# TechPowerup IC Diamond Results Thread



## IC Diamond (Aug 18, 2012)

PLEASE READ THOROUGHLY BEFORE TESTING/POSTING YOUR IC DIAMOND OR PERIHELION TEST RESULTS!!!



PLEASE ONLY POST WITH RESULTS WHEN YOU HAVE FULL RESULTS, OTHERWISE YOUR POST MAY NOT BE SEEN BY ALL IF YOU RESERVE THE POST FOR LATER RESULTS WITH IC7. PEOPLE TEND TO GO TO THE NEWEST POST, SO IF YOU WANT IT TO BE SEEN BY ALL, POST YOUR RESULTS ONCE YOU HAVE THEM ALL. ALL OTHER DISCUSSION/SUPPORT POSTS, GO RIGHT AHEAD!!

PLEASE BE SURE TO BENCHMARK YOUR CPU TEMPS WITH YOUR CURRENT TIM AND RECORD YOUR RESULTS BEFORE USING IC7 FOR TESTING. WE NEED BEFORE AND AFTER PLEASE!

ALSO, PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU DON'T CHANGE ANY VARIABLE OTHER THAN THE THERMAL COMPOUND USED FOR BEFORE/AFTER (I.E. SAME VOLTS/CLOCKS, COOLER, AND OTHER HARDWARE)


APPLICATION METHOD


For all those participating in the ICD giveaway, please follow this link to the Innovation Cooling website for more information on the products:

*Innovation Cooling*

Proper application is the key to this product. The nature and consistency of this product is likely quite different from what most of you are used to in a Thermal Compound. *We don't recommend use of traditional methods of applying the TIM like razor blades, lines,  Rice size, etc. ARE ALL Big BIG NO NO's.*  Through extensive end user testing, the best overall application method has been determined to be a pea sized amount directly in the center of the CPU. The TIM should be adequately spread via the down force of the CPU cooler (a sufficient amount of down force will provide best results; minimum 50psi of down force should be the goal for optimum results. please see the Innovation Cooling website for more info). Also, for coolers/surfaces that have many peaks and valleys, it may be beneficial to wet the surface(s) with a small amount of ICD to initially fill the voids in the mounting surfaces...then proceed with recommended application as usual. Please click on the link below for application methodology and shoot me a PM if you have any questions.
Keep in mind, ICD has been formulated with the specific goals of providing superior thermal conductivity with short set times, but also for long term stability and performance without pump/bake out through extended thermal cycling or usage. This stuff is very stable over long periods of time.



Please do feel free to navigate through the whole Innovation Cooling website as there is tonnes of information on there that might prove beneficial.


HOW TO POST RESULTS


THE FORMAT IS AS FOLLOWS (ALL TEMPS IN C):

OPTIONAL INFO: PROCESSOR, VOLTS/CLOCKS, HEAT SINK/COOLING USED, ETC.

Before Compound:
Ambient Temp:
Idle Temp:
Load Temp:

ICD
Ambient Temp:
Idle Temp:
Load Temp:

 Cure Time- Cure Time averages 2 hours in most situations for sinks with adequate pressure loading with maybe .5C more overnight. Lightly pressure loaded sinks may take a day or more depending on the amount of pressure


If you have any problems or need support, please feel free to post here for now. Remember, proper application and good even heat sink pressure (goal should be minimum of 50psi or more) are crucial for peak performance. Too much or too little compound will impact your results so please do visit the Innovation Cooling website for Application Instructions with images and explanations. For those with direct touch heatpipe coolers, you might want to try wetting the contact surface of the cooler with a tiny amount of ICD to fill any small voids before proceeding with the normal application method.

If anyone has any questions, please feel free to post up. .

*
Contact/ Pressure Paper Instructions*

The C/P is sourced from a company called Sensor Products  and is the Ultra Low (LLLW) with a rage of 	
28 - 85 PSI (2 - 6 kg/cm²).

To apply (do not have paste installed, this done with a clean sink and IHS) Take one "A" & one "B" from the key envelopes and place shiny (uncoated) sides to metal - one to the sink shiny side and one to the IHS shiny sides to metal.

Mount your sink as you normally would then dismount and remove the paper - one will have a pink impression showing the areas of contact and the amount of pressure indicated by the density of the colour. 

I will post a colour chart as soon as I find it on their site so you can estimate within about 10% your total pressure.

http://www.sensorprod.com/prescale/product-pages/prescale/prescale-instructions-2.pdf


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## OneMoar (Aug 18, 2012)

AC5 12H cure





g AC5 12H






IC Diamond No cure Center dot





 IC Dimond No cure package-sensor
I had a fair bit of difficultly with the application(it has a thick consistency that I would compair to JB-weld) I finally had to resort to the single center dot method  not my preferred method that said even with my less then stellar application temps are down 3c on Avg call me impressed considering it has not had ANY cure-time


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## VulkanBros (Aug 18, 2012)

And the benchmark/testing software we should use? OCCT? LinX? or?


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## crazyeyesreaper (Aug 18, 2012)

Testing using LinX and Wprime, with the Former being worst case senario temps and the latter being closure to real world load temps

3770K MX-4 STOCK

Ambient: 24c
Idle: 35c
WPrime Load:57c
Linpack Load:65c


Spoiler











MX-4 Overclocked @ 4.6GHz

Ambient: 24c
Idle:36c
WPrime Load:74c
Linpack Load:90c


Spoiler











IC Diamond STOCK

Ambient: 24c
Idle:33c
WPrime Load:53c
Linpack Load:61c


Spoiler











IC Diamond Overclocked @ 4.6 GHz

Ambient: 24c
Idle:32c
WPrime Load:69c
Linpack Load:82c


Spoiler











Pressure Test


Spoiler











MX-4 vs IC Diamond
STOCK
Idle: *35c* vs *33c* = Temp Drop of *2c*
Wprime Load:* 57c* vs *53c* = Temp Drop of *4c*
IBT Load: *65c* vs *61c* = Temp Drop of *4c*

MX-4 vs IC Diamond
OVERCLOCKED
Idle: *36c* vs *32c* = Temp Drop of *4c*
Wprime Load: *74c* vs *69c* = Temp Drop of *5c*
IBT Load: *90c* vs *82c* = Temp Drop of *8c*

So all told depending on the situation and test the IC Diamond Thermal paste dropped temps by *2-4'c* at stock and by a massive *4-8c* at load


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## IC Diamond (Aug 18, 2012)

Note C/P instructions added to the intro.

Contact/ Pressure Paper Instructions

The C/P is sourced from a company called Sensor Products and is the Ultra Low (LLLW) with a rage of
28 - 85 PSI (2 - 6 kg/cm²).

To apply (do not have paste installed, this done with a clean sink and IHS) Take one "A" & one "B" from the key envelopes and place shiny (uncoated) sides to metal - one to the sink shiny side and one to the IHS shiny sides to metal.

Mount your sink as you normally would then dismount and remove the paper - one will have a pink impression showing the areas of contact and the amount of pressure indicated by the density of the colour.

I will post a colour chart as soon as I find it on their site so you can estimate within about 10% your total pressure.


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## hat (Aug 19, 2012)

Hmm, unfortunately my results don't look so good. I followed the application method listed in the OP (in fact that's the same method I use all the time anyway). Thermometer in my room read 78f during both tests. I ran my i7 920 at 3.8GHz 1.175v for both tests.

First, the MX-2:







And now the new IC Diamond paste:







Looks like the IC paste actually raised my temps by 2-3*c. Not sure why this is. I thought maybe I used too much paste the first time, especially considering I lapped my processor, so I took the h70 block off, cleaned it up with 91% rubbing alcohol and a coffee filter like I always do, and re-applied paste, this time using a little less. The paste seemed really thick so I thought I'd leave it run overnight and give it some time to spread out and settle in.


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## IC Diamond (Aug 19, 2012)

You Might try the C/P paper  for trouble shooting

I thought this was an Interesting breakout of the numbers Delta' between compounds on the Water Cooling shrink considerably about 2C on the MX2 and MX3 and 2.75C on the MX4.

The only one cooler that bucked the trend was the Corsair and perhaps the EK block with better mounting schemes.







Below is a data sort of the test results The blue bars are air cooling all others are water cooling.

The Corsair results are marked in green and follow the usual distribution


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## OneMoar (Aug 19, 2012)

I had better luck warming the tube and thinning the paste with rubbing alcohol gonna give it some time to cure and then ill post more screenys
if be blut stuff is great but you really need to get it thinner nobody's heatsink ever goes on with even pressure especially the big heavy aftermarket beasts they tend to wanna twist and pull when you install them stuff is basically plastic at room temp I had to heat it to 100f to get proper air-free coverage that said the performance is impressive once you get it applied ....


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## hat (Aug 19, 2012)

Care to elaborateness on that process onemoar?


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## OneMoar (Aug 19, 2012)

I just put the tube in some hotwater for 5-10min and then mixed a few drops of rubbing alcohol into about a pea-sized blot and then placed 5  short-grain rice dots on the cpu and applyed the head-sink work quickly or it will stiffen right up


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## stinger608 (Aug 19, 2012)

@OneMoar: I don't believe that "thinning" the ICD24 is going to give you correct readings. If the TIM was suppose to be thinned out, it would have come thinned out.


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## OneMoar (Aug 19, 2012)

stinger608 said:


> @OneMoar: I don't believe that "thinning" the ICD24 is going to give you correct readings. If the TIM was suppose to be thinned out, it would have come thinned out.



alcohol evaporates and any moisture left will also evaportes within a matter of seconds after system power on  leaving nothing but paste I have used this method before with other-pastes has no impact on the performance of the paste


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## IC Diamond (Aug 19, 2012)

OneMoar said:


> I just put the tube in some hotwater for 5-10min and then mixed a few drops of rubbing alcohol into about a pea-sized blot and then placed 5  short-grain rice dots on the cpu and applyed the head-sink work quickly or it will stiffen right up



On the larger IHS's over 30 X 30 mm people have been reporting better results with the 5 dot method - A 5.5mm bead on center with four dots 1/3 towards the corner edges. We are in process of updating application procedures with a video.

With adequate pressure of about 50PSI (which encompasses 80% of those sampled in the forums0 a 5.5mm bead on centre should work best.

If you are unsure about the 5.5mm bead you can peel back the label and use the gradations on the syringe which works out to .15- .2 ML

On the version we sell to the OEM's we add an acetate to thin for stencilling, silkscreen or ink roller application so ISP is fine just make sure you give it enough time to dry (10 min) or you will get EXPLOSIVE VOIDS for fast evaporation of the solvent.



