Which thermal compound for a G4: Arctic Cooling MX-2, MX-3, or MX-4?

Thermal compound was mentioned at the below link:
[http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2613130&tstart=0]
Linked from that page was another web page, where the MX-2 thermal compound made by Arctic Cooling was mentioned. The below web page on the Arctic Cooling website mentions MX-2, as well as newer thermal compounds, MX-3 and MX-4:
[http://www.arctic-cooling.com/catalog/main.php?cPath=39]
Does anyone know which would be most appropriate for a G4 "Sawtooth"? According to the product descriptions, MX-3 is an upgraded version of MX-2.

Hi-
I'm using MX-3 now in all my G4s.
Previously, I used MX-2.
MX-3 is easier to apply, and definitely is more than good enough for any application you may have.
MX-3 outperforms AC Ceramique and requires no curing.
Ceramique receives a "Good" grade, whereas MX-2 (and MX-3 performs better) receives an "Excellent" grade:
http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=150&Itemid =62&limit=1&limitstart=11
http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=150&Itemid =62&limit=1&limitstart=12

Similar Messages

Thermal compound for G4 needed ?

I have a Quicksilver G4 (DP 1GHz) which ran trouble free(except CD/DVD Drive) for many years. One fine day I got kernel trap and not co-operating since.
When I press the power on button it lights up momentarily but no chime.
It did work for few hours after few days
I really like to revive it and I have done the following
1. Reset the PMU switch on logic board.
2. Replaced 3.7 Volt battery
3. Reseated all the PCI cards (Video, SCSI card, Ultra SCSI etc)
4. Checked the voltages on Power supply.
5. Cleaned all the dust (lot of it) on the fans and inside the tower.
Now I am planning to re-seat the processor card. For this I need to remove heat sink. I read in a website (http://www.jcsenterprises.com/Japamacs_Page/Blog/9AE7FE0E-0CF2-4A7C-8003-489B282 582BC.html) that *thermal compound* is a must.
But then in this forum and Apple Service manual I don't see any thermal compound mentioned for Heatsink for Powermac G4.
Now my concern is whether this is recommended step. I don't want to create new problems on top the existing ones.
I call on the experts...:)

Hi Japamac,
Thanks a lot for your help
I did put thermal compound and thought I had my G4 power mac back.
But now I have a dead machine which powered up once or twice.
I am guessing there is seating issue of CPU daughter board.
I did press firmly on the place where CPU pin attach to logic board
So my question instead of trying
1. Removing heatsink
2. Reseat CPU
3. Clean heat sink and apply compound
4. Put the heatsink
5. Pray and turn on the Powermac hoping I get it right this time
Can I just reseat CPU and then place the heatsink on Top and then turn on Power mac with out applying compound just for few minutes?
If it works then I apply comound and then put on heatsink. Then that is it .
Will the CPU go bad if I dont have compund on heatsink for few minutes..?
Appreciate your help

Thermal paste for i7 3930k to Nuctua CPU cooler?

I'm considering using Arctic silver 5 as the thermal interface between my 3930k and Nuctua NH-DI4 SE 2011 cooler. Is Arctic silver 5 a good choice? (The 3930k will be overclocked).
I was to use Liquid Ultra , but Coolaboratory somehow botched my order, so it might not arrive for some weeks now.
A store nearby store has Arctic silver 5 in stock, and I could pick some up today, if it's a suitable thermal paste for my build.

That is what I bought when I built my computer... older, so mine is not a 3930, but the paste still works well
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835100007
With over 5 thousand people giving it 5 of 5 "eggs" I would say it is very good

Arctic Cooler Silencer 1 for Radeon 9800

Anyone know where I can find a Arctic Cooler Silencer 1 for Radeon 9800? Or do you know if the Acceleron s2 will fit in a G4 Sawtooth with this v card?
Thanks

Hi-
Just don't let the fan get dirty. The 9800 is a hot card, and too much heat is bad. Since you also have a processor upgrade, you are adding lots of heat. The heat also affects the PSU, because it is all removed through the PSU, and hot air doesn't cool well. Hot PSU's, don't produce good power.
Another cooling option (and a good one) is a PCI slot fan that exhausts to the outside of the tower.
This Thermaltake has really good airflow, and will help cool your entire system.

