Too much Thermal Compound? - picture -

[HammerON]

TIM is 'thermal grizzly kryonaut' -- it actually comes with EK kits now and is one of the best

Post number 26

 

[Aquinus]

Post number 26

Comment still stands. Most TIMs need to cure, some take more time than others, some take no time at all. Thanks for clarifying that though. Definitely missed that.

 

[Nicholas Peyton]

Comment still stands. Most TIMs need to cure, some take more time than others, some take no time at all. Thanks for clarifying that though. Definitely missed that.

Makes perfect sense now -- thermal grizzly must be one that needs to cure -- like you say as I've noticed massive and I mean huge differences in 24 hours and even more after 48. I'm estimating 15-20c here for real

 

[fullinfusion]

Comment still stands. Most TIMs need to cure, some take more time than others, some take no time at all. Thanks for clarifying that though. Definitely missed that.

That paste the OP uses looks thick, and imo needs several heat cycles to spread it to optimum transfer rate.

 

[Aquinus]

Makes perfect sense now -- thermal grizzly must be one that needs to cure -- like you say as I've noticed massive and I mean huge differences in 24 hours and even more after 48. I'm estimating 15-20c here for real

Heating and cooling cycles will accelerate it. I did that with my last GPU I re-pasted and had it done within a few hours. Can't say much about the CPU but, the same application has been running strong for over 4 years.

 

[Nicholas Peyton]

Heating and cooling cycles will accelerate it. I did that with my last GPU I re-pasted and had it done within a few hours. Can't say much about the CPU but, the same application has been running strong for over 4 years.

How many degrees difference did you gain from using your own paste?

I have an EVGA 1080 Classified; not sure what EVGA uses; but temps never go above 60c with 100% fan.

 

[JL87]

I have nothing to provide on the curing time of the thermal paste, but I have a question about your fan setup.

Based on the photos, I only see 5 fans in your case. 2 in the front pulling cool air in and 3 on the radiator.

Not sure how much it would effect temps, but first (again based on the photos) I don't see any fans on the back of the case to help exhaust heat? And second, maybe it might help overall temps if the fans on the radiator were pushing air through it vs pulling air from the outside but dumping it into the case with no fans to help exhaust?

Just a thought, since you could easily switch their orientation and test it again.

 

[Steevo]

Phase Change, it changes from a semi-solid to a fluid with a lower viscosity when heated and under pressure, once this process has been done a few times the polymer "net" expands and flattens the TIM is in as thin of a layer as it can be. But heat is required to allow the polymer to relax.

 

[Nicholas Peyton]

I have nothing to provide on the curing time of the thermal paste, but I have a question about your fan setup.

Based on the photos, I only see 5 fans in your case. 2 in the front pulling cool air in and 3 on the radiator.

Not sure how much it would effect temps, but first (again based on the photos) I don't see any fans on the back of the case to help exhaust heat? And second, maybe it might help overall temps if the fans on the radiator were pushing air through it vs pulling air from the outside but dumping it into the case with no fans to help exhaust?

Just a thought, since you could easily switch their orientation and test it again.

Hi, glad you asked

Okay there was 5 fans. But I actually have 6 now. One blowing air onto the VRM (pic below -- but more on that in a minute)

So:

• VRM is getting up to 70c. (8 phase motherboard designed for 125w CPU but my overclock can pull 350w + )
• Northbridge chip on motherboard gets to 50c.
• EVGA 1080 Classified gets to 55-60c (still on air and rated at 320w max).

So good reasons for intake:
/\ all that heat is circulating around my case. If I exhausted this "internal" air through my radiator it is very possible CPU temp would be at least 10c higher -- compared to pulling fresh, colder air in, from outside the case. So I believe this justifies my intake setup.

Also air doesn't conduct heat very well? (I think)? -- so I can't imagine it is terribly hotter after passing through my radiator. My GPU fans are also on the other side of a back plate at the bottom and I've noticed no increase in GPU temperature by having my CPU loop on intake.


The bad:
What you don't see in my old pictures is the 6th fan, now cooling my motherboard VRM heat sink. (two, updated pictures below)

-click to enlarge- - click to enlarge
-click to enlarge-


continued.... because the fans are pointing down they seem to be creating a "hot air pocket" around the VRM area. Even with that 2000RPM fan (which I ripped off an old CPU cooler) sitting right on top of my VRM heatsink it is still getting to 70c -- this heat is conducting through pathways on the board and I believe is also heating my CPU up.

I might try a fan on the top, rear fan slot tonight to exhaust air out from this "problem zone" but I'm going to have to mount it on the ouside of my case because the fan I'm using for VRM is in the way. Not sure how powerful a fan I should use either. I have 2 noctua Industrial 3000RPM super fans lol. And also a few Corsair SP120's spare.

 

[JL87]

That was kind of my point, you are introducing hot air into the case from the top. Heat rises naturally, so you are probably putting all that heat directly onto your vrms.

