[KLUG Hardware] Re: Heat Sink compound

[randall perry]

At 05:35 PM 1/16/2003 -0500, you wrote:


>[ HARDWARE anyone??? ;-p ]
>
>Quoting Taz <htgage3@chartermi.net>:
>> Am putting a unit together and have the following question: How much
>> of the heat sink compound do I use on the chip?
>> I got some from rat shack, and am wondering if I should use the whole
>> tube (0.23 oz.) or just half of it?
>
>Liberally drench the chip with it.  You want 0 air between the chip and your
>heatsink, so make sure the compound is consistently thick but solid (no holes)
>all over the the chip.  You want it to "goop-out" from pressure when you place
>the heatsink on the chip.
>
>You also want to make the following considerations based on the CPU package:
>
>- Older ceramic package (PPGA), as well as newer flip-chip (FC-PGA) w/"heat
>spreader" atop (Socket-423/478/603 Pentium 4s and very late model Socket-370
>Pentium 3s, including many Celeron/Xeon models) -- make sure you cover _any_ and
>_all_ surface area that contacts between the chip and heatsink.  Right out to
>the outter edges.
You gotta watch it with the large PPro or older Xeon (huge processors).  With such a large area you have to use a thermal pad or mesh-reinforced paste.

>- Newer, "bare" flip-chip (FC-PGA) like most Socket-370 Pentium 3s as well as
>all Socket-462 Athlons (Classic, Durons, MP, XP, etc... models) -- make sure you
>liberally _drench_ the _sides_ of the chip, don't just put it atop.  Make it
>thick and not only extended several millimeters to the side of the chip, but it
>also rises to the height of the heatsink.
Yeah, the core is too tiny to pump that much heat away from the processor


>Also note that different compounds have different thermal conductivity.  Many
>people like Artic Silver and equivalents, which are sometimes twice as good as
>the Rat Shack stuff.
Yeah, the Artic is good shtuff.
They don't use silicon in their compound and they actually screen more than one size of ceramic dust through so that you get better arranged particles (and better heat transfer).  It also cleans up pretty easy.  Not like that crap dot of compound you get with your heatsink (or thermaltape)

Randall Perry
www.domain-logic.com