> *Application Notes -Amount of Applied Compound*
> *
> *
> There is always some debate on amount of applied compound to use, our approach is based on a best to worst case scenario with a one size fits all so the user can experience best odds of a successful mount out of the gate without having to redo his mount.
> ...


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## IC Diamond (Aug 19, 2012)

*Try the Supplied Contact and Pressure Paper*


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## OneMoar (Aug 19, 2012)

yea ill need to try the contact paper when I get my new psu for my 2500k rig this Socket Am2+ board is beat and probably a little warped and yea I should note you need to give it a good 30 seconds for the ISP to evaporate if you are brave you can power the machine on for a few seconds to speed up teh process


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## hat (Aug 19, 2012)

Hmm, it seems like my temps may have actually went _up_ after lapping the h70. The contact paper showed high pressure contact around the edges of the cpu ihs and virtually no contact in the center. After lapping there's more contact coming in from the edges, but still hardly any contact in the center... but there's still more contact so temps should be better. Maybe too much paste, especially since both surfaces should be flat now. Maybe it needs curing time as well.

Don't understand how the contact paper would be showing no contact in the center. There were scratches all across the ihs base and now there's only fine marks from the sandpaper (up to 1000 grit) on the base. The CPU has got to be flat since all the nikel is gone... nothing but copper all across the ihs. Hell I even drew an X across the ihs and it was all gone save the very edges were the ihs tapers off within not even a minute of sanding.


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## chevy350 (Aug 20, 2012)

*Here's mine*

I've re-ran Prime95 for 20 minutes with ambient room temp of 24C. Idle temps on cpu are around 25-27C and after 20 minutes of prime 71C was highest core temp. CPU is running 4.5GHz@1.36v with an Antec Kuhler 620 and 2 Scythe Kaze 3000RPM 120x38 fan's in push-pull





Heading to the garage now to tear down, check contact and apply the sample. Will update results once I get back up and running and then again in a week or so if anything changes 

Here's the results after applying the sample, left the dust (little that there was) so it would be the same conditions as the before test run......so here's what temps look like now, Idle is 27-28C (same) Load at 20 mins of prime highest core was 66C  ambient room temp is 24.5C. I will do another run in a week or so and see if it gets any better or stays the same....hopefully better 






Getting ready to do the 6950's.....ran the burn-in 1080 test with highs at 74c and 67c


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## IC Diamond (Aug 20, 2012)

hat said:


> Hmm, it seems like my temps may have actually went _up_ after lapping the h70. The contact paper showed high pressure contact around the edges of the cpu ihs and virtually no contact in the center. After lapping there's more contact coming in from the edges, but still hardly any contact in the center... but there's still more contact so temps should be better. Maybe too much paste, especially since both surfaces should be flat now. Maybe it needs curing time as well.
> 
> Don't understand how the contact paper would be showing no contact in the center. There were scratches all across the ihs base and now there's only fine marks from the sandpaper (up to 1000 grit) on the base. The CPU has got to be flat since all the nikel is gone... nothing but copper all across the ihs. Hell I even drew an X across the ihs and it was all gone save the very edges were the ihs tapers off within not even a minute of sanding.



For those that have the knack for lapping you can get great results, for people like me who lack the art of it I was surprised how bad my efforts were when I started checking it with the C/P paper. I now resort to my trusty belt sander for flatness, the edges end up a little rounded but at least flat within .001. 

I do a final dressing with a set of Diamond Stones (DMT) 





Check out the contact images below, 3 of them are lapped results guess which ones they are? Hint, 1A was a water block from our 2nd giveaway and was not lapped. I have only seen 4 or 5 lapping exercises that were in the near perfect category out of 50 examples.

Note - You can not put to much compound on, we have tested this with a synthetic copper IHS applied with IC Diamond and clamped with binder clips (60PSI) between 2 glass slides.

We then mic'ed the assembly at one min. intervals at room temperature (20C). The baseline for comparison is the average particle size. After 5 min the bond line thickness (BLT) to within 95% of the average particle size, overnight to 98%. Excess just squishes out. 

Better too much than too little - too little is more of a waste as you end up redoing the mount and run into the problem of laplacian growth entrapping air into the final joint


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## OneMoar (Aug 20, 2012)

tried the contract paper mine looks closer to sample 32 but with more pressure in the center


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## Steevo (Aug 20, 2012)

I tried a few different compounds and the issues I ran into with the water loop was it never got warm enough to allow the phase change to complete occur and I always had too thick of a layer left. Trying AS5 and some WD40 mixed to thin it out gave me some good temps but it ran out and never set, so I just started using ceramique and the 3C temp difference was not enough to worry about. On the GPU it actually got warm enough once I pinched the tubing to set completely, but I still ended up on the last cleanout running ceramique on it too. 

What is the phase change temp of this thermal compound?


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## hat (Aug 20, 2012)

My contact looks like 19a 

Can't see why though... I know my cpu ihs has to be flat because I drew an X on it and sanded it off in under a minute as I mentioned before. The block has got to be flat too as I got all the milling marks out and now it's just marks from the sandpaper, up to 1000 grit. Maybe it's because of the weird mounting the h70 uses?


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## popswala (Aug 20, 2012)

Just wanted to throw this out there, That is some stiff tim. I tried to work with it a lilttle just to see and man its like old gum lol.

System Used:
AMD Phenom X4 945 3.1GHz
Corsair H50 Cooler
Gigabyte 990FXA-UD7
Thermaltake Chaser MK-1

Heres all my results:

Test 1
TIM - AS5











Test 2
TIM - IC Diamond










Pressure Test:





TIM Spread:






As you can see with this mount for the H50 is still kinda tricky for me to work with and to use the pressure paper. I took everything out of my way to try and accomplish that lol.

I hope all this is thorough enough. If there's any other test or anything else to do/try. Feel free to just say.

I wanted o give as much info to help aid in the process/data of the project.

Thanks IC Diamond for this opportunity.


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## hat (Aug 20, 2012)

? Almost a 10c increase? Did you clean the old paste off first? Looks like there's some old gunk left on that chip.


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## popswala (Aug 20, 2012)

I did a complete clean up of both (spu and block). The TIM spread I did was just after I dismounted it, cleaned old AS5 TIM off and did the pea size bead and reseated it, Then poped it off to see how the spread was. Re-cleaned it up and put fresh TIM back on and re-seated block to do test. I fully mounted it and all 4 screws tightened. It was completely clean. Its just has a stain to it. That chips been around lol.


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## hat (Aug 20, 2012)

Hm, so I'm not the only one seeing an increase...


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## exodusprime1337 (Aug 20, 2012)

hat said:


> Hm, so I'm not the only one seeing an increase...




No you aren't, i'm considering going back to mx4.. my temps are as follows on my computer.  i'll grab screens if i need them

SPECS: i7 2700k @ 4.8Ghz using 1.40v(1.39load), dtek fuzion v2.0 block, swiftech mcr320 rad and mcp655 pump in xspc dual bay res.  Brand new cleaning and flushing of system 2 days ago

Arctic cooling mx-4
Ambient Temp:21
Idle Temp:30
Load Temp:60

ICD
Ambient Temp:21
Idle Temp:34
Load Temp:66


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## popswala (Aug 20, 2012)

It looks good during the test but yea I didn't notice the temps before the tests. That is a big difference.

I'm sitting at 53 under full load runing BOINC 80%. I mite be switching back on the tim for that few deg differnce.

- Whats a good prog that gives you your ambient/idle/load temps?
I'll add that in to my results for better following.


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## hat (Aug 20, 2012)

I like hwinfo32


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## Melvis (Aug 20, 2012)

Every time i read the threads heading i think of Briggs and Stratton


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## IC Diamond (Aug 20, 2012)

Must have had misfire on your paper test - round contact area with a square print?

Should have looked like 24 or 22 from the Table above

This is 24






This is 22





Ideal paste thickness should look like the centre contact area here just a thin glaze of compound - keep in mind that with proper pressure and flatness the BLT will be only 15 to 20 microns thick. The compound is only thick at room temp @ 40C  it will have similar viscosity characteristics to what you see with MX or AS5 at room temp and final mount should have a smooth even distribution.







The C/P impressions mirror the paste contact impressions once you have a few comparisons you can read a paste impression as you would a C/P impression. - Areas of high contact thin glaze - Low contact/ light pressure areas excess compound











For comparison 9C would be the highest negative result out of 219 user tests for AS5 on 23 forums which would be unusual as the corsair mount system has proven to be a fairly stable mounting platform


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## IC Diamond (Aug 20, 2012)

exodusprime1337 said:


> No you aren't, i'm considering going back to mx4.. my temps are as follows on my computer.  i'll grab screens if i need them
> 
> SPECS: i7 2700k @ 4.8Ghz using 1.40v(1.39load), dtek fuzion v2.0 block, swiftech mcr320 rad and mcp655 pump in xspc dual bay res.  Brand new cleaning and flushing of system 2 days ago
> 
> ...



I am really interested in the water block disconnect - If you would do a C/P test I will send it out to sensor products for a full lab analysis.


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## popswala (Aug 20, 2012)

I might get around to running the test again later. I just happened to look at my case later in the night and noticed my exhaust fan went out on my rad. Thats the 2nd fan in that spot that went out. I swapped it out and my temps dropped 5*deg cel.


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## IC Diamond (Aug 22, 2012)

My buddy Gilgamesh is a big water cooling fan and is putting together a library of as acquired water block C/P images The first here shows only at best about 25% contact for reference





> A lesson in contact and pressure. We ALL like to think we have the BEST contact and the ULTIMATE In pressure with connecting a water block/hsf to a CPU. But do we? Unless you have near perfect contact with a CPU IHS can you test a thermal c
> ompound ? As differing compounds react in different ways according to how much pressure and contact is exerted! TO DEMONSTRATE this i applied some PRESSURE/CONTACT PAPER to a CORE I7 950 IHS along with a xspc RASA block with its backing plate...... WHAT FOLLOWS are a series of shocking results!


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## SonDa5 (Aug 24, 2012)

Going to be testing against PK-1.


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## stinger608 (Aug 24, 2012)

Was wondering why the 930 I was running a few weeks ago was running so damn hot. Well into the 80+ running a Corsair H50. Recently I put a different motherboard and a i7 920 in. Same thing, well into the 80+ area. Real Temp is showing the high being 85C

Granted, I am running WCG crunching at 80% but non the less it is way higher than my i7 2600K chip crunching at 90%. I know, I know, the i7 920's do run warmer than the newer generation of Sandy Bridge chips, but none the less.

Well, this is what I found late last night.







With that, I have to assume that the H50 is concave really badly! 

Zero center contact!!!! I am going to have to attempt to lap that sucker and try it again I guess. Hopefully that will cool things down some.