Thermal compound replacement, RESULTS and PICTURES

YOU CAN HAVE A MACBOOK PRO THAT ISN'T SCORCHING HOT!!
(note that this will NOT fix any whine or moo; they are unrelated problems)
Here's how.
My Mother's Macbook Pro (Or Cookbook, if you will) Arrived a week ago today. I played around with it to make sure everything is alright because my mother doesn't know how to check for things like dead pixels, bad ram, or cough improperly applied thermal compound.
One of the first things I noticed after turning on the new MBP is how totally sweet it is! The second thing I noticed is how freaking hot it is: I recoiled in pain from the Fn key bar the first time I touched it. Disappointed, I started searching the web and sure enough, pretty much everyone who owns one is complaining that it's too hot for comfortable use.
Apple calling this a "notebook" instead of a "laptop" is a total semantic cop-out. It's a PORTABLE COMPUTER and I must be able to trust it around my dogs, children, valuables without the MagSafe burning up or the battery swelling and bursting.
I don't have objective figures for just how hot it was, but it was right about at my pain threshold above and below the belt, and sometimes over it. I couldn't hold my hand to it for more than a few seconds. In particular the area to the left of the touchpad was of concern. I do have before-and-after figures of the CPU and HDD; I invite yourselves to look at them:
Before After (Temps in degrees C, ambient 25 C)
50-60 26-35 CPU (idle)
76-85 56-65 CPU (load)
41 33 HDD
In particular the HDD figures are a great relief. HDDs are notoriously sensitive to temperature and even a few degrees C can cut their lifetimes significantly. Furthermore the area is now cool to the touch and I can once again rest my left palm on it without discomfort. The ranges are due to the fact that the sensor inside the core duo is flaky. In 5 seconds it can run anywhere from +-5 to +-10. Nevertheless it is accurate enough for our purposes. Below are photos, procedure, and a rough outline of test methodologies:
http://www.pbase.com/silentplummet/image/62641589
Here's the idle scenario before the procedure. The computer has been on for hours (days really) and I'm doing the work I normally do on it. TextEdit is open (to a little project I'm working on) with firefox and the temperature monitor. Alt-tab is to show that those are the only programs running. CPU temp is dead at 50 C. This is INSANE for an idle figure on ANY computer; desktop, laptop, "notebook" or otherwise.
http://www.pbase.com/silentplummet/image/62641590
The operation area and stress test. To stress the ATI chip I've jacked up the resolution, run a couple of quartz programs, SNES9x (a hardware emulator; the software shown is called "Energy Breaker") with a brutal multitasking OpenGL hardware renderer, and Google Earth. To get the CPU going I have Adobe's Lightroom processing thumbnails, and again SNES9x. For various I/O I have two shells executing yes > /dev/null, a USB mouse plugged in, and all the HDD access from lightroom. I figure it paints a pretty good picture of the "worst case scenario" of hardware stress for a laptop like this.
http://www.pbase.com/silentplummet/image/62641591
The CPU core(s) is at 76 C. I should note that at this point, as hot as the CPU is, overall the case is really not much hotter than it was before. In other words, it's just as unacceptable.
At this point I turned her off and dug in. I used a howto from Ifixit to serve as my guide. The procedure went without surprises until I got all the way to the logic board.
http://www.pbase.com/silentplummet/image/62641592
Dear lord!! That is an obscene amount of compound. It's casting a shadow over the rest of the board!! This gray gak is piled on so thick, it's no wonder the cooling system couldn't work effectively. It had even gotten all over components nowhere near the dies. That definitely cannot be good for their lifespan. Here's a shot of the heatpipe:
http://www.pbase.com/silentplummet/image/62641593
Terrible. Thermal compound has been squished out all over the place, including the chassis itself. This explains why it was getting so hot. A photo from the MBP service manual has been floating around the net, illustrating that this gross amount of compound is actually according to procedure.
http://www.pbase.com/silentplummet/image/62641594
Clean as a whistle. After removing the bulk of the compound with q-tips I used ArctiClean 2-step process to emulsify the rest and remove it with paper towels. You can see it's not perfect but it's close enough for me. I'm not overclocking this thing; I just want to run it "in spec" and have it not burn me. At this point, the CPU dies and the heat pipe interfaces should have mirror finishes. It's an overclocker's dream, and Apple already did the work for me.
