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NV Silencer 5: Packaged Paste or AS 5?

D

Dijonase

Gawd
Joined
Jun 4, 2004
Messages
946
I just got an NV Silencer 5 for my 6800 GT and I'm unsure whether I should use the thermal paste that comes with it or some Arctic Silver 5 that I have sitting around. I would assume the AS 5 would be better since it's one of the better thermal compounds out there, but since the NV5 is such a good unit then I can only assume that they wouldn't package it with garbage thermal paste.

Which should I go with?
 
AS5 will probably be your best bet. The material they packaged the NVS5 with is just silicon paste.
 
If in doubt, use the AS5. Why chance that theirs is worse when you have it sitting around? If you really wanted you could test it out but the Silver is probably better.
 
I remember reading a thread a while back where someone said to use the packaged stuff because you have to apply a generous amount and if it overflows a bit the AS5 can be conductive whereas the packaged stuff will not. I don't know a whole lot about thermal pastes so I don't know whether that's true or complete bull.
 
I would just use AS5..Great results with that...
 
Dijonase said:
the AS5 can be conductive whereas the packaged stuff will not. I don't know a whole lot about thermal pastes so I don't know whether that's true or complete bull.
Click to expand...
While too much AS5 on anything can be a problem, it is not conductive. AS5 is only slightly capacitative. As long as he doesn't go overboard with the stuff he should be fine. Be sure to avoid getting any on any traces.

I think the instructions say to spread a very thin layer over the gpu core, and apply thermal material a bit mor4e liberally over the ram. Also, careful not to screw the retaining bolts down too hard, they will snap off (you can use the backplate instead of the rubber grommets)..
 
Tenchi4U said:
While too much AS5 on anything can be a problem, it is not conductive. AS5 is only slightly capacitative. As long as he doesn't go overboard with the stuff he should be fine. Be sure to avoid getting any on any traces.

I think the instructions say to spread a very thin layer over the gpu core, and apply thermal material a bit mor4e liberally over the ram. Also, careful not to screw the retaining bolts down too hard, they will snap off (you can use the backplate instead of the rubber grommets)..
Click to expand...

I guess that people have been blowing out of proportion the amount of thermal compound that you need to put on the RAM. I haven't sized anything up yet but everyone's been making a big deal about the amount of thermal compound required so I assumed it was a ridiculous amount. So you don't really need all that much on the RAM?
 
It's not really that much on the RAM. Its hard to describe (or remember in my case) how much to use. You have to use more b/c the 4 retaining screws are around the GPU and not the ram, so less pressure is applied to the ram than the GPU. But it sure beats whatever crap they stuck on the ram from the factory (most people got some sticky thick tape on the stock ramsink.
 
If you have AS5 use that. If you just have the paste that comes with the NV5 use that (I did - works well). AS5 is a reputable product, while the NV5 provided paste may vary in quality depending on the batch that the company receives from their generic 3rd party suppliers.
 
as5 on the core, you dont need to cake it on, but alot more then you normally would use on a cpu. i would use the generic stuff for the ram, cake that stuff on, heard that the contact for the memory is even worse then the gpu using the nv5 silencer.
 
Nexx said:
as5 on the core, you dont need to cake it on, but alot more then you normally would use on a cpu. i would use the generic stuff for the ram, cake that stuff on, heard that the contact for the memory is even worse then the gpu using the nv5 silencer.
Click to expand...

That's something I hadn't considered, but what would be the thinking behind it? If the AS5 really is the superior product then I'd rather have it on the RAM than the generic stuff.
 
I'm curious. Is the stuff that's packaged with the NV5 adhesive or is it just a normal thermal compound?
 
c1001 said:
It's the normal thermal compound.
Click to expand...

OK, so I could conceivably just use the AS5 on the GPU and the RAM. I'm definitely going to use the AS5 on the GPU, but someone above suggested that I use the packaged stuff on the RAM. Does anyone know if this would be best? If so, why? Is cooling the RAM not quite as important as cooling the CPU? I'd like to install it tonight but I don;t just want to dive into it. I'd like to actually like to consider all of my options before I do anything.
 