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## IC Diamond (Aug 24, 2012)

stinger608 said:


> Was wondering why the 930 I was running a few weeks ago was running so damn hot. Well into the 80+ running a Corsair H50. Recently I put a different motherboard and a i7 920 in. Same thing, well into the 80+ area. Real Temp is showing the high being 85C
> 
> Granted, I am running WCG crunching at 80% but non the less it is way higher than my i7 2600K chip crunching at 90%. I know, I know, the i7 920's do run warmer than the newer generation of Sandy Bridge chips, but none the less.
> 
> ...



Corsairs tend to be pretty good - Might check the IHS- pressure looks great


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## erocker (Aug 24, 2012)

stinger608 said:


> Was wondering why the 930 I was running a few weeks ago was running so damn hot. Well into the 80+ running a Corsair H50. Recently I put a different motherboard and a i7 920 in. Same thing, well into the 80+ area. Real Temp is showing the high being 85C
> 
> Granted, I am running WCG crunching at 80% but non the less it is way higher than my i7 2600K chip crunching at 90%. I know, I know, the i7 920's do run warmer than the newer generation of Sandy Bridge chips, but none the less.
> 
> ...



If that imprint on the paper was done directly with the H50 block, it would be a good reason for a RMA. That is really, really bad.


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## popswala (Aug 24, 2012)

Mine was under a H50 also. Its kinda tricky doing that test with the mounting ring in the way and trying to hold the paper from falling lol. I've thought about just lapping it but haven't gotten to getting some sand paper yet.


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## IC Diamond (Aug 24, 2012)

A dab of spit on the shiny side will help hold it in place


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## stinger608 (Aug 24, 2012)

IC Diamond said:


> Corsairs tend to be pretty good - Might check the IHS- pressure looks great



Yep, it could be. Although I was getting the same terrible temps with the 930. However I didn't have the pressure paper to test it. 



erocker said:


> If that imprint on the paper was done directly with the H50 block, it would be a good reason for a RMA. That is really, really bad.



Good thinking Erocker. However I purchased the cooler second hand. Maybe that is why I got it for a "great" deal. 



popswala said:


> Mine was under a H50 also. Its kinda tricky doing that test with the mounting ring in the way and trying to hold the paper from falling lol. I've thought about just lapping it but haven't gotten to getting some sand paper yet.



You got that right man. It was a little tricky keeping it all together while mounting the cooler.


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## hat (Aug 24, 2012)

I didn't have any trouble keeping the paper in place. I just set the paper on the die, put the block on, picked up the mounting ring with my right hand, twisted the block into place, pushed the clamp down on the block and screwed on.


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## DOM (Aug 25, 2012)

OPTIONAL INFO: i7 3770K, 1.3v/4.6GHz, h20, Enzotech SCW-REV.A, mcp655, T line, Black Ice GTX Xtreme 480 Radiator with 3x D12SH-12 fans pull, 7970 ek full wb

Before Compound:gelid gc extreme
Ambient Temp:
Idle Temp:30
Load Temp:86/87



ICD
Ambient Temp:
Idle Temp:30
Load Temp:86


Updated



ICD
Ambient Temp:
Idle Temp:28
Load Temp:85/86


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## IC Diamond (Aug 25, 2012)

DOM, Did you try the contact paper?


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## DOM (Aug 25, 2012)

yes i need to redo it user error 

ill do it again when i let it cure


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## stinger608 (Aug 25, 2012)

hat said:


> I didn't have any trouble keeping the paper in place. I just set the paper on the die, put the block on, picked up the mounting ring with my right hand, twisted the block into place, pushed the clamp down on the block and screwed on.



 yep that is pretty much what needs to be done for sure Hat!


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## erocker (Aug 25, 2012)

Thanks for the thermal paste! I'm getting some testing done today between the IC Diamond and some MX-4. I should have results by Monday night as I get my 3770K on Monday. Testing a 2500K right now.


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## SonDa5 (Aug 25, 2012)

Got my IC diamond but it looks like the exact same tube that I bought last year.  Is this a new formula?

I thought I was going to be comparing an old formula IC Diamond to a new formula.

Lucky I found some PK-1 laying around.


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## CrAsHnBuRnXp (Aug 25, 2012)

I remember using this stuff when it first came out. I had a B3 Q6600 at the time and it dropped my temps by 10*C. Was all right. I did a very mini review for it on another website a few years back.


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## VulkanBros (Aug 25, 2012)

ASUS Chrosshair Formula IV
Antec KÜHLER H2O 920 with 2 x 120 mm push/pull
AMD FX 8150 BE (Everything at stock for this test)

Tomorrow I will conduct a overclocked test.

Cure times are 2 hours with OCCT LinX pack.

Will test these three compounds: (Picture one)
1. Antec Formula 7 Nano Diamond
2. IC Diamond
3. Arctic MX-4 (will test this tomorrow)

Test method:
1. Heat sink unmounted and cleaned with acetone and at last isopropyl-alcohol.
2. Take pressure test with pressure paper (Picture one)
3. Appy TIM (center dot)

Picture 2
Antec Formula 7 Nano Diamond
Ambient Temp:21,8
Idle Temp:30
Load Temp:35

Picture 3
IC Diamond
Ambient Temp:21,7
Idle Temp:31
Load Temp:34


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## t_ski (Aug 26, 2012)

popswala said:


> Mine was under a H50 also. Its kinda tricky doing that test with the mounting ring in the way and trying to hold the paper from falling lol. I've thought about just lapping it but haven't gotten to getting some sand paper yet.





hat said:


> I didn't have any trouble keeping the paper in place. I just set the paper on the die, put the block on, picked up the mounting ring with my right hand, twisted the block into place, pushed the clamp down on the block and screwed on.



I think the difference is that pops was trying to put in on with the board vertical.  I thought it was kinda tricky, too.  If the board was horizontal (laying the case on its side), it would be much easier to do.


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## hat (Aug 26, 2012)

Yeah I didn't even try with the case standing up.


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## VulkanBros (Aug 26, 2012)

Update test result with Arctic MX-4:

Picture 1
Artic MX-4
Ambient Temp:20,1
Idle Temp:28
Load Temp:32

Will now conduct all tests again with OC (from 3.6 GHz to 4.2 GHz)




VulkanBros said:


> ASUS Chrosshair Formula IV
> Antec KÜHLER H2O 920 with 2 x 120 mm push/pull
> AMD FX 8150 BE (Everything at stock for this test)
> 
> ...


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## SonDa5 (Aug 26, 2012)

prolimatech pk-1

Ambient Temps: 21C






IC Diamond 24

LinX testing in diagnostic mode.

Ambient Temps 21C.









Contact Pressure testing with DT Sniper Water Block with IB 3570k.

DT SNIPER Block



















Waiting on some new Tygon Tubing and a different back plate for my DT Sniper block and will test again for contact pressure with the paper and do another temp comparison.

Right now PK-1 and IC Diamond look close to the same in terms of thermal performance but the contact paper shows that I got a good mount.


----------



## SonDa5 (Aug 26, 2012)

IC Diamond said:


> I will post a colour chart as soon as I find it on their site so you can estimate within about 10% your total pressure.
> 
> http://www.sensorprod.com/prescale/product-pages/prescale/prescale-instructions-2.pdf



Looks like the only color that my paper is revealing is a hot redish pink color.  There has to be  other colors that are missing.


----------



## t_ski (Aug 26, 2012)

No, pink is all that should show.  It's just how much pink is showing.  Take a look at some of the other posts in the thread.


----------



## Frogger (Aug 26, 2012)

SonDa5 said:


> Looks like the only color that my paper is revealing is a hot redish pink color.  There has to be  other colors that are missing.



http://innovationcooling.com/Indepandentuserpressuretest_files/samttl.jpg
amount of 'pink' = pressure in the above chart note the pressure scale on side of each inprint, translate that to the dregree of pink


----------



## SonDa5 (Aug 26, 2012)

Frogger said:


> http://innovationcooling.com/Indepandentuserpressuretest_files/samttl.jpg
> amount of 'pink' = pressure in the above chart note the pressure scale on side of each inprint, translate that to the dregree of pink





I saw that and it shows other colors.  There has to be a color code for this paper.  Pink is showing a certain amount of pressure.  I'm sure there are other pieces of paper like this that pick up other pressures that would show a different color.


----------



## SonDa5 (Aug 26, 2012)

Opt33 at overclock.net stated that my contact pressure mount results are nearly perfect.  

http://www.overclock.net/t/1268070/dt-sniper-waterblock/80#post_18024755


I'm going top turn the block 90 degrees so that the contact pressure marks are parallel with the cpu die.


----------



## Frogger (Aug 27, 2012)

IC Diamond said:


> If you would do a C/P test I will send it out to sensor products for a full lab analysis.





SonDa5 said:


> I saw that and it shows other colors. There has to be a color code for this paper


think the other colors are a result of " full lab analysis"


----------



## Frogger (Aug 27, 2012)

first run pics 
results for GPU run  
from rig in specs
GPU:core 1070  mem 1400 stk voltage stk fan profile
Before Compound: MX4
Ambient Temp:30c  08/8/12 9pm 
Idle Temp:38c  
Load Temp:92c  @stk_FurMarkv1.9.1  fan profile Auto [avg 3 runs]

ICD
Ambient Temp:29c 26/08/12  7pm
Idle Temp:36c
Load Temp:76c   @stk_FurMarkv1.9.1  fan profile Auto [avg 3 runs]



GPU_o/c 1100core/1500mem stk voltage fan 95%
Before Compound: MX4
Ambient Temp:30c  08/8/12 9pm 
Idle Temp: 35c     
Load Temp:84c    FurMarkv1.9.1 [avg 3 runs]


ICD
Ambient Temp:29c 26/08/12  7pm
Idle Temp:35c
Load Temp:78c   FurMarkv1.9.1 [avg 3 runs]


CPU:
Before Compound: MX4
Ambient Temp:30c     08/8/12 9pm 
Idle Temp:39c @stk
Load Temp:59c @stk  IntelBurnTest v2.54

ICD
Ambient Temp:26c    28/8/12   7pm
Idle Temp:31C
Load Temp:46c              IntelBurnTest v2.54

CPU_o/c 4536.9MHz @ 1.4v core
Before Compound: MX4
Ambient Temp:30c     10/8/12 9pm 
Idle Temp:32c
Load Temp:70c       IntelBurnTest v2.54

ICD
Ambient Temp:26c     28/8/12  7pm
Idle Temp:31c
Load Temp:69c              IntelBurnTest v2.54

will up pics of C/P  paper
  MSI Twin Frozr IV had to lap some of the nickel pate off to get it flat
  Intel Q2600K  IHS high top,bottom,right side lapped to flat mirror finish


----------



## SonDa5 (Aug 27, 2012)

Frogger looks like ICD stomped all over MX4 from your tests.


