Arctic Silver 5 High-Density Polysynthetic Silver Thermal Compound

Arctic Silver 5 (AS5) is one of the most recommended TIM (thermal interface materials) by enthusiasts. Its made using actual silver, which is pretty cool, and it does look pretty cool when it comes out of the tube.

Applying the TIM

The ideal way to put TIM on the CPU is to put on a small amount, say the size of a small grain of rice, and rub it in. The excess is cleaned off and then an even smaller amount put on and ...
.../> Cheaper than Shin Etsu

Cons

Hard to spread
Expensive (£5 compared to £1.50 for generic TIM)

Overall

If your looking for a drop in temperatures without spending too much money Arctic Silver 5 is perfect!   ... more

Arctic Silver 5 (AS5) is one of the most recommended TIM (thermal interface materials) by enthusiasts. Its made using actual silver, which is pretty cool, and it does look pretty cool when it comes out of the tube.

Applying the TIM

The ideal way to put TIM on the CPU is to put on a small amount, say the size of a small grain of rice, and rub it in. The excess is cleaned off and then an even smaller amount put on and left - when the Heatsink is put on, it is meant to be 'wiggled', meaning the TIM gets spread evenly. However, AS5 is very thick which means it is hard to spread, and most of the TIM ends up in a very thick layer in the middle while there is little on the edges, which is not good, as the IHS on the CPU (the metal thing) means that the heat is meant to be transferred evenly, not just in the centre!

Results

When the TIM is applied properly though, it is well worth buying some AS5. I moved from a generic compound (the kinda white stuff you buy at Maplins) to AS5, and found that using exactly the same cooling setup my temperatures dropped by 3C at idle and 6C at load! I have read about something called Shin Etsu, which supposedly can drop load temperatures by 8C, but at double the price I didn't think that 2C was worth it.

Notes

Please note that whatever is said, it is NOT true that AS5 is extremely electrically conductive. If you get some on the pins of your CPU, just use some TIM Remover or some pure alchol and a paint brush and the CPU should be fine!

Also, temperatures generally decrease the longer the TIM has been applied for, so if there is not much change try running a program or programs such as Prime95, which will keep your CPU at 100% - this helps the TIM compound to 'settle'

Pros

Gives great temperatures
Cheaper than Shin Etsu

Cons

Hard to spread
Expensive (£5 compared to £1.50 for generic TIM)

Overall

If your looking for a drop in temperatures without spending too much money Arctic Silver 5 is perfect!  

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