I'm not sure of the reasoning behind putting AS5 on the GPU and thermal compound on the memory. There should be enough AS5 in a tube to cover everything that you will need to. Both the packaged paste and AS5 are designed to do the same thing. I'd use AS5 if I have it and the packaged compound if I don't. The important thing is to make sure that all the contacts between the NV5 and the video card are flush. Use a healthy amount of paste and spread it evenly over the contact points. Carefully tightening the screws and using a flashlight should allow you to check your progess without snapping any screws. If a little paste bleeds over the edge of the contact points when you tighten the screws, that's okay. You just don't want the paste all over the card itself.

If your NV5 isn't seated flush across the GPU and RAM points, you'll see that your video card temps will be off. You can always go back and check your work and tighten things a bit more if you have to.

Hope this helps.
 
c1001 said:
I'm not sure of the reasoning behind putting AS5 on the GPU and thermal compound on the memory. There should be enough AS5 in a tube to cover everything that you will need to. Both the packaged paste and AS5 are designed to do the same thing. I'd use AS5 if I have it and the packaged compound if I don't. The important thing is to make sure that all the contacts between the NV5 and the video card are flush. Use a healthy amount of paste and spread it evenly over the contact points. Carefully tightening the screws and using a flashlight should allow you to check your progess without snapping any screws. If a little paste bleeds over the edge of the contact points when you tighten the screws, that's okay. You just don't want the paste all over the card itself.

If your NV5 isn't seated flush across the GPU and RAM points, you'll see that your video card temps will be off. You can always go back and check your work and tighten things a bit more if you have to.

Hope this helps.
Click to expand...

It does help, thanks. I think I'll take a crack at it tonight.
 
Yes, there is more than enough AS5 in even the smallest tube to cover everything on that card (and you'll have assloads left).

When you try it tonight, just remember, when you take the stock cooling off, your warranty is voided. So be careful and good luck.
 
Dijonase said:
That's something I hadn't considered, but what would be the thinking behind it? If the AS5 really is the superior product then I'd rather have it on the RAM than the generic stuff.
Click to expand...

just look at whats around your ram, do you really feel comfortable with as5 oozing over the sides? from what i hear the contact on the ram is even worse on then the gpu using the nv5 scilencers, you might need to cake it on even more on the ram. i wouldnt take that risk with as5. plus ram doesnt heat up nearly as much as the the gpu. the importance of thermal transfer is much much less on the important then on your ram, i dont think the risk/benefit of using as5 on the ram is worth it.
 
Nexx said:
just look at whats around your ram, do you really feel comfortable with as5 oozing over the sides? from what i hear the contact on the ram is even worse on then the gpu using the nv5 scilencers, you might need to cake it on even more on the ram. i wouldnt take that risk with as5. plus ram doesnt heat up nearly as much as the the gpu. the importance of thermal transfer is much much less on the important then on your ram, i dont think the risk/benefit of using as5 on the ram is worth it.
Click to expand...

Well, it's already done. I did some preliminary tests earlier (ran rthdribl and monitored temps) and at stock it looks like I'm seeing about an 8C - 11C difference under load. It was up around 73C - 76C and now it's down around 65C. I'm going to push the clock speed up a bit here and give it a test run.
 
Glad to hear that it worked out for you. Did you keep the original backplate or use the rubber grommets?
 
c1001 said:
Glad to hear that it worked out for you. Did you keep the original backplate or use the rubber grommets?
Click to expand...

I went ahead and used the rubber grommets. I considered the backplate but I just flipped a coin and went with the grommets. I've been able to OC the card to about 380/1.02 and it's still about 5C or so below the stock load temps.

Does anyone have any idea what I should shoot for when measuring load temps? I'd like to try to push the card as far as it will safely go.
 
Dijonase said:
I remember reading a thread a while back where someone said to use the packaged stuff because you have to apply a generous amount and if it overflows a bit the AS5 can be conductive whereas the packaged stuff will not. I don't know a whole lot about thermal pastes so I don't know whether that's true or complete bull.
Click to expand...

I had massive overflow with my standard barton (I saw it when I replaced it with my mobile) and it was all over the chips. I had no problems...I would use AS5)
 
Will using AS5 on the RAM chips make a huge difference? Why use up all that AS5 when airflow across the chips would probably be a better bet?
 
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