# Old Arctic Silver 5=Burn in works in reverse



## newtekie1 (Mar 22, 2009)

So I have had my x3370 for a few weeks now.  When I first installed it, I applied Arctic Silver 5 and right away was able to overclock it to 4.0GHz@1.37v, and temps under 100% load from OCCT stayed in the 60-62°C range.  At stock speeds@1.21v load temps were in the 50°C range.  I've been running the CPU with F@H SMP on and off since I installed it.

Over the past week my machine has been frozen when I got home from work.  Well today I decided to track down the reason.  First thing I fired up was OCCT, and right away I noticed my idle temps at 4.0GHz were at 50°C.

Well I thought, that isn't normal.  So I start an OCCT run, and not even 5 minutes in the temps were up to 70°C and rising, and then the test crashed(not that I would have let it run much longer anyway).

So the only thing I can think of is that the old Arctic Silver 5, which is currently about 5+ years old, dried up super quickly instead of burning in like it is supposed to.  Unfortunately, I do not have any other thermal paste right now, so I am waiting for my MX-2 to come in, and I'll be applying that this week.  Hopefully, that will fix my problem.


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## CrAsHnBuRnXp (Mar 22, 2009)

If you want, I have MX-2 that you can borrow.

I personally dont use AS5 anymore. Its either IC7 Diamond or MX-2.


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## newtekie1 (Mar 22, 2009)

CrAsHnBuRnXp said:


> If you want, I have MX-2 that you can borrow.
> 
> I personally dont use AS5 anymore. Its either IC7 Diamond or MX-2.



Damn, that would be awesome, do you still need that fan by the way?

I've been wanting to switch away from AS5 for a long while, but been putting it off since I still have a huge tube of the stuff.  I guess this finally gives me a reason to move on.


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## WhiteLotus (Mar 22, 2009)

So thermal paste has a use by date? Very odd seeing as it has no degradable material... that i can think of so please prove me wrong if that is the case.


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## CrAsHnBuRnXp (Mar 22, 2009)

newtekie1 said:


> Damn, that would be awesome, do you still need that fan by the way?
> 
> I've been wanting to switch away from AS5 for a long while, but been putting it off since I still have a huge tube of the stuff.  I guess this finally gives me a reason to move on.



Damn, forgot about the fan.  No need for it anymore. Thanks though 

When did you order your MX-2 and do you need to borrow some?


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## newtekie1 (Mar 22, 2009)

CrAsHnBuRnXp said:


> Damn, forgot about the fan.  No need for it anymore. Thanks though
> 
> When did you order your MX-2 and do you need to borrow some?



It is on order, should be here some day this week.  I don't think I need to borrow any, I just lowered the voltages and clocks back to stock and temps are acceptable until the MX-2 comes.



WhiteLotus said:


> So thermal paste has a use by date? Very odd seeing as it has no degradable material... that i can think of so please prove me wrong if that is the case.



Really?  You know exactly what is in AS5?


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## kiriakost (Mar 22, 2009)

Add a warning sticker on your box .... No OC at hot days ... you will be safer after that


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## WhiteLotus (Mar 22, 2009)

newtekie1 said:


> Really?  You know exactly what is in AS5?



No not at all. But surely its just some silicon with metal particles to help conduct heat... right?


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## CrAsHnBuRnXp (Mar 22, 2009)

kiriakost said:


> Add a warning sticker on your box .... No OC at hot days ... you will be safer after that



Its not all that hot here. In fact, upper 50's lower 60's*F.

And not all that funny.


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## kiriakost (Mar 22, 2009)

CrAsHnBuRnXp said:


> And not all that funny.



Oh yes its extremely funny .... do you wan me to believe that a paste,  that the worst from the best its only 2-3 C deference .... destroyed a fine overclocked system ? 

Well my brain is larger than what birds have ... believe it or not


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## gerrynicol (Mar 22, 2009)

Paste does not have a use by date or shelf life, BUT it does go off, you can regen it but it needs to get a good mix so basically get new stuff.  We used to use a lot of it and we found that after a year it started going off, so we sent it back to the mfg and got it back after they had done "whatever" it was they done lol.  long story short, yes it will go off and the thermal efficiancy will drop.


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## sniviler (Mar 22, 2009)

You should keep AS5 in the freezer it'll last longer because its made with mayo, hehe 

but seriously over time thermel paste looses some of its conductive propertives, seems to get dried out from what I would guess to be the cpu/gpu changing from hot to cold so many times.


