Arctic Alumina or Ceramique? Whats better?

C

CentronMe

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I am ordering two new heatsinks for the system in my sig. I am getting ThermalRight ALX-800 heatsinks and over at sidewinder they are going for $23 a piece. You also get a tube of Arctic Alumina free with purchase. I have been wanting to try the Ceramique to see if it would be acceptable to use for my client machines, something that AS3/5 is not IMO because it needs to be reapplied every once in a while.

So whats the difference between the two? Anything major or should I also order the Ceramique for $4.00? I know it is older, from the time of AS2, but basically what I want to know is does it feel/spread the same?
 
2 things. 1) when i bought my alpha at sidewinder, the "free arctic alumina" they gave me was small enough that i had trounle finding it in the package. 2)ceramique is definitely better. dunno if it wears out after awhile (computer hasn't been together for more than 3 months consecutively since i got it a year ago.

also ceramique is newer than as3, but older than as5. (or were you refering to the arctic alumina being old?) ceramique will perform 2-5C cooler than arctic alumina AFAIK.

ceramique is also really easy to apply, just put a dab in the middle (or a line, depends on the core) and then twist the cooler slightly when you put it on. works great and is really easy too.

o yeah. you lucky little *****, you and your dual AMD's. i'm to poor to afford a dually rig even though i really want one:(
 
Ok, I will grab a tube of Ceramique from SVC with my fan order.

I was saying that the Arctic Alumina was older. I have AS3 around here somewhere and that is fine for me as I tear apart my box a few times a year, but since AS has a tendacy to dry out over time I is not acceptable for clients. Since the Arctic Alumina and Ceramique is not made from silicone which can dry out.
 
alumnia sucks. ceramique is for paranoid children who think that anything thats silver colored will short out their computer. it wont. AS5 is great stuff. if you cant take the time to apply it, why are you putting your own heatsink on?

also AS doesnt dry out on a HSF. EVER. i dont know what youre doing that it does, but ive had it on heatsinks for years and its still remained like it is out of the tube..
 
Gosh, to bad I have both AS2 and AS3 here in the house. :rolleyes:

I just wanted to try something different.
 
Originally posted by kronchev
alumnia sucks. ceramique is for paranoid children who think that anything thats silver colored will short out their computer. it wont. AS5 is great stuff. if you cant take the time to apply it, why are you putting your own heatsink on?

also AS doesnt dry out on a HSF. EVER. i dont know what youre doing that it does, but ive had it on heatsinks for years and its still remained like it is out of the tube..
Click to expand...

ceramique also works better than as3, and about as well as as5, and costs ~$7-$10 for a 22g tube. lets see your as5 do that:rolleyes:

that said, as5 is still great stuff. i just reapply so much that the trace amounts conductivity in the trace amounts of as5 left after the chip gets cleaned would eventally short it out (i'd give it a month:D)

he's also using it for client machines, who most likely can't reapply their own thermal paste.
 
I've tried AS3,5 and Ceramique only 2-3c difference in temps.

I like the big C myself.
 
Ceramique spreads well. I don't know why anyone would say we're afraid of silver if we use it; I bought it when it was new and I liked it but I'd like as5 probably if I needed a replacement (I still have half a tube). Why diss something for the reason that it's nonconductive electrically? It works; that's why we like it:D
 
I actually go back and fourth between my tube of AS3 and Ceramique depending on what I'm doing. I generally just use the Ceramique on Athlon XP's because of how little effort and time it takes to apply properly compared to AS3. (put a little on the HSF, smear & wipe clean, then put a small dab on the CPU die and "smash" it with the HSF. Throw in a little twist and you're done) I save my AS3 for either large cored processors (like Radeon VPU's) and CPU's with heatspreaders (like the P4 & Athlon64) because I find it easier to evenly spread AS3 with a razor blade than Ceramique.

Now, as for AS products drying out, I've never experienced any drying with my AS products but, then again, usually none of my rigs stay together for more than 6 months. However, I have used both AS3 and Ceramique on friend's and customer's computers and have had no problems at all.

I've only used Alumina a few times.... Once was the epoxy version (used on some ramsinks because it was cheaper than AS3 epoxy) and the other time I mixed normal Alumina with Alumina epoxy to loosen the epoxy's iron grip (used Alumina because I already had the Alumina epoxy from the previous use on the ramsinks). Alumina, however, is not as good as either AS3/5 or Ceramique.
 
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