http://www.pbase.com/silentplummet/image/62641595
This is how I applied Arctic Silver 5 to replace the compound I removed. Squeeze the tiniest little bit out of the syringe directly on to the die, and scrape it across with a flat edge (they recommend a razor blade but I just used a plastic ID card). Take the amount of compound you see on the Core Duo (on the right) and make a flat, even layer like the one you see on the ATI (left).
http://www.pbase.com/silentplummet/image/62641596
Turned it on and went straight for the hard stress test, after making sure everything was OK of course =) Wow! It reads 58 C in the screenshot, and doesn't go above 65C!! Moreover, there isn't even a bit of warmth above the Fn keys, and the HDD area is cool to the touch. I'd call this one a complete success. I'm idling right now and the temperature reads between 26 and 31C. Even the bottom is just slightly warm to the touch. Now I have a real laptop again!
So why did this happen?
There's a lot of confusion about the way the Macbook Pro cools itself. I admit it's confusing. Basically, Apple is shipping Macbook Pros with one cooling system, and replacing the thermal compound changes it into a very different system. Let me try to explain what I learned from digging around the hardware.
1. The built-in thermometer in the CPU is flaky. That's why you have to access it with a kernel extension and all kinds of hacks, and why Apple circumvented it completely in the cooling system. That's right: the MBP cooling system ignores the Core Duo temperature entirely.
2. The cooling system consists of a convective (my guess, I don't think anyone really knows what kind of) heatpipe which is in the base, directing heat out to two heatsinks which are then to be cooled by two fans if need be.
3. There are two temperature sensors. One is on the heatpipe itself, and the other one is on the chassis just next to the right fan. Probably the hardware monitors these temperatures and the differential between them to decide when to activate the fans and how long.
4. Behavior before the replacement procedure: The CPU core would get hot, hotter than I've ever seen a CPU go, at 80-85C. Most people confirm their MBPs also exhibit this. Where was this heat going? Well the fans didn't turn on until I put it at full load. Even when the fans did turn on, there wasn't much warm exhaust coming out of the vents at the back. The chassis heated up until it was unbearable, and most of the excess heat was being radiated away from it.
To sum up, the ineffective thermal interface between the CPU dies and the heat pipe was inhibiting heat from tripping the fan sensors. This explains why the fans didn't turn on until drastic temperatures were attained, and why the chassis got so hot. Essentially, the chassis was serving as a big heatsink for the CPU, which is the only reason it didn't overheat and shut down.
Effective, Apple, but not quite appropriate.
5. Behavior after the replacement procedure: The first thing you notice is that the fans scream from the second you turn the thing on. They aren't going full blast but pretty close to it. An effective thermal interface using an APPROPRIATE AMOUNT of AS5 (anything would do but I figured if I'm applying thermal compound, why not go for the authority) allows the heat to go straight from the cores into the heatpipe, tripping the sensor early and fast. The fans come on, I can feel hot air coming out the back, and the chassis now removed from the thermal equation is cool and comfortable again.
Of course, the thermal equation is different from before, and from the way Apple has tuned the fans to work from the factory configuration. This is more cooling than we probably need, and I foresee an update to Tiger allowing us to choose the thermal/noise tradeoff for ourselves.
Well, I hope that explains it, and I hope that those of you still suffering the abuses of your "in spec" MBP can take some hope from my findings, or are emboldened to go ahead and repeat the procedure yourself. I will post informative links here.
http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/85.1.0.html
http://www.arcticsilver.com/
http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1864582 (This is where I learned of the thermal paste issue)
Remember if you ever open up your MBP to NOT BREAK ANYTHING and please, always read the instructions before you reach in. =)

