The Great Thermal Interface Material Con

Jokester · 23 Sep 2006 at 14:43

We've all heard stories about how expensive TIMs are a waste of money and the bog standard stuff is just as good, hell even toothpaste or marmite will do a job just as good.

But is there any truth to this?

Well I thought I would test them to find out, so I did a head to head between:-

Using the following test set-up:-

4800X2 AM2 socket
Asus M2N32-SLI MB
Thermaltake Big Typhoon

The setup was placed on the floor to minimise temperature fluctuations and the room window was fully open to ensure proper ventilation.

First test was at stock (2.4GHz) using 1.5V to generate a bit of extra heat to emphasise the effect of the TIM. First up the AS5 (as originally installed), a 15min S&M FPU test run produced the following peak load and idle temps:-

Load 49C
Idle 26C

HS off showing coverage of AS5:-

Next test was to use the toothpaste, it was surprisingly easy to apply and a even spread was easily achieved using the credit card method:-

Jokester

Jokester · 23 Sep 2006 at 15:03

Load 60C
Idle 29C

Using the toothpaste made a little difference to the idle temps but quite a significant difference to the load temps (11C).

Following this I thought about seeing how far I could overclock using the toothpaste. Knowing the max stable overclock achieved on this chip was 3GHz at 1.45V I restored these options and re-ran S&M:-

Load 62C
Idle 29C

CPU coverage:-

Test was re-run with AS5 using the same settings as a direct comparison:-

Load 52-53C
Idle 27C

Again a significant difference between the two of the order of 10C. Sadly this chip won't go over 3GHz regardless of cooling so I wasn't able to ascertain how much of a difference this would make to an overclock.

One thing I was pleasantly surprised with was that cleaning off the toothpaste left the CPU spotlessly clean:-

So in summary, paste does make a difference, if you're overclocking you might as well use the best you can get, if you're just using it at stock just use the free TIM that comes with it, or if you need to remount at some point, just use toothpaste!

Jokester

Jokester · 23 Sep 2006 at 16:05

MikeTimbers said:
Your numbers are interesting as they are different from those achieved by the infamous Dan who found little to no difference. You really need to do the same tests several times to remove the possibility of a bad mount affecting the results.

I've always considered his results as being bull. There's been numerous other test carried out using a variety of compounds (admitadly not toothpaste or marmite) and they seem to always place AS5 ahead by a degree or two in front of Ceramique which is a degree or two in front of the rest.

Jokester

Edit:- I'll re-run the test with the toothpaste at the same settings as the AS5 and no TIM that I've just done.

Jokester · 23 Sep 2006 at 17:17

Testing at 2.4GHz and 1.4V

AS5-

Load 42-42C

Toothpaste:-

Load 48C

None at all:-

Load 55C

And then rerun the 3GHz at 1.45V with the toothpaste to check repeatability.

Load 62C

Jokester

Jokester · 24 Sep 2006 at 13:34

Spent this morning testing the various compounds I had at my disposable.

Got some cheapo free stuff (out of a Waterchill kit I think)
Thermaltake paste (came with TT BT I think)
Geil Copper paste (not sure where I got it from)
Arctic Silver 5
Arctic Silver Ceramique

First up was the toothpaste from yesterdays application (I've added in chipset temps to get an idea of any changes in ambient):-

Load 53
Chipset 32

Next up the cheapo stuff:-

Load 53-54
Chipset 31

Very much similar to the toothpaste

Next up was the Geil Copper paste, this was really easy to apply and getting a smooth even thin layer was simple:-

Load 50-51
Chipset 31

Just marginally better than the toothpaste.

Jokester

Jokester · 24 Sep 2006 at 13:39

Next up was the AS5:-

Load 46
Chipset 31

Ceramique:-

Load 47
Chipset 32

Very close the AS5 probably nothing in it when considering the chipset topped out 1C more than in the AS5 case.

Thermaltake:-

Load 48
Chipset 31

Pleasantly surprised with this one, had the same appearance as Ceramique and was equally easy to spread so it is perhaps just rebadged.

Jokester

Jokester · 24 Sep 2006 at 13:51

FunkyCowie said:
My wife would like to see the colgate tested for a month

When I took it off this morning it had went a silvery brown colour and for a moment I thought it was the AS5. It was only the minty fresh smell that let me identify it as toothpaste

.

Jokester

Jokester · 25 Sep 2006 at 17:38

messiah khan said:
I've noticed a lot of people over at XS seen to use Artic Ceramique rather than AS5.. any reason for this? Does AS5 stand up to -50 degrees?

In my experience Ceramique pulls ahead of AS5 when used subzero by a degree or two.

Jokester

Jokester · 27 Sep 2006 at 17:18

Just had this drop through the letter box:-

Jokester

Jokester · 27 Sep 2006 at 17:29

adfinni said:
as it will probably kill you

Just took the top off and it really is a needle :eek:

.

Jokester

Jokester · 27 Sep 2006 at 23:14

The final results are in!

First up AS5:-

Load 48 (and maybe pushing 49)
Chipset 32

Next up, the new challenger for the crown, Coollaboratory Liquid Pro:-

Load 47
Chipset 32

Liquid Pro pips AS5 to the post, despite being ever so slightly warmer (chipset reached 32C a lot quicker) it held load temp at least 1 (!) C cooler than the AS5.

As regards the curing of AS5, I'm not overly convinced of the gains that can supposedly be had as I've seen little to back it up.

Jokester

Jokester · 28 Sep 2006 at 18:01

Raikiri said:
Jokester... melts alluminium

Lucky it's a copper block then.

It's a paste rather than a liquid as far as I can tell, but the grains are extremely fine.

Jokester

Jokester · 5 Nov 2006 at 10:42

*Update*

Took the waterblock off my CPU and the Liquid Pro had dried out and welded itself to the both surfaces in an uneven distribution. Took 20mins of elbow grease and Brasso to get the worst of it off before reapplying it again.

Jokester