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## sneekypeet (Mar 22, 2009)

In my experience, over time AS5 seperates into an oil and the paste. They can last longer if placed in the fridge from what I remember reading, but sitting on a shelf by the PC mine has sepperated after 6 months or so.


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## Conti027 (Mar 22, 2009)

im thinking about changing my paste now. lol


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## suraswami (Mar 22, 2009)

just a suggestion, there is one more variant of MX-2 called TX-2 from Sunbeamtech.  I use that too when I get bored with AS5 or MX-2 and it seems to be same temps as MX-2.

hmm I never seen such thing on my AS5 left over tubes, but I store in a reasonably cool place.


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## Nick89 (Mar 22, 2009)

newtekie1 said:


> So I have had my x3370 for a few weeks now.  When I first installed it, I applied Arctic Silver 5 and right away was able to overclock it to 4.0GHz@1.37v, and temps under 100% load from OCCT stayed in the 60-62°C range.  At stock speeds@1.21v load temps were in the 50°C range.  I've been running the CPU with F@H SMP on and off since I installed it.
> 
> Over the past week my machine has been frozen when I got home from work.  Well today I decided to track down the reason.  First thing I fired up was OCCT, and right away I noticed my idle temps at 4.0GHz were at 50°C.
> 
> ...



I have noticed temps getting worse the older my AS5 application was too, I just wasnt sure if I was the only one. Thanks newtekie you confirmed my suspicion.


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## CrAsHnBuRnXp (Mar 22, 2009)

kiriakost said:


> Oh yes its extremely funny .... do you wan me to believe that a paste,  that the worst from the best its only 2-3 C deference .... destroyed a fine overclocked system ?
> 
> Well my brain is larger than what birds have ... believe it or not



You find things funny too much...


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## Flyordie (Mar 22, 2009)

w00t, some real world proof... AS5 needs to be replaced every 4-6 months to continue to be effective. After that it slowly starts to lose its  umphf..


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## Hayder_Master (Mar 22, 2009)

ok there is some idea i use it , i mod some 60mm fan push the air on the base of the cooler , this mod fan give me 5c-7c temp down , im try it with many coolers


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## Mussels (Mar 22, 2009)

i've noticed older AS5 tends to dry up when in use. its looks all hard and flaky when you take the heatsink off.


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## exon1 (Mar 22, 2009)

Conti027 said:


> im thinking about changing my paste now. lol



Same here, lol


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## WarEagleAU (Mar 22, 2009)

agreed with mussels, when I used it years back, I noticed that two after roughly 14 months. I use MX-2 or IC7 *using IC7 right now and this stuff is awesome*. One thing I complain about is the AS5 tube is supposed to keep air out but it looks to me like it has a way in.

Also you said your pc idles around 60-62C but then its load of 50c? Did you mean 40-42c?


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## kiriakost (Mar 22, 2009)

If you all have the same results ,  this indicates that your CPU or cooler is not flat !! 

I always do lapping , and i use a very small quantity of paste , that is so small , that does not change to any form ,  one transparent film , cannot be converted to water and sand .

You all do a major mistake at the installation  of the paste . 

I use only the 1/4 of the size,  of one bean of rice.


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## DrPepper (Mar 22, 2009)

kiriakost said:


> If you all have the same results ,  this indicates that your CPU or cooler is not flat !!
> 
> You all do a major mistake at the installation  of the paste .
> 
> I use only the 1/4 of the size,  of one bean of rice.



Or the results show that the thermal paste is shite. Also thats a pretty big assumption that we're all wrong and your right. How do you know how we apply thermal paste ?


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## kiriakost (Mar 22, 2009)

DrPepper said:


> How do you know how we apply thermal paste ?



By judging from your words  ... possibly with the spoon .


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## Mussels (Mar 22, 2009)

kiriakost said:


> By judging from your words  ... possibly with the spoon .



You're pushing it there kiriakost... your last few posts here are very close to trolling and insulting other members.


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## DrPepper (Mar 22, 2009)

kiriakost said:


> By judging from your words  ... possibly with the spoon .



I use a credit card to smooth it down till its translucent but still enough so its effective.


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## OnBoard (Mar 22, 2009)

Think I'll change my CPU paste too, once I'll change my GPU cooler, don't know how many years old that AS5 is  Seems the small tube with "out of paste again?" is better than the big tube that loses it's mojo.