----------



## SonDa5 (Aug 27, 2012)

Frogger said:


> think the other colors are a result of " full lab analysis"



Wonder what the full lab analysis process is.


----------



## t_ski (Aug 27, 2012)

SonDa5 said:


> I saw that and it shows other colors.  There has to be a color code for this paper.  Pink is showing a certain amount of pressure.  I'm sure there are other pieces of paper like this that pick up other pressures that would show a different color.





SonDa5 said:


> Opt33 at overclock.net stated that my contact pressure mount results are nearly perfect.
> 
> http://www.overclock.net/t/1268070/dt-sniper-waterblock/80#post_18024755
> 
> ...





Frogger said:


> think the other colors are a result of " full lab analysis"





Frogger said:


> first run pics
> results for GPU run
> from rig in specs
> GPU:core 1070  mem 1400 stk voltage stk fan profile
> ...





SonDa5 said:


> Frogger looks like ICD stomped all over MX4 from your tests.





SonDa5 said:


> Wonder what the full lab analysis process is.



Please use the "multi-quote" button or edit your posts instead of posting multiple times in a row.


----------



## IC Diamond (Aug 27, 2012)

Frogger said:


> first run pics
> results for GPU run
> from rig in specs
> GPU:core 1070  mem 1400 stk voltage stk fan profile
> ...



Nice progression on the lapping - so what do you think of the paper?


----------



## Frogger (Aug 27, 2012)

IC Diamond said:


> Nice progression on the lapping - so what do you think of the paper?



Excelent product, showed just where to lap the Twin Frozr IV. Just goes to show that mass production of the coolers will always yield some that just arn't flat:shadedshu. Going to order a sheet from SP to have around for client custom builds.
In the middle of a rebuild now, But going to try & do the CPU on the Game  [specs] Rig later today.


----------



## Brusfantomet (Aug 27, 2012)

Got the set with contact pressure paper today, the CP paper did not give any pink color tho, only different amounts of opaqueness, rather similar to sample 19A and 20A on the pressure test, but with a small speck about 0,5 cm2 in size at the center. will do some temp test tomorrow.

Edit: Here are the results:

AS5 idle: 38C 39C 40C 39C average: 39C
ICD idle: 35C 34C 36C 34C average: 35C 
improvement: 4 degrees C

AS5 load: 71C 72C 70C 70C average: 70,75C (at 35 GFlops)
ICD load: 65C 66C 63C 64C average: 64,5C (at 35.5 GFlops)
improvement: 6,25C

pics for the different run.
thank you for the clearly superior TIM.


----------



## SonDa5 (Aug 28, 2012)

Brusfantomet said:


> Got the set with contact pressure paper today, the CP paper did not give any pink color tho, only different amounts of opaqueness, rather similar to sample 19A and 20A on the pressure test, but with a small speck about 0,5 cm2 in size at the center. will do some temp test tomorrow.



Photos?


----------



## t_ski (Aug 28, 2012)

Sounds like maybe the sheets were not lined up right.  Should be shiney side out for each.


----------



## IC Diamond (Aug 28, 2012)

Here is the sensor product manual for analyzing (roughly) your pressure results

Prescale - Color Correlation Manual.pdf


----------



## Nokiron (Aug 28, 2012)

Just ran some tests. Will update with results after the paste has cured. Will do a higher overclock aswell.
 Might try applying some ICD on a 580 reference just for the heck of it.

i7 3820 4.4Ghz 
1.28V 
1.6PLL
NH-D14 with only 140mm fan - ~900rpm

Before Compound: Noctua NT-H1
Ambient Temp: 27
Idle Temp: 33
Load Temp: 65 - 62 -62 - 65

ICD
Ambient Temp: 27
Idle Temp: 32
Load Temp: 65 - 61 - 61 -64


----------



## brandonwh64 (Aug 28, 2012)

i7 920  
Stock Volts 
Stock PLL
Evercool Transformer 4 with 120mm fan 85CFM - 2000pm

Before Compound: AS5
Ambient Temp: 25
Idle Temp: 36
Load Temp:  66 - 63 -61 - 64

IC-D7
Ambient Temp: 25
Idle Temp: 35
Load Temp: 64 - 61 -62 - 62

About a 2-3 degree difference which was to be expected. The contact paper has shown that I have a great contact between the CPU and Cooler. This is one thing I was worrying about using this older cooler.


----------



## Protagonist (Aug 28, 2012)

Tested The ICD 24 On My

i7-3770
Stock Volts
Stock Intel Cooler

I have listed the Temps in this order (Current) - (Minimum) - (Maximum)

Stock Thermal Compound That Comes with Intel Cooler
Ambient Temp: 18C
Idle Temp: 29C
Load Temp: 70C - 67C - 73C


ICD Test Sample
Ambient Temp: 18C
Idle Temp: 28C
Load Temp: 68C - 65C - 70C


----------



## IC Diamond (Aug 28, 2012)

Building library of WB Contact images from our facebook page -Larkcooler CPU WB 500 Water block contact/pressure test. Note this block has a round , rather than a square base - looks like just a couple cm contact






 xspc RASA block with its backing plate.


----------



## IC Diamond (Aug 28, 2012)

SonDa5 said:


> prolimatech pk-1
> 
> Ambient Temps: 21C
> 
> ...



Missing contact images? I would like to add to our WB library


----------



## SonDa5 (Aug 29, 2012)

IC Diamond said:


> Missing contact images? I would like to add to our WB library





It is in the links. Just save as image.  It is of the DT Sniper Water block.


----------



## t_ski (Aug 29, 2012)

Using the system in my sig:

Intel i7 3930K
Asus P9X79 Pro
4 x 8GB Corsair Dominator GT
Triple 7970's (stock coolers)
Triple Asus VW246H LCD's
2 x 120 GB Corsair Force 3 (Raid 0)
500GB WD
Lite-On BluRay
Nickel-plated Heatkiller 3.0 CU
D5 with EK X-top
BIX Quad Rad w/ six Noctua NF-F12 PWM fans on the rad at full speed (4 on one side, 2 on the other to fit around the PSU, which also pulls air through the rad)
BIX 120mm rad w/ one Yate Loon medium speed fan at full speed
Corsair AX1200
Silverstone TJ07

*Before*

Using MX-4 thermal paste.  Temps below were after a 5-pass run of Intel Burn Test.







Ambient temps were 21.3C (measured with my laser thermometer at a random, non-heat-producing item in the room).  Loop temps were about 24C, measured at the res.

*AFTER*

Using ICD24 thermal paste.  Temps below were after a 5-pass run of Intel Burn Test.






Ambient temps were 20.4C (measured with my laser thermometer at a random, non-heat-producing item in the room).  Loop temps were about 23C, measured at the res.






Note the hole in the IHS is at the top left corner of the paper, just as it is on the chip in the socket.

*CONCLUSION*

Temps were about the same given the test for ICD24 was with 1C cooler room and loop temp.  In some cases, the ICD24 was just a hair warmer.


----------



## Kantastic (Aug 29, 2012)

Another delay on my motherboard... open box from Newegg apparently means a reconditioned board that's shipped with no packaging whatsoever, just a plain white box (the ones you get back from RMAs) with a label on it. 

System still isn't up yet... FML!!!


----------



## IC Diamond (Aug 29, 2012)

I have been doing these forum survey tests for awhile and thought not much new was to be learned from them then on our last one @ OCUK I had a high% of WB results about 20 -25% as noted earlier. An interesting statistical cluster but I had no end users interested in doing contact impressions.






So now here at TP along with Gilgamesh's images  The WB's are from a cursory glance  are pretty much all universally poor contact.


































On all 20+ surveys we have done we have always had an issue with WB's however the sample size was always small and drew little attention. It will take some time but we are going back through the previous data and filter out the WB tests to combine with the TP results to get a broader understanding.

Normally when we send out the C/P paper we include a self addressed envelope to return for a lab analysis and this is the first time we have not done so and am sorry we did not do it here but we were not anticipating doing it. In any event, if any one here would like a full lab analysis Innovation Cooling will send it out for an independent lab analysis from sensor products for the hard data numbers. Most look to be well under 50% contact and it would be nice to take the guess work out of the results.

Our mailing address is 

Innovation Cooling
350 East Main Street
Ansonia CT. 06401
USA


----------



## IC Diamond (Aug 29, 2012)

Full analysis looks like this and will be emailed to you in an Excel file.


----------



## SonDa5 (Aug 29, 2012)

IC Diamond said:


> So now here at TP along with Gilgamesh's images  The WB's are from a cursory glance  are pretty much all universally poor contact.





That contact paper test was from my i5-3570k with a DT SNIPER water block on a MSI Z68A GD65 G3 MB.  I threw away the contact paper so I wont be able to mail it in for full analysis.

OPT33 from Overclock.net stated that I had near perfect contact pattern??? 


I ordered a EK-LGA115X TRUE Backplate and once I get the new back plate in I am going to see if it helps improve surface area contact with the IHS.


After I do the IHS  I am going to delid my 3570k and do a contact pressure on with direct die contact.


IMPORTANT!!!


Is it safe to put IC Diamond directly on the die of a cpu or gpu?


----------



## IC Diamond (Aug 29, 2012)

SonDa5 said:


> That contact paper test was from my i5-3570k with a DT SNIPER water block on a MSI Z68A GD65 G3 MB.  I threw away the contact paper so I wont be able to mail it in for full analysis.
> 
> OPT33 from Overclock.net stated that I had near perfect contact pattern???
> 
> ...



Quite common on notebooks with bare die for several years with no reported issues

Use one of the unused tests and send me that.

Then send me your test results and I will forward to sensor products for analysis. Pressure analysis can be done with an accuracy of about 10% by eye with the previously posted PDF file. 

The amount of area in contact is dicey by eye but with their software you can get a pretty accurate number as it calculates the number by individual pixels count so you can subtract the contact area from the IHS area and work a percentage of contact area.

Pressure is done by the pixel density

I have been working with the stuff for years in-house weekly and have done probably a couple of hundred on forums and for individual trouble shooting and even with my practised eye I am probably only 20-30% within a measured result and from an internet Image? My guess is less than 50% contact but I could be wrong they have made some changes to the paper in the last year or two and is more difficult now to make an educated guess on the result.

