose, though I can’t quite work out how.

I only buy my paste from OCUK, eBay and Amazon seem to be flooded with counterfeit goods these days.

EsaT · 2 Dec 2018 at 13:31

WantoN said:
I only buy my paste from OCUK, eBay and Amazon seem to be flooded with counterfeit goods these days.

Yeah, they make copies/counterfeits of pretty much anything in China.
All the way to whole company...
https://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/01/technology/01pirate.html

WantoN · 2 Dec 2018 at 13:32

EsaT said:
Yeah, they make copies/counterfeits of pretty much anything in China.
All the way to whole company...
https://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/01/technology/01pirate.html

Jesus Christ.

Minstadave · 2 Dec 2018 at 13:54

WantoN said:
That’s a super weird issue, it looks like a load of grit has been crushed between the IHS and the cooler. I’ve never had a problem with Kryonaut, never noticed it marring any surfaces. I used kryonaut and conductonaut for everything.

The die could be from a slightly abrasive paper used to clean it, or delidding I suppose, though I can’t quite work out how.

I only buy my paste from OCUK, eBay and Amazon seem to be flooded with counterfeit goods these days.

You think the grit is from paper and not the carbon (diamond) in the paste? Sure.....

WantoN · 2 Dec 2018 at 14:01

Minstadave said:
You think the grit is from paper and not the carbon (diamond) in the paste? Sure.....

There’s diamond in Kryonaught?

Minstadave · 2 Dec 2018 at 14:11

WantoN said:
There’s diamond in Kryonaught?

Isn't it carbon based? So either graphite or diamond, but graphite would be conductive. TG don't disclose their secret sauce.

Edit - Dug around and apparently it's nano-aluminum and zinc-oxide based, so may not have carbon in it.

WantoN · 2 Dec 2018 at 14:33

Anyway. The scratches are very uniform and omnidirectional, you wouldn’t get that by smushing some paste on, you might get it rubbing in one direction though, with a cloth that’s too abrasive, or dirty.

As I said though, I don’t trust a lot of sources for things like this these days, so who knows what was in that paste.

porfavor · 2 Dec 2018 at 17:02

WantoN said:
Anyway. The scratches are very uniform and omnidirectional, you wouldn’t get that by smushing some paste on, you might get it rubbing in one direction though, with a cloth that’s too abrasive, or dirty.

I was using isopropyl and a cotton stick to clean the die. I did it previously on the same die to clean the MX4 and then applied the Kryonaut on a fully smooth/intact die, seems highly unlikely this was the cause.

So the only reasonable explanation is: it was fake.
I bought it from an Amazon third-party seller, but it looks like a reputable store: snogard.de

Minstadave · 2 Dec 2018 at 17:14

Or their production slipped and it came through with some larger metal particles than it should.