methanol, my conclusion is that Apple's specifications for thermal grease application are technically sound. As a corollary, I put the postings claiming that isn't so in the Urban Myth category.
There's a lot of technical literature on design and manufacturing specifications for thermal grease use, the kind of literature that appears in professional technical publications and is written by engineers. That literature supports Apple's thermal grease specifications. Putting it another way, Apple's engineers have a lot more technical training and experience than the average hobbyist who is working from the directions that came with Arctic Silver.
Yes, my computer has the "messy" looking application of thermal grease. No, it isn't inappropriate and doesn't need to be modified, and Apple did not make a quality assurance/quality control mistake.
Posts about the thermal grease modification began appearing several months ago, followed by Hardware Monitor charts showing considerable differences in "before fix" and "after fix" temperatures. I found, however, that I could easily replicate those before and after charts, and my computer compared favorably with the "after fix" temperature charts. Why? There was no quality control on the generation of the charts. And of course some owners damaged their computers in the process of taking them apart and putting them back together. Not a good idea, in my opinion.
Painstaking manual application of thermal grease might result in an insignificant drop in CPU temperature, perhaps 2 or 3C. Trying that in a mass production situation would result in more CPU failures.
True, some people got very significant reductions of case temperatures. That will happen if the sensors are not working (broken connection) and the fans run full out.

Which is better for gaming and why?

Hi,
I was researching budget gaming laptops(around $1000, INR 55000) and came up with two choices.....
1)HP Pavilion g6z-1d00 Notebook PC
http://shopping2.hp.com/en_US/home-office/-/products/Laptops/HP-Pavilion/A2B39AV?HP-Pavilion-g6z-1d0...
2)HP Envy 14-2130nr Notebook PC
http://shopping2.hp.com/en_US/home-office/-/products/Laptops/HP-ENVY/QE295UA?HP-ENVY-14-2130nr-Noteb...
Could anybody please tell me which is better for gaming (main purpose and best performance)?
The HP Envy looks great but I don't know much about AMD Quad Core.....
Also, is it possible to upgrade the graphics card on the HP Envy ( AMD Radeon 6630 to a better one) via a HP centre?
It seems to run most games quite well, but I need it to be able to play new games for at least 4 years more (college), while not factoring in the costs for any possible graphics card upgrade....
Please help!!

Thanks Huffer _ very useful.
I wasn't aware that there was a heat problem with the i7 processors, my dv8 runs at around 42 to 52 degrees, mind you I don't really put it under much load. I use it to play Blu-ray ISO files on my projector and for photo editing (Adobe CS4), it's an 820QM.
I have also changed the thermal compound to ICDiamond and drilled holes in the speaker cover to improve air flow, that made a difference too.
@ abhishekmaha
Don't take my comment to seriously, although I think it has some truth to it, it was meant to poke a bit of fun at you.
Heat has always been one of the biggest factors when it comes to any computer, designers try to make them thinner, lighter and cheaper and those types don't work for gaming very well. They're OK for the occasional one, but not on a regular basis. I believe that if you game on any machine that was not meant for it, you will not get 4 years out of it _ 2 years.
I wish I could tell you different, but I am not going to lie to you.
Heat basically affects 3 things on a laptop, the solder that holds the components on the motherboard, any mechanical moving parts, eg the hard drive, fan _ and the battery. You can remove the battery to prolong its life when gaming.
Heat breaks down the solder over time and the mother board simply stops working as far as the hard drive, it stops spinning because the tiny bearing(s) in there dry out and seize up.
If you don't want to use a cooling mat then prop up the back of the laptop, hanging it over the edge of the table will expose the fan intake, but will block off other vents.
60 degrees is a bit warm too, 50 is better or rather, the cooler the better. What ever machine you get, make a note of what the temps are when you first boot up and when it's hot. The idea is to get an average so you can judge when it is dangerously getting hot.
P.S. Be sure and give Huffer a kudos too.