But pastes have a self life too, it might already be 'bad' when you get it.
On Noctua NT-H1 it reads:

Recommended storage time (before use)
up to 2 years

Recommended usage time (on the CPU)
up to 3 years


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## FreedomEclipse (Mar 22, 2009)

with the thermal paste 'bricking' up - Ive had experiences like that with both AS5 & some coolermaster ThermalFusion paste i was testing a while back, since then Ive swapped over to MX-2 & Zalman's ZM-STG1 thermal grease which is more or less AS5 but made by different people but since my local has stopped stocking the zalman paste. looks like im MX2 all the way


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## kiriakost (Mar 22, 2009)

DrPepper said:


> I use a credit card to smooth it down till its translucent but still enough so its effective.



Thats the correct way ,  but if the cooler or CPU are not perfectly flat , even this way of smoothing , does not pays . 

The problem looks to be , that manufacturers does mistakes that the only way some lapping can prove if the items are flawless or not .


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## newtekie1 (Mar 22, 2009)

WarEagleAU said:


> agreed with mussels, when I used it years back, I noticed that two after roughly 14 months. I use MX-2 or IC7 *using IC7 right now and this stuff is awesome*. One thing I complain about is the AS5 tube is supposed to keep air out but it looks to me like it has a way in.
> 
> Also you said your pc idles around 60-62C but then its load of 50c? Did you mean 40-42c?



When I first Installed the CPU:

@Stock Load: ~50°C
@Stock Idle: ~35°C
@4.0GHz Load: ~60°C
@4.0GHz Idle: ~40°C

Now:

@4.0GHz Idle: ~50°C
@4.0GHz Load: ~70°C+



Mussels said:


> You're pushing it there kiriakost... your last few posts here are very close to trolling and insulting other members.



Most of his posts are very close to trolling and insulting other members.


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## Cold Storm (Mar 22, 2009)

I would say from the temps that you live in a Tropical climate.. That's the whole reason I went water because of how my temps would go up from it getting to be 90f+ and to much for using the air all day long.. But, Indiana wouldn't be that way. Even where you live... Only thing I could even think of is that it's getting to much heat due to your Folding.. But, you've folded for even as long as I can remember..

Artic Silver 5 has 88% thermally-conductive filler by weight. In addition to micrometer sized silver, Arctic Silver 5 also contains sub-micrometer zinc oxide, aluminum oxide and boron nitride particles as of what Wiki says.. 

Well, I hope when you get the Mx-2 it helps with it all.. if not, then it will be checking the CPU cooler...


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## vega22 (Mar 22, 2009)

yea, i found that as5 would degrade after a bit too and now try to only use synthetic paste's like mx2, tx2 or ocz freeze as iv found all 3 to give comparable results from a good application.


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## newtekie1 (Mar 22, 2009)

Cold Storm said:


> I would say from the temps that you live in a Tropical climate.. That's the whole reason I went water because of how my temps would go up from it getting to be 90f+ and to much for using the air all day long.. But, Indiana wouldn't be that way. Even where you live... Only thing I could even think of is that it's getting to much heat due to your Folding.. But, you've folded for even as long as I can remember..
> 
> Artic Silver 5 has 88% thermally-conductive filler by weight. In addition to micrometer sized silver, Arctic Silver 5 also contains sub-micrometer zinc oxide, aluminum oxide and boron nitride particles as of what Wiki says..
> 
> Well, I hope when you get the Mx-2 it helps with it all.. if not, then it will be checking the CPU cooler...



I'll be doing a whole remount once the MX-2 comes, it is just my guess that the AS5 is to blame.  I've moved my computer around a few times since I first installed it, so it could be that the cooler has shifted, the bracket on the TRUE holds it down pretty tight, but I find it can still twist which can "break the seal" on the TIM.  I also might re-lap the cooler real quick with some 1500 Grit if it looks like the base isn't perfect anymore, or if there is some oxidation on the copper.

Temps here have just started to creap back up, and the room where my computer sits has always been a little on the warm side, usually hitting the low 70s(°F) during the day, and it hasn't seemed like it is any hotter than normal in the room.


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## CrAsHnBuRnXp (Mar 22, 2009)

kiriakost said:


> Thats heavy words , and take them back .
> If you need explanations on something that i say , just PM me about it .
> 
> You have no right to accuse  any one,  with hypothetical reasons .



They arent hypothetical but fact. The way you choose to make your posts are insulting.