Best to rely on hard data for contact analysis

What I would like to do is generate charts like the ones below for water cooling


----------



## DOM (Aug 29, 2012)

Msi HD 7970 ref card stock clocks 925/1375

Before Compound:stock
Ambient Temp:23.8
Idle Temp:37
Load Temp:70

ICD
Ambient Temp:23.3
Idle Temp:35
Load Temp:68


----------



## IC Diamond (Aug 30, 2012)

SonDa5 said:


> That contact paper test was from my i5-3570k with a DT SNIPER water block on a MSI Z68A GD65 G3 MB.  I threw away the contact paper so I wont be able to mail it in for full analysis.
> 
> OPT33 from Overclock.net stated that I had near perfect contact pattern???
> 
> ...



Just thought I would note this as a comparison to your print.

Contact here was 60.35% this was done with the old paper vs new. so not completely contact comparable. Light areas of contact tend to be darker on the new C/P paper, same pixel count but more sensitive so is more easily scanned hence more accurate. While visually more prominent it tends to lead to over estimation when comparing to the old C/P paper which is why I threw out the less than 50% contact estimation. but hard data will give a real number.

The type of contact is just as important as total %, From the image you can see that most of the contact is at the edges with 85 + lbs (at the upper limit of the paper), perhaps showing a cupping of the IHS so that some portion of the heat has to find it way _through_ the IHS to the edges to be removed, obviously not real inefficient. 

In a good contact situation you would have a more even distribution. in the example below a max of 97 psi at the edges tapering off to zero towards the centre with an overall force/pressure on the IHS being at only 45 psi.

So for example on your IHS if you were to lap it and had no high spots you would probably have a pressure range of perhaps 50-60 PSI across the IHS with no 85+ PSI high spots and your overall  would still be the same force/pressure.

If you remove the IHS and have great contact the decrease in surface area over the IHS will proportionally increase your pressure so you could have something like 90 psi in the contact area even though your overall force might be only 50lbs which is great from a performance standpoint.

With high pressure like that  a cautionary note - A slight misalignment on mounting and the die will crack/chip on the edges. I would also make sure the sink is perfectly flat some surface discontinuities could cause a problem, otherwise I have noted good results with the process so the risk may be worth it.


----------



## cdawall (Aug 30, 2012)

Reserved for my results just got the tube and working on a top overclock to test with. Using Noctua NT-H1 currently...and rather like it so will be interested to see how this compares.


----------



## crazyeyesreaper (Aug 31, 2012)

updated my post with pressure data IC Diamond 24 paste will have to wait untill new back plate arrives.


----------



## AphexDreamer (Sep 2, 2012)

Got the tube too. The moment I start using the stuff I'll be back with results. Won't be to long.


----------



## cdawall (Sep 4, 2012)

Started some of the testing

Rig Specs:

Phenom II X4 B97 3.2ghz@4ghz 1.5625v LLC enabled
Asus CH3F
Corsair H70 with dual 120x38 Nidec Beta V's, 120x25mm shrouds
Room temp of ~23C






Noctua NT-H1 idle testing ~28C






IC Diamond idle testing ~28C






Noctua NT-H1 Prime 95 load testing ~43C






IC Diamond Prime 95 load testing ~44C






Got a couple more to go






EDIT:

Update with Zalman paste

Idle is 31C Load is 44C


----------



## IC Diamond (Sep 5, 2012)

No C/P images?


----------



## cdawall (Sep 5, 2012)

IC Diamond said:


> No C/P images?



Will do those last after I get the other brands of thermal paste done.


----------



## crazyeyesreaper (Sep 6, 2012)

got my new backplate in can do the temperature testing soon just waiting for the stuff to cure woot.


----------



## BATOFF3 (Sep 7, 2012)

Here are my results. I didnt allow any cure time.
Overall I am pleased with this tim.
C/P isnt the best result , but Im still happy with the final results.


----------



## t_ski (Sep 7, 2012)

Do you think you could take a closer picture of the contact paper?  It's hard to see between the size and the flash.


----------



## BATOFF3 (Sep 7, 2012)

Added a closer picture of contact paper....best i could get it.


----------



## stinger608 (Sep 7, 2012)

Starting to see some results on here! 

Awesome everyone.


----------



## stinger608 (Sep 12, 2012)

Come on folks, lets get some results posted...........


----------



## crazyeyesreaper (Sep 12, 2012)

if things dont go terrible today ill have my results posted


----------



## Kantastic (Sep 12, 2012)

Sorry guys, still don't have a working computer. College started and I've been busy. Will send my Asus motherboard for RMA this afternoon since my late class is cancelled. If all goes well, I'll have a system up and running & results in 2 weeks (10 days for RMA).

I still need to send a motherback back to someone on TPU...


----------



## 3870x2 (Sep 12, 2012)

t_ski said:


> Please use the "multi-quote" button or edit your posts instead of posting multiple times in a row.



It is interesting to note that you wasted 4x as much forum space posting the correction.

Knowledge is Power!


----------



## t_ski (Sep 12, 2012)

It's not necessarily about wasting space as it is considered impolite (spamming).


----------



## SonDa5 (Sep 13, 2012)

Finally got around to remounting my DT Sniper Block again to see if my temps will improve.

Before my contact pressure wasn't parallel with my i5-3570k die.

It was vertical.  Here it is.





Now my contact pressure is in a horizontal parallel position with my i5-3570k.

Here is the paper in the socket with IB CPU parallel with contact pressure.





I am hoping that the parallel positioning will lower temps.  I will post before and after temps for the new position of mount later on. 

I have one more contact paper left which I am going to use for a bare die contact test later on and will also follow up with temp results from running direct die contact with IC Diamond.


----------



## rangerone766 (Sep 13, 2012)

i've used IC diamond in the past and liked it. maybe the next time i tear my loop apart to clean, i will try this new method with the contact paper. looks very intriguing.


----------



## t_ski (Sep 13, 2012)

SonDa5 said:


> Finally got around to remounting my DT Sniper Block again to see if my temps will improve.
> 
> Before my contact pressure wasn't parallel with my i5-3570k die.
> 
> ...



To me, this contact looks a heck of a lot better than your last one.


----------



## newtekie1 (Sep 13, 2012)

Finally got some time at work to test this.  Here are my results:

Test Subject: 
GTX465 Fermi 
Idle Clock:405MHz
Load Clock: 675Mhz
Voltage: 1.05v

Results:

Arctic Silver Alumina
Idle: 48°C @ 52%
Load: 68°C @ 82%
Ambient: 15.5°C

IC Diamond 24
Idle: 48°C @ 52%
Load: 67°C @ 80%
Ambient: 15.5°C

For load I used Kombustor running full screen, rendering the sphere in DX11 with 4xAA and PostFX.  I let this run until the temperature stabilized.

I then stopped Kombustor and let the temperature stabilize again to get the idle reading.

And yes, it really is that cold where my computer sits, it is under a desk with a huge A/C vent that runs constantly.


----------



## D007 (Sep 13, 2012)

I would love to see all this data condensed into a chart, showing each members results, instead of having to wade through every page.. Very interested in the results..



newtekie1 said:


> And yes, it really is that cold where my computer sits, it is under a desk with a huge A/C vent that runs constantly.



I need to get one of those.. Florida ambient temps are murder..
I'd be worried about condensation building up though..


----------



## brandonwh64 (Sep 13, 2012)

D007 said:


> I would love to see all this data condensed into a chart, showing each members results, instead of having to wade through every page.. Very interested in the results..
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I would too, This would make the thread easier to read what user had gotten during their tests.


----------



## AphexDreamer (Sep 13, 2012)

*Well it took a while, but I finally got to testing it out.*

Since Cure time is around 2 Hours. I'll wait till then to OCCT it out. But here is what I got so far. 

*General Information *



























*Thermalright Generic Thermal Paste OCCT Run*











Ambient Temp:78F (25.5C) 
Idle Temp: 40-41C
Load Temp:68C

*IC Diamond Thermal Compound OCCT Run *











Ambient Temp:78F (25.5C) 
Idle Temp: 40-41C
Load Temp:69C


Slightly warmer but practically no difference. Not sure if I didn't do something right or if it needs more time to cure.


----------



## newtekie1 (Sep 13, 2012)

D007 said:


> I need to get one of those.. Florida ambient temps are murder..
> I'd be worried about condensation building up though..



Condensation only happens when computer/part is colder than the air around it.  That never happens in this situation, even if the A/C kicks off, the air is still cooler than the computer.

Now if I was to turn the computer off and quickly move it to a warmer part of our office I might get some condensation, but I'd never do that.

Also, it has the negative effect in the Winter when the A/C vent becomes a heat vent...


----------



## SonDa5 (Sep 14, 2012)

So far my testing.

i5-3570k at 4.5GHZ 1.175v
With DT Sniper water block.
20 passes of LinX testing in diagnostic mode.

With Mount vertical.






prolimatech pk-1

Ambient Temps: 21C






IC Diamond 24
Ambient Temps 21C.









New testing with Block rotated 90 degree to see if it improves contact for cooling.





Ambient Temps 23C.
TIM IC Diamond 24 






Seems about the same..


Next testing will be with direct contact on CPU die.


----------



## AphexDreamer (Sep 14, 2012)

My post has been edited with my final results with 1 day for the ICD to cure. 

No significant difference between the two compounds.


----------



## IC Diamond (Sep 14, 2012)

Rotation does not seem to change results much - Giglamesh has tested 5 blocks independently and rotated each one and the only one that showed a real improvement was the Koolance block.

Images are starting to add up I have about 14 so far and contact for the wb's generally is poor. I will post a catalogue of results so far later this weekend.

Keep in mind that the sink is only half the equation, the IHS comprises the other 50%. 

The sink could be tested separately using a flat plate or a glass slide with the C/P paper and a clamp like this which will apply approx 45-50 PSI.

The test would tell you whether it is the sink or IHS is not flat














> Clean Print BTW


----------



## SonDa5 (Sep 15, 2012)

I'm hoping this contact pressure pattern will work great when I delid and go direct contact on the die.






Should have direct contact results in a week or so after I reconfigure and upgrade my loop.


----------



## adulaamin (Sep 17, 2012)

Room temp: 26 C
I did the tests right after I replaced the TIM with ICD24... 

Tuniq TX-4:





ICD24:





Pressure Pattern:





I'm starting to think I need to lap the base of the cooler... The pressure pattern of my cooler sucks...


----------



## itsakjt (Sep 17, 2012)

*The best!*

This is the best thermal compound I have used so far!
Results:




By itsakjt at 2012-09-16





By itsakjt at 2012-09-16





By itsakjt at 2012-09-16





By itsakjt at 2012-09-16





By itsakjt at 2012-09-16





By itsakjt at 2012-09-16

Before IC Diamond 24(Cooler Master Thermal Fusion 400)





By itsakjt at 2012-09-16

After IC Diamond 24





By itsakjt at 2012-09-16

So you can see that is a straight 1 degree C difference with the fan speed lower as well.
I am sure the difference will be more drastic with a better cooler(I am using the stock AMD cooler).

