Arctic Silver 5 AS5-3.5G Thermal Paste,Black, Grey

I have been using Artic Silver since AS-3 came out, I expect great performance from this product also, also great value at around $8.

Excelent

It was easy to use. The hardest part was figuring out how to open it. I had to see a video to realize that I just needed to use something that had some grip to get it to open. Once I did it was very easy to use

I'm pretty much a "noob" and hobbyist when it comes to tinkering with computer hardware ... I stumbled into it after replacing a few laptops ... I had these old laptops sitting around, and started futzing around with them, just to see if I could figure out how to take them apart and get them running nice again ... to have a few working spares that I could then use as notebooks, multi-media players, etc. ... basically backups to use in situations where I don't want to have to upgrade old software/peripherals, or risk damage to my newer, "main" laptop.Anyway, my second laptop ever was a Compaq Presario 700 series, with an AMD Mobile Duron processor (I know ... Stone Age, right?). My kids used it for awhile after me, and they basically thrashed it. It needed a new hard drive, keypad, AC jack ... fortunately, I was able to find all the parts I needed online, cheap enough to justify the repair effort. The heat transfer plate on the AMD processor is pretty small, not even half a postage stamp, and it's mated with a fairly large, plate-type heat sink assembly that spreads the heat across the plate, and discharges it from a fan attached to the assembly at the left side of the laptop.Back when I was using the Compaq more frequently, I recall that it ran pretty warm most of the time, and I remember that the fan was on a lot when programs were running, at 2 or 3 speeds, e.g., low, medium, high. Well, the repairs required that I strip the whole thing down to the motherboard, and ... gasp ... remove the heatsink. Knowing that I would have to put new thermal compound between the CPU and heatsink when I re-assembled it, I poked around the 'net and saw all the good reviews on Arctic Silver 5, and ordered a tube. I carefully cleaned all the old compound off the CPU and heatsink (it took awhile to soften up and remove all the old compound, using isopropyl alcohol and cotton swabs ... be patient ... it's worth it), "tinned" the clean heatsink surface with the faintest smudge of Arctic Silver (this helps to fill in microscopic pits and valleys on the mating surface), and then applied a thin, even layer of Arctic Silver over the whole heat transfer plate on the CPU, re-secured the heat sink to the CPU, and then finished the rest of the re-assembly.When I first started running some music and DVD's (they put a continuous load of about 50-60% on this particular CPU), I was waiting for the fan to start blowing, as it always did before. To my surprise, it didn't. It took so long, in fact, for the fan to come on at all, that I started to think I might have broken it, or forgot to re-connect it when I put the thing back together. This is certainly no scientific or exact "before and after" measurement, but I'll be darned if the heat sink on this laptop isn't working better now than it EVER did before, even when the computer was new. It's not even getting hot enough to make the fan go on "high" when I'm playing a DVD on the laptop. The only way I can explain it is that the new thermal compound is doing that much better a job of getting the heat off the CPU and into the heatsink than whatever compound the OEM used. This stuff is brilliant. I totally agree with all the rave reviews ... if you properly clean all the old compound off your CPU and heatsink, and carefully follow the instructions for applying this stuff, you WILL get substantially better results from your computer's "stock" cooling system, unless of course your OEM also used Artic Silver!

Easy to use. Perfect for our family set ups.

I have tried other Thermal Interface Materials (TIM) and I went back to Artic Silver 5 thermal compound. It is simply the best and I have gotten the best results with it for many years. The product is ideal for CPUs, Northbridge, Southbridge and GPU components that are heat sinked. I have used it on desktop computers, laptops, servers, and Xbox 360's.When using the product a little dab will do the trick. If you use too much it will squeeze out from under the heat sink and make a big mess. The proper amount is about 1 ½ to 2 times the size of a grain of rice. If you look on the internet there are several guides on how to use the product including photos. Sometimes on a large CPU I spread the compound in a very thin and even layer with and old credit card like tool. On one rough heat sink assembly I had to work a drop of the compound into the surface with a credit card and this filled in the micro abrasions in the surface and improved the temperature drop by 4 degrees C. The key is that you want a thin and even layer of the compound on the entire top surface of the CPU so that all the micro flaws in the surfaces of the CPU and the heat sink are filled with the silver in the product to provide maximum thermal conductance of heat away from the CPU and into the heat sink assembly. Do not use to much compound, people tend to use too much or not enough and the science is to do it just right!Before you apply the compound clean all the surfaces and make sure they have no oil, finger prints, or dust on them. Make sure you have removed the old thermal compound from the surfaces. Some old compounds get rock hard and can be difficult to clean. I have used Goo Gone and it is by far the best cleaning solution I have ever used. Don't use too much and clean only the CPU and heat sink. Then wipe all surfaces dry and wipe again with an alcohol swab and a Q tip if necessary to clean up the old compound. Then give it a final wipe with ¼ of a coffee filter as they are fiber free paper and you should have a clean surface. These surfaces must be absolutely clean and even the oil from a fingerprint that you can't see can cause a problem.Mount your heat sink and I like the aftermarket heat sink fan assemblies or water cooled blocks as they install with screws and you can make sure that the heat sink is firm and tight with the CPU. The factory supplied heat sinks with push pins bother me as I have seen many people swear they are tight and they are not. You will not get ideal cooling unless you do a professional job of installing these key components and you may damage your CPU.The Artic Silver 5 compound has an aging time of around 200 hours and the temperature will improve by about 2 to 5 degrees after the aging process is done. To properly age the compound you should use your computer until it heats up (about one or two hours) and then shut it down and let it cool off and use it again. Do this multiple times. This heat and cool procedure sets the compound up properly and improves the thermal interface. Good luck and have fun!