Thermal Compound is there a diffrence?

well? is there? i dont use it cuz i dont see a diffrence in heat. just whats on the HSF is what i use.
is there a diffrence in a $0.99 tube and a $25.00 Tube with Silver in it?

I've never been comfortable myself with their stock stickons...yes I've seen tests on the internet before about thermal compounds and saw distinctive results with the higher end pastes...I'd say 5 to 10C differences at times and for an overclocker that can mean a few more MHz out of their rig...
All in all I've used many different types in my day and I've always preferred Arctic Silver products over any...good consistency, LASTING consistency and both are important to me...when I take my processor off it's nice to see that paste isn't dried out and cracking...I know that I'm getting the best cooling possible cause the contact is a good one...
*shrugs* I dunno if you'll agree but that's my 2 cents heheheheh
Bonz
Afterthought: I usually buy my Arctic Silver for 9 to 14 dollars a tube...where you paying 25 bucks? You're getting robbed my friend!!

Stock fan problems, Arctic Cooling Silencer Ultra 64 and MSI Neo4 Platinum

Hi,
A few days ago, the stock-fan of my Amd-64 CPU(+3000) started to running at 4500-5000 rpm at default speed, when before it had always done at 3000-3300. (official maximum stock amd-fan speed I think). To avoid so high and noisy default speeds, I have activated “Smart CPU Fan Target” in Bios to keep CPU under 50 º C and obviously now speeds are much lower. It helps to diminish the noise and to minimize the fatigue of fan, but obviously CPU run hotter. Even though I think it is in a safe range of temps (40 – 50 ºC). Nevertheless I’m worried about the odd behaviour of stock fan and what could happen in the future...
I wonder what could be wrong, cpu-fan, motherboard regulation cpu-fan system.
NB fan seems to work as always, running at 5000 rpm as ever (speed regulated by fan-mate 2). Not change is noted about.
I should aprecciate any suggestion about what is wrong ?
On the other hand, I have thought to substitute the stock-heatsink+fan by Arctic Cooling Silencer Ultra 64. But I have some doubts about it.
Does it fit in a Neo4 MB ?
I wonder if is possible to control the speed of Arctic Cooling Silencer Ultra 64 (not TC model) by Bios or under Windows via Core-Center as stock-cpu-fan is?
If anyone was so kind to help me.
Thank you very much,
M. Lin.

Quote from: TheBigMan on 03-July-05, 03:45:08
One idea is, try to disconnect your current HSF and see what happens.
I think nothing will happen because there is no alarm for it in this board...
Be well....
Thanks for the idea, but I think that it would be more prudent to wait for views about, of some owner of cpu-cooler-fan (thermal regulated or not), witch being set to start to turning at very low revolutions (ie:0--500) when computer power on.
Quote from: ellveez on 03-July-05, 09:05:19
I have the "no TC" version of the cooler. Maybe you missunderstood me. The mobo can controll the speed of the hsf. I can watch (with Everest 2.01) that it controls the speed between 2300 an 2000 rpm. The only thing i can't watch and therfore cannot confirm is how low the speed goes under 2000 rpm. Everest shows nothing when the speed goes under 2000 rpm and the core center tool from msi shows only "low", but no digits. Im sure, the fan turns with less than 2000 rpm but i don't no whether with 1500 or with 1900 or such. I can only confirm that the cooler is very silent when it turns with less than 2000 rpm. Then i dont hear the cpu-fan but only the other fans of my system (gpu, northbridge; five 80mm Papst Case fans). The Pabst fans stock rpm ist 2000 but i regulate them down to about 1300-1500.
For the northbridge i remove the stock cooler that turned with 8000 rpm. Now i use a Titan Copper VGA Cooler, TTC-CUVAB/RHS. The stock rpm of this cooler is 4500 rpm. I use the small Zalman Fan Control for this one to regulate it down to 3200 rpm. Measured with a temp probe the temp of the northbridge is now at 45 to 50 degrees C. I think thats a good compromise between heat and noise.
Yes, excuse me, at first I had misunderstood you. I interpreted that your cpu-fan was unable to turn under 2000 revolutions. I means only could be regulated between 2000 and 2300 rpm. But now, I'm quite sure what you means. Your tell me that the speed of the your cpu-fan is adjustable in all its range, from 0 to 2300, only that when it turns at least of 2000, the rpm reader programs are unable to report the speed. ok?
Quote from: ChakkaSol on 03-July-05, 10:19:11
M Lin, why r u so set on this silencer product....here is a madshrimps review on a64 heatsinks. I would go with the xp90 for the same price or less. The link is here:
http://www.madshrimps.be/?action=getarticle&articID=224
Thank you for your advice, I already knew it was a poor performer compared to what you refer me, but, firstly, I have a chronic immune illness due which I suffer some disabilities that makes difficult to do manual labours myself . Second I use my computer for office-surfing-programming purposes. So my power needs are low, -I own a +3000 amd-64-, compared to most of you, I think (I’m not doing over clocking too).
To sum up, I’m going to pick this cooler (fan+heatsink) because is as easy of installing as stock one, enough to cool my cpu... (slightly better than stock one), and very cheap in my country. There is no more reasons to choose it.
A lot of thanks to all.

