Question about Zalman heatsink/fan

[KingAustin]

I need help with Zalman HSF!

I just bought this cooling fan, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835118119

and I applied the thermal grease in a thin layer across it and followed the instructions on the paper, but my temp. is around the same if not a little higher than my stock heatsink/fan was.

Possible thing I did wrong but not sure, I didnt remove the old thermal grease (my old cooling fan had thermal grease in a square already packaged on it).

I'm just new to all of this and want my computer running as smoothly as possible.

 

[CJJohnson]

If there was old thermal paste on your processor then you should remove it as it may have gone hard. The Zalman may not make a dramatic change in the cpu temp but it should be a lot quieter. Has it got a speed controller?

 

[timmer]

yea they have a program u can change the speed. but yea i would say u gotta remove the old stuf with a credit card and alcohol and a lint free rag

 

[KingAustin]

If there was old thermal paste on your processor then you should remove it as it may have gone hard. The Zalman may not make a dramatic change in the cpu temp but it should be a lot quieter. Has it got a speed controller?

It is pretty quiet, and I have the speed controller turned all the way up

 

[KingAustin]

yea they have a program u can change the speed. but yea i would say u gotta remove the old stuf with a credit card and alcohol and a lint free rag

If I do this and remove all of the old stuff and recently applied stuff, and then reapply as a thin layer, it will make a noticeable difference? I just want to know that I didnt drop $40 on something that works equally or possibly worse than the stock part.

Also, I just checked Easytune and it says my CPU is running at 60ºC, while with the stock it was at 53-54ºC. I have a few minor programs running.

 

[KingAustin]

Ok, I just had my mobo monitoring program on and ran half life 2, then did a quick alt tab, and saw it was at 76ºC!!! Now I may not know much, but I know this is not good if I want to keep things working.

 

[CJJohnson]

How is the airflow in the rest of your case? Clean all of the old paste off, it should make a difference.
I had a processor running hot once, I bought it from a company who assembled the motherboard, CPU and heatsink for me. When I took them apart, the processor had a price tag stuck on the top of it with the speed of the processor written on it. Nice thermal price tag - not.

You want to achieve the best contact you can. is the base of the processor totally smooth?

 

[grego]

You should DEFINITELY remove all of the original thermal padding. That is definitely a must-do. The concept is to have the closest contact, metal to metal, between the processor and the heat sink. There is usually a very small gap between these two parts. Thus it needs to be filled, or heat will be forced to transfer through only the parts that are touching. That is where artic silver 5 comes in. It levels out these small descrepencies and attempts to provide the best thermal transfer.

It is really very simple. Just try to figure out the quickest way to get heat off something in your head and it should all make sense. You surely don't want to insulate the source of the heat, eh?

I'm very tired... Bottom line... clean the HSF and CPU completely. Then apply a rice sized blob (somewhat small indeed) of arctic silver 5 to the cpu right in the middle. Then install the zalman right on top. You should notice quite a drop in temps.

EDIT: Yes I said RICE not NICE lol... in my current state I could see how someone might confuse that for a typo lol.

 

[KingAustin]

How is the airflow in the rest of your case?

The airflow is great. 2 80mm fans in the front, one side 80mm fan going in, one top 80mm fan going out, and a 120mm back fan going out.

I'm going to clean it all off now, so let me write down a few temp's. Case temp-32º, CPU temp 55º.

Btw, I dont have any arctic silver, so I'll be using the paste that came with it. I might change it out later if it really does make that much of a difference.

I'll be back in a few with the results hopefully!

 

[KingAustin]

Ok, wow, my case temp is still 32º, and my chip is at 53º. I applied a very small amount. I took pictures, so I'll post them up soon.