CPUs using Thermal Compound

Bob Gezelter

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Nov 9, 2021, 7:20:26 PM11/9/21

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It is worth remembering that the thermal compound used to ensure heat transfer from CPUs to heat sinks has a finite life, measured in significantly less than a decade.

Thermal grease failure can masquerade as many different problems, with the common root cause being processor overheating. One could easily think that the problem is elsewhere, perhaps a failed CPU, clogged fan, or failed fan; all of which are far more costly than the US$10 for a small syringe of thermal grease.

An Intel article on replacing thermal grease can be found at: https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/gaming/resources/how-to-apply-thermal-paste.html

- Bob Gezelter, http://www.rlgsc.com

Robert A. Brooks

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Nov 9, 2021, 7:34:00 PM11/9/21

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On 11/9/2021 7:20 PM, Bob Gezelter wrote:

> An Intel article on replacing thermal grease can be found at:
> https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/gaming/resources/how-to-apply-thermal-paste.html

The last several boxed Intel CPU's I've bought for builds have come with the
thermal interface material already applied.

--
-- Rob

Bob Gezelter

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Nov 9, 2021, 9:50:49 PM11/9/21

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Rob,

Quite. However, the material that comes with the original package has a finite life, a few years. The problem happens when the material ages.

John Reagan

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Nov 10, 2021, 9:18:34 AM11/10/21

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I used Arctic Silver. I removed the one that came with the CPU/fan combo from Intel. That's been 5+ years ago.

Just started HW Monitor and I'm at a chilly 23C/73F temperature. I'm not a gamer but I do run Virtual Box. I should go start one of those to see. Spiked to 27C/80F but back to 25C/77F.

Besides the thermal paste, keep out the cat hair. :)

Stephen Hoffman

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Nov 10, 2021, 12:46:29 PM11/10/21

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On 2021-11-10 14:18:33 +0000, John Reagan said:

> On Tuesday, November 9, 2021 at 9:50:49 PM UTC-5, geze...@rlgsc.com wrote:
>> On Tuesday, November 9, 2021 at 7:34:00 PM UTC-5, Robert A. Brooks wrote:
>>> On 11/9/2021 7:20 PM, Bob Gezelter wrote:
>>>
>>>> An Intel article on replacing thermal grease can be found at:
>>>> https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/gaming/resources/how-to-apply-thermal-paste.html
>>>>
>>> The last several boxed Intel CPU's I've bought for builds have come
>>> with the thermal interface material already applied.
>>

>> Quite. However, the material that comes with the original package has a
>> finite life, a few years. The problem happens when the material ages.
>>

> I used Arctic Silver. I removed the one that came with the CPU/fan
> combo from Intel. That's been 5+ years ago.
>
> Just started HW Monitor and I'm at a chilly 23C/73F temperature. I'm
> not a gamer but I do run Virtual Box. I should go start one of those
> to see. Spiked to 27C/80F but back to 25C/77F.
>
> Besides the thermal paste, keep out the cat hair. :)

I've met more than a few crusty thermal connections on AlphaServer DS10
and DS10L servers.

Some that were particularly prone to overheating were found with mere
scraps of badly-degraded thermal tape under the heatsink.

if you have a DS10 or earlier Alpha, or one prone to running warm, I'd
suggest swapping the coin cell while you're in the box, and re-pasting
the Alpha processor.

--
Pure Personal Opinion | HoffmanLabs LLC

John Reagan

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Nov 10, 2021, 3:06:12 PM11/10/21

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Also, on my last build, I bought a case with a side-window (it was on sale compared to the normal case).
I did it to have a view of the dust situation on the inside. I can look at the CPU fan without taking the machine
apart or even powering it off. My PCI bus is actually empty as I don't have a fancy graphics card.

Rich Jordan

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Nov 10, 2021, 7:23:48 PM11/10/21

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Did the CPU thermals and the Dallas clock chip also on the DS10-L and the DS10. We did lose the DS10 a couple of years ago (mainboard, something failed) but the DS10-L mainboard is now living happily in the DS10 case with those delightful extra slots.

Stephen Hoffman

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Nov 10, 2021, 8:30:17 PM11/10/21

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On 2021-11-11 00:23:46 +0000, Rich Jordan said:

> Did the CPU thermals and the Dallas clock chip also on the DS10-L and
> the DS10. We did lose the DS10 a couple of years ago (mainboard,
> something failed) but the DS10-L mainboard is now living happily in the
> DS10 case with those delightful extra slots.

https://www.tindie.com/products/glitchwrks/gw-12887-1-ds12887-rtc-replacement-module/

John H. Reinhardt

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Nov 10, 2021, 11:23:24 PM11/10/21

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On 11/10/2021 7:30 PM, Stephen Hoffman wrote:
> On 2021-11-11 00:23:46 +0000, Rich Jordan said:
>
>> Did the CPU thermals and the Dallas clock chip also on the DS10-L and the DS10. We did lose the DS10 a couple of years ago (mainboard, something failed) but the DS10-L mainboard is now living happily in the DS10 case with those delightful extra slots.

I upgraded a 466Mhz DS10 with by swapping in a 617MHz mainboard from a DS10L. Works nicely. I didn't do the thermal paste (didn't occur to me) but I did upgrade the fans with slightly higher CFM modern units.

>
> https://www.tindie.com/products/glitchwrks/gw-12887-1-ds12887-rtc-replacement-module/
>
>

Nice units. I have one in each of my two DS10's

--
John H. Reinhardt