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## WarEagleAU (Mar 22, 2009)

Ahh thanks for clearing that up New. I suspect you are right. One thing I dont like about AS5 is that once its cured, thats it. If it breaks or what have you, then that really sucks.


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## CrAsHnBuRnXp (Mar 22, 2009)

What I usually do when i put on thermal paste is put some right in the center of the CPU and use a latex glove to spread it across the entire surface area of the CPU. Not in a circular motion or anything. Just straight even strokes going from the center to top and center to bottom.


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## Cold Storm (Mar 22, 2009)

newtekie1 said:


> I'll be doing a whole remount once the MX-2 comes, it is just my guess that the AS5 is to blame.  I've moved my computer around a few times since I first installed it, so it could be that the cooler has shifted, the bracket on the TRUE holds it down pretty tight, but I find it can still twist which can "break the seal" on the TIM.  I also might re-lap the cooler real quick with some 1500 Grit if it looks like the base isn't perfect anymore, or if there is some oxidation on the copper.
> 
> Temps here have just started to creap back up, and the room where my computer sits has always been a little on the warm side, usually hitting the low 70s(°F) during the day, and it hasn't seemed like it is any hotter than normal in the room.



Yeah, It won't be known till that Mx-2 comes in.. I know that Mussles has said he had to drop down his Q6600 on oc because of temps also.. I moved to water because of my tropical climate.

The cooler shouldn't be bad or the lap if your still at the part where if you twist that screw one more time, it's going to break.. That means it's still keeping it's form.. 

Here is a Webpage with people on another forum taking a poll and talking about their experiences..  Yeah, it's 5 years old... but that's all I can find on aging...


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## sneekypeet (Mar 22, 2009)

Thread has been cleaned of rubbish, please stay on topic here.


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## Hayder_Master (Mar 23, 2009)

there is one last think if you want to do anything to cool your cpu , if you know there is some mod called cpu gloosing which is furbishing your cpu , this way 100% work and give you -10c temp down


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## newtekie1 (Mar 27, 2009)

Just an update, just finished my remount with MX-2.  Idle temps are back down to 45°C@4.0GHz, which is more normal.  Also, the AC5 was completely dry and flakey when I pulled the heatsink off, so it had definitely gone south because that is not supposed to happen.  The only area that wasn't dry and flakey was the small amount that had been pushed out from between the heatsink and processor.

I was able to run the processor back at 4.0GHz at the old 1.40v that I had it at, and the temps were back to normal after apply the MX-2.  I OCCT tested it, and it went for 2 hours without issue.  Just for fun, I ran the Linpack test on OCCT, and it failed.  So I had to bump the voltages up to 1.42v to get it to pass the Linpack test.  I had never run the Linpack test when I first installed the processor and overclocked it to 4.0GHz originally, so I don't know if it was truly stable before with the 1.40v.

Even with the voltage bump, temps are now:

Idle: 48-49°C
Load: 65-68°C

One odd thing I noticed about the MX-2 vs. the AC5 is that the temps tend to jump around a lot more with the MX-2 compared to AS5.  Under load, the AC5(before it went bad) would usually stay within 2°C, but with the MX-2 the temp will jump as much as 5°C or every once in a while even more than that.


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## Cold Storm (Mar 27, 2009)

That's some good stuff Newtekie.. I'm glad it's back to "normal" temps.

Man, it was flaky... 

 Glad it's working back to your specs!


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## Mussels (Mar 27, 2009)

It seems that old AS5 (old as in old tube) goes dry and flaky when in use. I guess some of the stabilising agents end up at the bottom of the tube or whatever.

I've always wondered with thermal paste testing, if the ones that show AS5 getting whupped, are using years old tubes. (in my testing theres hardly ever a difference, MX2 is just easier to spread)


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## newtekie1 (Mar 27, 2009)

Mussels said:


> It seems that old AS5 (old as in old tube) goes dry and flaky when in use. I guess some of the stabilising agents end up at the bottom of the tube or whatever.
> 
> I've always wondered with thermal paste testing, if the ones that show AS5 getting whupped, are using years old tubes. (in my testing theres hardly ever a difference, MX2 is just easier to spread)



Yeah, I was actually surprised at how thin the MX-2 was.  I guess I am just too used to AS5 being so thick.

And my tube was more then 4 years old at this point, so that ain't bad for a shelf life.  Even AS5's site claims that it will settle and seperate over time.


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