My specs are on the left.
NOTE: The day I tested the Cooler Master was cooler(2-3 degree C) than today. So my conclusion is IC Diamond 24 is the best thermal compound I have used so far. 
Next test coming- My Sapphire Radeon HD 6770 1 GB DDR5.
And if you can, can you please tell me the proper method of application on GPUs and laptop CPUs(direct on-die)?


----------



## itsakjt (Sep 17, 2012)

UPDATE:
It seems that the thermal compound is doing even more awesome under high overclocks.
Previously, I could not get to 3.8 GHz as the CPU temp exceeded 64 degree C.
Today I tried 3.8 GHz even with the IMC at 2834 MHz and the RAM at 1744 MHz.
System is super stable. 
Temps didn't go above 61 degree C even after 1 hr of Prime95. 
I am going to buy an IC Diamond 24 after this one's finished and post a pic of it here.
Love you guys at IC Diamond!
All the best.


----------



## t_ski (Sep 17, 2012)

Depends on the die size of course, but a small (~3mm) blob should work for an exposed Radeon GPU.  VERY IMPORTANT!!! After you mount the cooler, take it off and check the spread to make sure the entire GPU is covered.  If it's right, clean it and reapply the same amount.  If it's too small, clean and reapply a slightly larger amount.  If there's way too much, clean and reapply a slightly smaller amount (enough to cover, but not too much to waste).

A larger GPU core or a GPU with an integrated heat-spreadder will need more compound, similar to application for a CPU with an IHS.  Covering the IHS completely is not as critical as an exposed GPU, but it's always a good ideal to mount the cooler and then remove it to check the spread when you are working with a new TIM, especially if it's thickness is different than what you're used too.  Remember that a thick compound like this needs significant pressure to work well, so using this on a GPU that has push-pins to hold the heatsink on is probably not a good idea.  Use a thinner compound for those.


----------



## IC Diamond (Sep 18, 2012)

Putting together a nice library I have another couple of WB that Gilgamesh has tested which I will add later. Getting great contact not as easy as you would think.

adulaamin -Did not get the type/ manufacturer of your sink


ThermalRightUltraExtreme120






LARKCOOLER ISKY WATER 300 CPU BLOCK






BigWater760i






Ultra120Extreme






xspcRASAWB






/Heatkiller30CU






DTsniperWaterBlock






koolance370






AntecKHLER






ek full wb






CorsairH50






/DTSniper Water Block rotated






Larkcooler CPU WB 500






Corsairh100






EK Supremacy FULL NICKEL courtesy of Gilgamesh


----------



## crazyeyesreaper (Sep 19, 2012)

updated post 4 with my results

on Ivy Bridge at 1.25v at 4.6GHz i am seeing a temp drop of 4c at Idle and up to 8c under load

at STOCK i am seeing a drop of 2c at idle and up to 4c under load overall well worth the temp drop its amazing I had to recheck the MX-4 but after multiple attempts its no fluke my chip just seems to like IC diamond paste.


----------



## stinger608 (Sep 19, 2012)

crazyeyesreaper said:


> updated post 4 with my results
> 
> on Ivy Bridge at 1.25v at 4.6GHz i am seeing a temp drop of 4c at Idle and up to 8c under load
> 
> at STOCK i am seeing a drop of 2c at idle and up to 4c under load overall well worth the temp drop its amazing I had to recheck the MX-4 but after multiple attempts its no fluke my chip just seems to like IC diamond paste.



Them are some awesome temp differences Crazy!!!


----------



## fullinfusion (Sep 20, 2012)

SonDa5 said:


> Got my IC diamond but it looks like the exact same tube that I bought last year.  Is this a new formula?
> 
> I thought I was going to be comparing an old formula IC Diamond to a new formula.
> 
> Lucky I found some PK-1 laying around.


... bump for a replie to Sonda5's question..


----------



## t_ski (Sep 20, 2012)

I pulled my block off yesterday for some other work.  I found that there was a slight stain in the IHS on the CPU.  The waterblock did not show anything - at least, it was very clean in the contact area, but the outer edge was slightly tarnished.  I'll post pics up for your review later.


----------



## erocker (Sep 20, 2012)

crazyeyesreaper said:


> updated post 4 with my results
> 
> on Ivy Bridge at 1.25v at 4.6GHz i am seeing a temp drop of 4c at Idle and up to 8c under load
> 
> at STOCK i am seeing a drop of 2c at idle and up to 4c under load overall well worth the temp drop its amazing I had to recheck the MX-4 but after multiple attempts its no fluke my chip just seems to like IC diamond paste.



I got about the same over MX-4, though my overclock settings reflect your stock settings temperature wise. Perhaps your ambient temps changed?


----------



## IC Diamond (Sep 20, 2012)

> QUOTE]Originally Posted by crazyeyesreaper View Post
> updated post 4 with my results
> 
> on Ivy Bridge at 1.25v at 4.6GHz i am seeing a temp drop of 4c at Idle and up to 8c under load
> ...


.



> I got about the same over MX-4, though my overclock settings reflect your stock settings temperature wise. Perhaps your ambient temps changed?


[/QUOTE]

crazyeyesreaper To date has the best contact & pressure and no doubt influenced his results.

Thermal Compound performance is all about Contact and Pressure, simple as it gets.

We have demonstrated this extensively on a number of forums, people with good C/P get good results. *Quantify the result and you Qualify the result*. Just because an end user got "X" result on a test does not mean it is a valid test when the determining/primary factor of the test (C/P) is not quantified - 

Every Compound has a different pressure performance curve like the IC Diamond one below, so where are you on the IC Diamond curve? Where are you on the comparison compound curve? You could be at an advantaged point for one and at a disadvantaged pressure on another and that only relates to pressure.

 All around high/good pressure will resolve most comparison issues but if you do not have a clue as to whether you are @ 25 lbs or 70 lbs the result is pretty much meaningless

In the catalogue above the samples tested so far are running mostly under 50% contact so the results are qualified the basis for understanding what the data means is available and as I have offered to do a independent lab analysis to quantify the results here to generate a pressure/contact chart of the results here so if anybody would like to return their C/P results I will be more than happy to send them out


----------



## IC Diamond (Sep 20, 2012)

As a reminder how contact and pressure affect the result


----------



## IC Diamond (Sep 20, 2012)

Discussion below is from OCUK and relates to how heat flows with an IHS and where you encounter material limitations of the copper



> Key thing to remember - increased contact does not increase pressure, but generally increased pressure will increase contact. Pressure is the more dominant of the two.
> 
> Let's flip the problem, In engineering a common device used to limit heat flow to sensitive components in an assembly is a “Heat Dam” shown here in figure #3  Where the heat flow is “thermally choked” by reducing the contact area to material limitations. Restricted heat flows with misaligned contact, too little contact, too little pressure, too little compound anything that can restrict flow creates a heat dam.
> 
> ...


----------



## IC Diamond (Sep 20, 2012)

As an example of the effect of contact the reviewer before and after lapping increased overall performance 5C and delta between the two compounds increased to 3 C from 1C



From OCUK IC Diamond Review


----------



## fullinfusion (Sep 21, 2012)

fullinfusion said:


> ... bump for a replie to Sonda5's question..



Guess I'll answer my own question then 

It must be the same shit as last year... Hmmm


----------



## IC Diamond (Sep 21, 2012)

ICD24 same as ICD7 - Numbers denote Carat weight - 1 Carat = 0.2 gm

Updated library of contact images on post 116 on the previous page to include the EK Supremacy Full Nickel. Not looking good for the WB's with the exception of one of the Koolance tests

EK Supremacy FULL NICKEL courtesy of Gilgamesh


----------



## adulaamin (Sep 22, 2012)

IC Diamond said:


> adulaamin -Did not get the type/ manufacturer of your sink



Oh sorry... It's a Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo 

I did the test twice coz I thought I did it wrong the first time... Same result... I might try to lap the base although I've never done it before that's why I'm kind of hesitating hahaha...


----------



## cdawall (Sep 22, 2012)

Been giving the ICD a good good burn in time with the phenom/heavy watercooling setup. Stuff is doing pretty well but almost no improvement next to the Noctua from before. Will post real world number shortly. So far it is a 40C load temp either way.


----------



## 1freedude (Sep 23, 2012)

1freedude said:


> Ok, SABERTOOTH x58 i7 920 at stock cmos:
> 
> Idle at desktop: 35
> Intel Stress Test from Extreme Tuning Utility: 43
> ...



Ambient:  70.2 F

With fresh paste, F@H temp raised 1-2.

C/P shows really weak results.  Not suprised, as the pressure is delivered via springs.  Later (not tonight), I will mod it to use nuts and bolts.

Time to finish Neuromancer.


----------



## TRWOV (Sep 23, 2012)

*TRWOV's results*

*TEST SYSTEM:*
CPU: Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6800 B3 @ 2.92Ghz 1.5v (stock), lapped
MoBo: Asrock Conroe865PE
Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper N520








*Tested compounds:*






- Cooler Master standard thermal compound. No cure time.
- Artic Cooling MX-4. No cure time.
- IC Diamond 24 carat. ~10 hours of cure time, 5 cold-hot cycles.


*Pressure pads results:*






Test 1: Heatsink stock
Test 2: Heatsink slighty lapped
Test 3: more lapping




*Results:*

Intel Burn Test:

Cooler Master standard thermal compound (no cure time, TEST3 pattern):
Max avg (4 cores):  75C
Min avg (4 cores): 39C

IC Diamond  (+6 months of cure time, TEST1 pattern, low pressure):
Max avg (4 cores):  68.5C
Min avg (4 cores): 40.75C

Arctic Cooling MX-4 (no cure time, TEST3 pattern):
Max avg (4 cores):  68.5C
Min avg (4 cores): 37.75C

IC Diamond (~10 hours of cure time, TEST3 pattern, high pressure):
Max avg (4 cores):  67.25C
Min avg (4 cores): 38.5C







Pics:


Spoiler



Cooler Master standard thermal compound





IC Diamond (TEST1 pattern, low pressure)





Artic Cooling MX-4





IC Diamond (TEST3 pattern)









OCCT:

Core 0 is the hottest so I'll use that graph only. I should have left HWmonitor running along with OCCT 

Cooler Master standard thermal compound (no cure time, TEST3 pattern):





IC Diamond  (+6 months of cure time, TEST1 pattern, low pressure):





Arctic Cooling MX-4 (no cure time, TEST3 pattern):





IC Diamond (~10 hours of cure time, TEST3 pattern):







*Conclusion:*

It seems that the IC Diamond compound needs heat and good contact between the heatsink and CPU to truly shine as its performance increased with improved pressure and although idle temps are nothing to write home about (the standard CM compound comes close) at high temps the performance is superb. Also this series of test just opened my eyes on how bad contact some heatsinks provide, I think I'll buy some pressure paper in the future. 