I'll concede I'm no expert when it comes to fan setups personally, however most posts/guides I've ever read usually advise if you have your radiator on top to do a push, push/pull or pull type of setup. It would be very easy for you to test, but I highly doubt switching your fans to push through the radiator would increase your cpu temps by 10 C (again would be fairly easy for you to test).

Usually when I've seen a radiator setup in a pull configuration it's via the front of the case, which allows for the top and rear to be used for exhausting heat out of the case.

Again I'm no expert, but to me it seems like you are dumping all the hot air into your case and onto your components with no fans to help exhaust that heat.

Good luck!

 

[The N]

What Liquid coolig kit you're using?

 

[Nicholas Peyton]

That was kind of my point, you are introducing hot air into the case from the top. Heat rises naturally, so you are probably putting all that heat directly onto your vrms.

I'll concede I'm no expert when it comes to fan setups personally, however most posts/guides I've ever read usually advise if you have your radiator on top to do a push, push/pull or pull type of setup. It would be very easy for you to test, but I highly doubt switching your fans to push through the radiator would increase your cpu temps by 10 C (again would be fairly easy for you to test).

Usually when I've seen a radiator setup in a pull configuration it's via the front of the case, which allows for the top and rear to be used for exhausting heat out of the case.

Again I'm no expert, but to me it seems like you are dumping all the hot air into your case and onto your components with no fans to help exhaust that heat.

Good luck!

Yeah I hear what your saying mate and it was definitely a good point to bring up. And I enjoyed the chance to discuss it.

In the end it comes down to a choice between a hotter CPU or a hotter VRM... even if I was on 'exhaust' with great airflow my case is still always going to be at least 5c hotter inside. Your "cooling" power is calculated by "Delta T" which is an equation which takes into account the difference between ambient temperature and water temperature. The better your 'Delta T' the cooler you'll run.

For example:

1st Example
water - 30c
ambient- 20c
difference = 10.0 (Delta T)

2nd Example
water - 30c
ambient- 25c
difference = 5.0 (Delta T)

/\ so you can see... even a 5c difference on the internal case temp would half my Delta T and significantly reduce cooling performance

Moreover-- other components don't really matter. Memory for example doesn't really need to be cooled. Even 'EK' agree memory cooling is just for aesthetics.
Meaning it really only comes down to 3 temperatures; CPU, GPU and Motherboard VRM. And even most VRM's can still function normally for prolonged periods of time at 100c

 

[basco]

i think jl87 is on to something here.
you should get much better temps inside your case if you push hot air outside case.
and just put a 80mm or smaller fan only for vrm direct on top of it.
your config is against all heat moving laws.

i think your pushing warm air from radiator on warm vrm and take both heats to your gpu

 

[Nicholas Peyton]

i think jl87 is on to something here.
you should get much better temps inside your case if you push hot air outside case.
and just put a 80mm or smaller fan only for vrm direct on top of it.
your config is against all heat moving laws.

i think your pushing warm air from radiator on warm vrm and take both heats to your gpu

When you are on water; the game changes

 

[erocker]

So, looking at the picture, it's fine. I've used more than that with good results. It's not rocket science applying thermal paste.. It's barely science at all. With newer stuff it's almost fool-proof. With some older pastes (that don't spread well, curing time, etc.) it's just best to follow whatever directions they give you (if at all), or just use your best judgment.

 

[Nicholas Peyton]

Getting -10c with this; maybe even more as its preventing thermal throttling:


-click to enlarge-

Tied on with cable ties lol.

FAN
120mm Noctua NF-F12 Industrial PPC 3000RPM PWM High Performance Fan

-Airflow: 186,7 m³/h
Static Pressure: 7,63 mm H₂O <<highest I've ever seen btw

 

[cdawall]

Static Pressure: 7,63 mm H₂O <<highest I've ever seen btw

That's not very much...

 

[Nicholas Peyton]

That's not very much...

Its higher than the Corsair fans and higher than EK's Vardar fans... if you know of better ones please share lol ?

And I know a SP fan isn't the best to use for the above picture but all my fans are SP fans lol and its still the most powerful one I own

 

[cdawall]

Its higher than the Corsair fans and higher than EK's Vardar fans... if you know of better ones please share lol ?

And I know a SP fan isn't the best to use for the above picture but all my fans are SP fans lol and its still the most powerful one I own

I use delta pwm server fans. 700RPM silent when no load and 4400RPM when cranked all the way up. The ones on my radiator are something like 17mm h2o

 

[Nicholas Peyton]

I use delta pwm server fans. 700RPM silent when no load and 4400RPM when cranked all the way up. The ones on my radiator are something like 17mm h2o

17 wtf lol u got a link?

 

[cdawall]

17 wtf lol u got a link?

Look for any of the 220+ CFM Delta 120X38MM fans they all flow about that much. I have some 255CFM ridiculous ones as well that are like multiple inches

 

[Nicholas Peyton]

I've just had that moment; u know when you see something and decide your getting it lol