Corsari H80i, should I add thermal compound?

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sblantipodi

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As title.
H80i comes with a build in thermal compound, should I add another compound like artic silver?

Is it good to use two compound at the same time?
 
sblantipodi said:
As title.
H80i comes with a build in thermal compound, should I add another compound like artic silver?

Is it good to use two compound at the same time?
Click to expand...

You can clean it off and replace it, but mixing the pre-applied TIM with something else is not advisable.
 
arctic silver 5 and most thermal interface material will decrease the cooling performance of any corsair product, because they use one (if not the best ) TIM in the world they Use a very Special Shin Etsu formula based in their X23 Product (which its already on the Level of Prolimatech PK-1 and indigo Xtreme) I would advice to do your best job mounting the cooler in the first mount and keep the Provided TIM with the cooler... mixing TIM will result in worse cooling performance also the layer will be very thick at the end of the mounting... if you want to replace the included Paste I recommend the NT-H1 which its very very close to its original performance of the Shin Etsu TIM in corsair coolers
 
OK, I will use the stock TIM for now.
I have noctua nt-h1, don't knew that it is better than artic silver.
 
No, don't mix thermal paste. Use one or the other. They are expected to perform about the same if applied correctly. But as5 has curing time, so its performance would not reach its full potential for a while. The type of thermal paste has been demonstrated elsewhere to have a very small effect on cooling (perhaps 1-3c).
 
nope biggles.. depending on the quality of the paste and use you can see major improvement in cooling performance by just use a different TIM.. TIM have a better or worse performance depending on the surface used, the Arctic Silver ceramique 2 have a Exceptional performance in perfectly flat surface as Lapped CPU with lapped Heatsink but less performance in any other kind of surfaces as for example direct contact heatpipe (like the hyper212 evo) which its semi rugged.. and you can see from 5 to 10 degrees of difference for use a paste with a waterblock and other with a vaporchamber.. it all depend on where and how will you use the paste..

the shin etsu included are specifically made to work with water block and processor surface.. thats why if you see it ins't completely flat and have some pores Like this... which will in fact match the micropores for heat transfer in the CPU lid and waterblock..

about the AS5 its still a very respectable TIM.. but there are other that are able to outperform for up to 5degrees and without being conductive and without cure time...
 
I agree with the person above. I've always had my temps go up when reapplying tim on corsair products. The stuff it comes with is really good.
 
I here again.
I need to swap the CPU.

I have the possibility to swap my 5930K (bad overclocker) with another one.

What should I do now?
Should I remove the corsair TIM and than reapply a thermal compound?

If yes, what is the best way to remove the TIM and what is the best thermal compound for my H80i?

Thanks
 
Are you asking if you should re-apply new TIM after taking it off? If yes, then yes you need to re-apply your TIM after you remove your cooler from your CPU.
 
W.Feather said:
Are you asking if you should re-apply new TIM after taking it off? If yes, then yes you need to re-apply your TIM after you remove your cooler from your CPU.
Click to expand...

Ok, but what TIM should I apply?
What is the best TIM for an AIO like Corsair H80i?
 
I personally use Noctua NT-H1.

In all honesty, pretty much any you buy will be within 2-3 deg....There is more variance in the actual application than the compounds themselves these days. I just suggest against Arctic Silver 5.
 
W.Feather said:
I personally use Noctua NT-H1.

In all honesty, pretty much any you buy will be within 2-3 deg....There is more variance in the actual application than the compounds themselves these days. I just suggest against Arctic Silver 5.
Click to expand...

why not artic silver 5?
do you know if thermal paste degrade over time?

I have an old NT-H1 thermal compound bought with a Noctua cooler 4 years ago, do you think that is good to use a thermal compound bought 4 years ago?
 
No idea on the shelf life of a TIM.

As for not AS5, there are better compounds for the money.
 
sblantipodi said:
Artic MX-4 or Noctua NT-H1?
Click to expand...

I prefer the MX-4, cheaper (I got a 4g tube for $8 shipped, which should last a long time) and non-toxic. That said, you can't go wrong with either, the difference should be a degree celcius the most.
 
The JP-DX1 is (on sale for) $15 for 3g on newegg, fwiw. The sole reviewer says it "beat the MX-4 I had previously by over 10 degree Celsius. I even ran this compound on PRIME95 for over 10 hours and it never broke over 160 C." (I'm assuming a typo here. lol) ymmv
 
I've never seen a major temp difference between TIMs. Keep in mind that TIM is designed to fill in the tiny surface imperfections with something that conducts heat better than air. Direct metal to metal contact is best, air gaps are worst, and TIM-filled gaps are in between. If you had two perfectly flat (like with high-precision machining, not just normal lapping) surfaces, you wouldn't want to add TIM between them, because they're already perfectly matched with 100% contact.

Yes, there are cheap crappy ones and expensive fancy ones, and the expensive ones are usually a little better. However, proper application (not putting on 20lb of the stuff or having huge air bubbles) is much more important than the chemical makeup in my experience.

Looking at the graph at http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/thermal-paste-performance-benchmark,3616-17.html, the best and worst pastes were 2.7°C apart. Going to the exotic Coollaboratory Liquid Metals, they dropped another 1.5°C. Even denture adhesive was only 6.7°C higher than the best paste.
 
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