Thermal Paste for Power Mac G5

Hi!
I am looking for the right type of Thermal Paste to use in my Power Mac G5 (Late 2005) model 11.2. Have looked around the web but have only found related past to G3 and Power Book G4. Does anyone have a link to were I can by the right thermal paste?

Use Arctic Cooling MX-4.
Very long lived, high thermal conductivity, non-capacitive and non-conductive (electrically).
http://www.arctic.ac/en/p/cooling/thermal-compound/30/arctic-mx-4-4g-und-20g.htm l

Thermal paste for HP Pavilion G-6

Do I need a specific type of replacement thermal paste for Hp Pavilion G-6? Came with gray/silver. (Replacing cooling fan only.)

Any time you break the connection between the heatsink and the CPU core you need to clean off all the residue and reinstall thermal compound. Rubbing alcohol and even an emery cloth is OK...needs to be clean and shiny. Any type thermal compound will work. I like Arctic Silver. The important thing is to install it properly. A thin coat is all you need. Thin and even across the whole top surface of the processor core.

Has anyone ever needed to replace thermal compound in a G5 PPC CPU?

I have a 1st generation iMac G5 (PPC) which becomes unresponsive after it gets warm, ie., spinning beach ball. I know the video processor uses thermal compound to couple to its heat sink but do not know if the CPU uses it? Does anyone have experience with that?

Yes, a thin, very thin, coating of Arctic Silver should do the trick.

OEM thermal compound not adequately applied?

The last two laptops I have had, have had overheating issues that were solved by removing the original thermal compound, and applying arctic silver 5. This current laptop (see sig), has had slight fan issues every since I bought it three years ago. There was one program that utlized flash (Encyclopedia Britannica) that would start my fan running loudly every time I started the program. After applying new thermal compound, I started that program and the fans stayed silent. And this laptop has been very silent (meaning, no fans) continually since this new application of compound.
I'm wondering now, if it would be worth the time and effort to tear down even a new laptop, as soon as any type of overheating issue presented itself, and take care of the paste. I'm suspecting that this laptop came out of the factory with a pretty crummy application, because after this new application, it has never been so quiet, not even in the first few weeks I owned it. It could also be that I shot compressed air and cleaned out a lot of dust, but I sincerely doubt there was much dust in this laptop when I first got it, and the fan was running a lot from the very first week I got it--that tells me that the issue was the thermal compound, not the dust.
Thoughts? Should people assume that the OEM thermal compound job was crummy?
Toshiba Satellite L755D-S5218
AMD A6-3400M Quad-Core CPU
8 gigs RAM
Windows 7
Solved!
Go to Solution.