I have to comment on MX-4, though: with no cure time it performed within a 1C range in relation to IC Diamond. Still, IC Diamond performed just as well _even with substandard mounting pressure_ (TEST1 vs TEST3).


----------



## TRWOV (Sep 23, 2012)

and just now I learn that IC7 and IC24 are the same thing. The 7 carat and 24 carat come from the weight  changing post accordingly.


----------



## SonDa5 (Sep 24, 2012)

TRWOV said:


> and just now I learn that IC7 and IC24 are the same thing. The 7 carat and 24 carat come from the weight  changing post accordingly.



I knew they were the same.  ICD 24 has been out for over a year as well.  I used IC24 over a year ago and it has worked well.  I thought this free sample was to get a totally new formula but in turns out its just to get more testing done.  It's all good.


----------



## EarthDog (Sep 25, 2012)

I posted in the 'request thread'.. oops! Anyway, here are the results...again:

Ok...... the eagle landed last week and went up H2H with MX-4....

Environment was 21C under custom water for the tests. I remounted the Diamond a couple times to make sure i was getting a good spread/mount as this stuff is STICKY and doesnt spread well it seems. That said after a good contact I saw these results:

Stock: 
MX-4 idle - 27C  (average across cores)
IC D idle - 27C   (    "           "        "   )
MX-4 load - 54C (  "            "          "  )
ICD load - 53C   (   "           "          "   )

Overclocked - 4.9Ghz 1.5v - (no power saving on constant v and clocks)
MX4 idle - 30C
ICD idle  - 29C
MX4 load - 93C
ICD load - 91C


Ugh, the viscosity and the ability of this stuff to spread is thick, wow. It doesnt even like to spread with a credit card or anything it just like clumps and rolls off the processor. Gotta do something about that if possible with the materials you use!

Thanks for the sample, solid product guys.


----------



## crazyeyesreaper (Sep 25, 2012)

lol in the regular thread the guy pretty much says dont spread it use pressure only


----------



## EarthDog (Sep 25, 2012)

Right... after multiple failures with getting a good spread (tried increasing quantities of product, mounting the block (Apogee XT) in different ways), it just wouldnt spread well. So I tried to spread it with a CC... that failed even worse. It turns out that copious amounts of this product (literally pea sized, not rice - as the instructions stated) were needed with my setup to achieve adequate coverage. 

I dont have this issue with MX-2/4, AS5 and the temperature difference wasnt that great. 

Single case though, I would imagine the problem is with the mounting pressure being limited on the Apogee XT setup vs others that are not? No clue.


----------



## crazyeyesreaper (Sep 25, 2012)

yea mounting pressure etc matters, i mean hell i saw an 8c drop in temps at the SAME ambient room temps on my Ivy bridge system compared to MX4, i dont know why i did multiple tests of each but temps stayed roughly the same within 1c on each test, then again compared to many in this thread i have one of the best mountings in terms of surface contact area and pressure and both together make all the difference it seems.


----------



## EarthDog (Sep 25, 2012)

Yeah.. temps were fine with any product, mounting pressure was good and as complete as I have seen it (sorry, no photos of that... ) so it wasnt that.


----------



## IC Diamond (Sep 25, 2012)

EarthDog

5.5MM Bead id recommended - compression spread should work fine unless you have extremely light pressure then if that's the case some effort should be made to shore up the mount to provide more pressure as you are likely in the 30lb range and would gain something like 5C even on a generic paste.

But as your results are more or less in the expected range pressure probably is fine, a little tweaking perhaps but not bad.

Alternatively you can mix a drop or two of solvent like acetone or IP to thin it to your desired consistency then let it dry *Completely* about 10 min. then apply sink.

 Do make sure it is dry otherwise it will leave voids in the joint.


----------



## EarthDog (Sep 25, 2012)

Thanks IC D. I tried tightening down two screws at a time, one at time in a circle, and crossed pattern, it just didnt do well until I literally had a pea sized amount on there (like your instructions state). 

My concern isnt so much the spread as it worked out when I followed the instructions, but the amount of applications /tube /$ vs other products.


----------



## IC Diamond (Sep 25, 2012)

EarthDog said:


> Thanks IC D. I tried tightening down two screws at a time, one at time in a circle, and crossed pattern, it just didnt do well until I literally had a pea sized amount on there (like your instructions state).
> 
> My concern isnt so much the spread as it worked out when I followed the instructions, but the amount of applications /tube /$ vs other products.



Does not matter -  Paste application is more of a volume fill + area coverage. Better to have enough compound on the mount for optimal performance than to have to redo your mount which wastes more compound on a reapplication.

This is why some people have poor results with the older metal pads they were so thin there was not enough material to bridge the void gaps on IHS?sinks  with light contact

On the 24 carat syringes sample you received should be enough for 10 applications




> *Application Notes -Amount of Applied Compound*
> *
> *
> There is always some debate on amount of applied compound to use, our approach is based on a best to worst case scenario with a one size fits all so the user can experience best odds of a successful mount out of the gate without having to redo his mount.
> ...


----------



## TRWOV (Sep 26, 2012)

t_ski said:


> I pulled my block off yesterday for some other work.  I found that there was a slight stain in the IHS on the CPU.  The waterblock did not show anything - at least, it was very clean in the contact area, but the outer edge was slightly tarnished.  I'll post pics up for your review later.



Use some lemon juice to clean the stains.


----------



## NAVI_Z (Sep 26, 2012)

I've been reading this thread quite closely and was wonderin if anyone out there had

Indigo Extreme Engineered TIM to compare to IC-D 24? The pressure test with the paper is 

quite an eye opener.I was also under the impression that the CPU  had more of a "concave"

than the HS.I say this because I've read many reviews on HS's and a some water blocks 

made by some manufactures that make their blocks with a slight "concave" for "optimal" 

contact surface area n such.


----------



## IC Diamond (Sep 26, 2012)

NAVI_Z said:


> I've been reading this thread quite closely and was wonderin if anyone out there had
> 
> Indigo Extreme Engineered TIM to compare to IC-D 24? The pressure test with the paper is
> 
> ...



LM are great thermal performers in fact we entertained the idea of a LM product before we settled on developing our own compound. I would say that LM's are roughly equivalent to a solder joint but our analysis was that they are less forgiving than IC Diamond in poor contact situations but are much better in light pressure mounts as it hits it's BLT with little resistance. In some internet reviews you will see IC Diamond performance a degree or two better than LM's this is due to "Real World" contact issues as I would expect them to be slightly better although a degree or two of test error should be factored in on any individual test. I had one test LM comparison on a German giveaway where ICD was applied for a 20C improvement, pretty much a contact issue I am sure.



So inconsistent end user results is one issue another is cost per application is quite high also in our opinion they are not real user friendly on application or clean up.

LM's despite being on the market for 6 or 7 years are approximately 0.25% of the market if our overall forum sample giveaway's of approx 850 end user test comparisons is any indicator of user preference although it could be skewed due to extra effort in removal and application or perhaps they are happy with their result and see no need to try any thing else. 

In any event for whatever reason your average Joe overclocker selects something other for the time being and we believe our initial marketing analysis was correct.








It is hard to separate  design strategies from internet urban myth. Intel spec on the IHS is Flat and // to within .002 and from the contact patterns they have a broad range of profiles from concave to convex and or some combination of the two and I see no Intel spec that spec's a concave IHS.....

Concave makes no sense to me in that if you have a concave pattern profile  w/bowed or convex sink along with a sink that is larger than the IHS the sink ends up resting on the edges of the concave (IHS) with little or no centre contact which seem to match those patterns  like the one below







All in all a flat sink would cover(contact area) more  irregular IHS profiles than one that is biased in a particular way.  The only argument for it I can think of is that with the reduced contact area where you do have contact the pressure is increased, there may be other alternative reasons that are not obvious to me such as design/manufacturing tradeoffs


----------



## KainXS (Sep 27, 2012)

k got mine today and tested on my c2q and obviously its lapping time

my old baby

Core 2 Quad Q8400@3.5Ghz(Downclocked from 4)
Asus GTX 460
Artic Cooling Geminii+1 120x38mm + 4 Case fans
Antec 300






I still love/d me some AS5






OCCT

before IC Diamond(This is the best I could ever get with AS5 on my PC)
Ambient is 28C
Idle is 38C
Fully cured





IC Diamond
Ambient is 28C
Idle is 38C
has cured for about 3 hours now





over all the cores I am getting a solid 3C to 5C drop, very cool

GTX460 - Direct CU

Kombuster

Before(With AS5)
Ambient is 28C
Idle is 39C
Fully cured





IC Diamond
Ambient is 28C
Idle is 32C
3 hours cure time





all I can say is damn, AS5 got its ass kicked

but I need to lap with that pressure test what kind of lap would u recommend IC Diamond


----------



## johnspack (Sep 27, 2012)

Hmm,  I should get in on this...  oced first gen i7 can get all the help it can!


----------



## NAVI_Z (Sep 28, 2012)

IC Diamond said:


> LM are great thermal performers in fact we entertained the idea of a LM product before we settled on developing our own compound. I would say that LM's are roughly equivalent to a solder joint but our analysis was that they are less forgiving than IC Diamond in poor contact situations but are much better in light contact mounts as it hits it's BLT with little resistance. In some internet reviews you will see IC Diamond performance a degree or two better than LM's this is due to "Real World" contact issues as I would expect them to be slightly better although a degree or two of test error should be factored in on any individual test. I had one test LM comparison on a German giveaway where ICD was applied for a 20C improvement, pretty much a contact issue I am sure.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



thanx for such an in depth response.


----------



## itsakjt (Sep 30, 2012)

So here is my list of tested products
AMD Phenom II X4 with stock cooler at 3.7 GHz 1.375V and IMC at 2.8 GHz 1.275V
Before Compound:Cooler Master Thermal Fusion 400
Ambient Temp:28-29 degree C
Idle Temp:34 degree C
Load Temp:61 degree C

ICD
Ambient Temp:30 degree C
Idle Temp:34 degree C
Load Temp:58 degree C(3 degrees difference even with ambient slightly more.)