Not exactly. It isn't just the paste type and application, but also how and where the system is used. My work laptop usually doesn't make it a year before it needs to be reapplied. It is used heavily, almost always running multiple programs at once, and is taken in and out of differing environments on a daily basis. The computer was built for this abuse, but some preventive maintenance is needed to keep it running smoothly.
I have had friends/neighbors, etc, bring me relatively new computers in the past(all different brands), with overheating issues, and sometimes it looks like the paste application is light, and other times it looks like it is just dried out. Could be a bad batch of paste, or just heavy usage taking a toll on it.
I look at thermal paste sort of like engine oil in your car. To keep it running smoothly, change it out on a scheduled interval.
Qosmio X875 i7-3630QM, 32GB RAM, OCZ SSD Qosmio X505 i7-920XM, PM55, 16GB RAM, OCZ SSD
Satellite Pro L350 T9900, GM45, 8GB RAM , Intel 320 SSD (my baby) Satellite L655 i7-620M, HM55, 8GB RAM, Intel 710 SSD (travel system)

After applying thermal compound neither HD will boot.

This is too strange.. I installed a thermaltake hardcano5 about 3-weeks ago, which all went smoothly. Today I picked up some thermal compound (coolermaster premium t.c), which I applied to my heatsink as instructed, and then I layed the temp. sensor from the hardcano5 on the cpu (as instructed) and placed the heatsink on top. I closed up the case, powered up and the grub bootloader menu came up as usual, I scrolled down to winxp, hit enter and then was greeted by a blank black screen which stayed until I rebooted. I powered off and back up again and after choosing to boot xp again I was greeted by a blue screen which contained an apci error message, telling me to reboot. Again I rebooted and everytime since I get the blank, black screen. When booting linux the system locks after initializing the 2nd cdrom drive. (Please note, winxp / linux are on completely seperate drives). I am at a loss here, there were no changes made to the hardware, all that was done was positioning the heat sensor from the hardcano5 and applying the thermal compound. I am at a loss here and I need to get a number of c++ source files off one of the hdd's for class tomorrow, so any suggestions would be most appriciated. Thank you -
NicZak

If yo used silver grease, you may have shorted some of the bridges on the Athlon?? Too many people apply thermal compound as if they were buttering a sandwich. The thermal grease only has to fill the minute cavities on the surface of heatsink and CPU. therefore a microscopically thin layer will already do the job. More grease in some cases is worse then none.

How good is the stock thermal compound on the Rx9800?

I can't overclock my card any higher than 410/370 w/o artifacting, yet when I touch the heatsink it is only mildly warm when I have a big fan on it. This leads me to believe that the stock thermal compound b/w the heatesink and chip is crappy... perhaps it's "just" enough to cool stock speeds, but is **** in overclocking.
Can someone give me some more info on this?

Just like overclocking a CPU, some clock higher than others, you may have one of those cards that just won't overclock very well.
The stock thermal compound is always going to be just fine, it's often the way it has been applied that's the problem.
I always pull the heatsink off and take a look at how it was applied. I usually end up putting a little more on the RAM and make sure it is spread evenly.
I try not to add to much, as excessive amounts can create heat buildup and slow dissipation.

Arctic Cooling VGA Silencer + Zalman CNPS7000 = Fit?

I'm thinking about getting an Arctic Cooling VGA Silencer for my Hercules 9800 Pro, but I was wondering if the back piece really fits between the AGP card and the Zalman CNPS7000. Right now my gfx has the special stock cooling on, a.k.a Hercules-style with copper RAM-sinks and a copper heatsink for both the front and the back (back of the card, that is) of the GPU. It's a pretty tight fit to get my SATA cable through them.
Will it fit?
I'm also wondering if the VGA Silencer fits on my card? It does have non-stock cooling, but it's the same layout if you remove the heatsink and RAMsinks.

How about the Zalman ZMHPOPH80blablabla thing. Does it fit? It'd be nice to have to zalman coolers

Which thermal compound for a G4: Arctic Cooling MX-2, MX-3, or MX-4?

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