HP 430 laptop(Pentium Dual Core 2.2 GHz Sandy Bridge)
Before Compound:Cooler Master Thermal Fusion 400
Ambient Temp:30 degree C
Idle Temp:40-42 degree C
Load Temp:79 degree C

ICD
Ambient Temp:30 degree C
Idle Temp:40-42 degree C
Load Temp:69 degree C(Whoa that is a 10 degree difference)

Sapphire Radeon HD 6770 1 GB DDR5 copper cooler 960 MHz core and 1290 MHz mem stock voltages

Before Compound:Cooler Master thermal fusion 400
Ambient Temp:30 degree C
Idle Temp:42 degree C
Load Temp:81 degree C

ICD
Ambient Temp:30 degree C
Idle Temp:42 degree C
Load Temp:76 degree C(5 degree C difference)

So this thermal compound totally rocks. Thanks for the awesome giveaway.
The key to this being awesome is the thickness. It performs awesome in cases where there is extremely high pressure like that of my laptop or GPU cooler. Also the CPU temp was reduced significantly. Thanks to you all again. I have posted some pictures and screenshots on the giveaway thread and in this one too. This is just summarized.
Stay tuned for a pressure test also and for another Phenom II X4 955 that is now maxing at 66 degree C(overheating).


----------



## Novulux (Oct 3, 2012)

Stock cooler and paste(i3-2100)
Ambient: 25.6
Idle: 37
Load: 65

ICD
Ambient: 27.7
Idle: 37
Load: 64

Gonna try reapplying later, but I just wanted to get my post in before 30 days..


----------



## SonDa5 (Oct 3, 2012)

New contact pressure test with DT SNIPER water block directly on IB i5-3570k.


----------



## Morgoth (Oct 7, 2012)

Before IC diamond 24






With IC diamond 24

cold Boot up






Fresh max Cpu test





shecked the paste spread, add a bit more
20min max cpu test


----------



## Morgoth (Oct 11, 2012)

so how are these results?


----------



## SonDa5 (Oct 11, 2012)

Morgoth said:


> so how are these results?



Not familiar with your benchmark.  Looks like load was not the same in between the tests in the before and after.


----------



## Morgoth (Oct 11, 2012)

they are not benchmarks i used keyshot 3 ray tracingsoftware


----------



## SonDa5 (Oct 11, 2012)

Morgoth said:


> they are not benchmarks i used keyshot 3 ray tracingsoftware





Use Prime95 or Intel Burn test for load testing before an after changing TIM to o IC Diamond to get idea of temperature difference under 100% load.


----------



## Morgoth (Oct 11, 2012)

i prefer to use stuff that i use daily


----------



## cdawall (Oct 15, 2012)

Added another paste to my original post.


http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2713832&postcount=87


----------



## SonDa5 (Oct 15, 2012)

Morgoth said:


> i prefer to use stuff that i use daily



That makes sense but doesn't help me see how good your TIM upgrade helped since I am not familiar with that software.


----------



## SonDa5 (Oct 20, 2012)

Spent most of the night swapping out IC Diamond 24 TIM for Liquid Pro TIM on my bare die NO IHS 3570k.  


I tried using some Thermal pad  around the die on the PCB with the Liquid Pro but I couldn't get the right spacing and my CPU would not post.

So I removed the thermal pad and still would not post.

Messed around with my mount for a few hours and I kept getting error 55 on my MB LED display.  

I finally got a snug fit and was able to boot up but my temps are still not that great.  My 3rd core is hotter than it has ever been.  So I am going to have to redo this mount after I get some rest later on this weekend.


So far from what I am seeing Liquid Pro requires a nearly perfect mount to work right while the IC Diamond was more forgiving on the mount.  



Screen shots of my temps so far.

Before with IC Diamond.

26C Ambient





With Liquid Pro
25C Ambient








My 3rd core has never been so hot so I think I may have a bubble in that area.  I'm going to let it run prime95 for a few hours to see if the temps settle down.  Probably going to have to remount.

IC Diamond is leading right now.


----------



## SonDa5 (Oct 21, 2012)

Got the CoolLaboratory Liquid Pro mounted correctly.  Beat IC Diamond 24.


Delidded IB i5-3570k  @ 4.5GHZ 1.15v with *NO IHS* with DT SNIPER Water block 
http://valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=2551498



TIM IC Diamond 24 
IBT 4.5GHZ Maximum memory tested 5 passes
Ambient Temps 26C
Best Temps seen over a 2 week period using IC Diamond








TIM Liquid Pro
IBT 4.5GHZ Maximum memory tested 10 passes
Ambient Temps 25C
Fresh Install






With IC Diamond 24 average temp of each core was *73C*  under IBT load.  With Liquid Pro average temp of each core is at * 61C!!* under IBT load.  

Taking a look at my IB 3570k progress since delidding.

Before Delidding. 

Ambient Temp 26C

TIM IC Diamond 24

Temps under LinX load 83C 93C 89C 84C  average  of  *87.25C* per core.


*Since delidding I have been able to lower my average core temps under IBT 100% load at 4.5GHZ by  26.25C per core!!!*


----------



## IC Diamond (Oct 21, 2012)

SonDa5 - Great Result!

I would not expect that a LM would have that much of a delta over ICD although I would expect a degree or two better under favourable LM application. I believe that removing the IHS besides removing a layer of resistance provides a exceptionally flat surface for improved contact as noted in your Contact test in post #150.

Screw systems are pretty poor mounting systems in general on our fixed test dies we stopped using them as it was awkward to say the least to get a good mount having to alternate tightening and loosing the screws by "feel"  and temp observation to jiggle into the best or most even mount for best performance, an eighth of a screw turn could cant the sink in one direction or other and significantly impact temps a degree or two. To get consistency we switched to a centre point spring mount for consistent pressure and contact.

In any event I think this is what happened in you post #159 result Your sink was cocked to one side and LM being the way it is could not fill the gap hence the higher temps. If you watch the Liquid pro application video note the amount applied,  the rice sized amount used is enough to cover the area but to the Intel spec of Flat and // to .002 is only approximately 1/3 or 1/4 enough to fill to the extreme end of the spec any voids and as noted in the contact images posted here most lean to much less than ideal.

Where LM's truly shine are in situations of high contact but low pressure. All thermal compounds have have there own pressure/resistance curve similar to the one below and will vary with particle size and the amount of liquid mixed in so that say a highly liquid stock compound may reach it bond line thickness (BLT) or average particle size at 40 PSI or a more viscous compound as ICD it might be 60 PSI.  On on a comparison at 40PSI two compounds would appear the same but at but at a 50% increase in pressure to 60 PSI since the stock is already at it's BLT you see little change whereas the alternate compound will drop several degrees as it closer to it's optimum BLT.

Now Look at the chart below, your LM having no particles in the mix probably hits it's best BLT at a couple of PSI perhaps 5 psi? just by being purely a liquid vs a particle porous media. Now draw a straight horizontal line all the way to 70 PSI it gets no better across the range where particle loaded compounds will continue to improve till they resolve down to their average particle size or ultimate BLT.

I would suggest that to improve ICD performance would be to tighten down the sink but I think this puts the die at some risk with any miscalculation on load  balance and while I believe the final result would be close if pressure was increased within a couple of degrees in the final analysis you would be still ahead with the LM as in this situation Low pressure/High contact plays to LM's strengths. 

Good test and a nice job on the whole project, 26.25C reduction is nothing to snarf at.


----------



## SonDa5 (Oct 22, 2012)

I think IC Diamond works best with good high pressure mount because it takes IC Diamond more pressure to get squeezed down to optimum thickness.  It is tough to get a good mount with 4 tightening positions.  A single center tightening position would be best.  

I think bare die mount is even more tricky than mount with IHS. 


Adding a thin layer of Liquid Pro on my block and Die contact areas worked best for me.  Most of my mount problems with Liquid Pro were with Liquid Pro only on the die, adding 2 thin layers to die and block surface directly against die worked out great.

Thanks for all the feed back.


----------



## IC Diamond (Oct 31, 2012)

some Apple Mac book Air results for those that have an interest - Notebooks are almost universally poor contact


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## [NEX] (Nov 17, 2012)

I received my sample a month ago but i was a bit busy with work, today i finally got around to do some testing, I have an i7 2600k@4.6Ghz with a H80. I ran a 10 pass of Intel Burn Test on high. these were the maximum temps observed. Ill test again in the morning to give the paste a bit more of cure time. As the temps went down since i first applied it.

Noctua NH-T1
72-80-80-77

IC diamond 24
73-80-81-80

on a side note i recently used it on a laptop since ran out of NH-T1 the consistency was perfect for it, since i cleaned the fan and the heat sink had the stock tim i don't think i can give some measurements, but i saw at least a 10 degree drop on the T9300.


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## SonDa5 (Nov 17, 2012)

IC Diamond works well but its toughest problem it has is in application.  Get the right thickness and contact pressure and it can hold its own with the best of TIMs.


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## IC Diamond (Dec 28, 2012)

SonDa5 said:


> IC Diamond works well but its toughest problem it has is in application.  Get the right thickness and contact pressure and it can hold its own with the best of TIMs.



If you are referencing the thickness/viscosity of IC Diamond that was done by intent as OEM's recommend bulk loadings over 90% (which causes the thick nature with so little liquid, 4%) for high reliability.

We always recommend a compression spread and nothing could be easier - apply the proper sized bead/amount then mount your sink and let the pressure spread the compound.

http://innovationcooling.com/applicationinstructions.htm

Nature of the beast liquid in a porous media - High heat, pressure and overtime the liquid is either pumped out or baked out and compound that is left shrinks and the more liquid the more voids that are left in the joint. IC Diamond bypasses this phase of failure as there is so little liquid it's shrinking or void formation is minimal to virtually nonexistant.

Following example of bake out with void formation is from my daughters Playstation with just a few hundred hours use.






Those nice smooth creamy retail compounds that apply real nice have early failure built in.



> Some  accelerated reliability tests with some 3X10 glass slides and the attached picture of test result was run for 20 hours at 150C, the center picture ICD is IC Diamond and highlights the stability of IC Diamond The others are commonly used retail performance pastes, all of which are commonly recommended on the forums. The competition compounds feature the formation of voids,  and span the range of initial failure to complete failure. IC diamond  was observed to have no visible points of failure under these conditions. The picture is back lighted so the void formation is clearly visible



As far as I know we are the only one that publishes reliability data as at the commercial level it is pretty much of a requirement and most certainly the only one that provides it at the retail along with a substantiated argument for it.

Reliability is synonymous with quality which is often missing from most TC discussion's, for the over clocker that changes their sink more often than they do their underwear perhaps not so much a big deal. For the Notebook and Game Station people a re-paste every six months it is a PITA as noted here and other forums it is constant temp battle for some with overheats and yellow lights.


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## Finners (Dec 28, 2012)

SonDa5 said:


> New contact pressure test with DT SNIPER water block directly on IB i5-3570k.
> 
> 
> http://minidriven.com/BlacknBlueforIB/DeLiD/Deliddirectcontacti53570kDTSniper5.jpg



what have you use to do this test? i would like to try it out on my rig


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