Arctic Silver 5 Review
Thermal compounds play a major role in providing the user with a computer that is operational and cool. Thermal compounds are the driving force behind dissipating heat from chips to the heatsink. What is known about them is that all thermal compounds are different. Some have silver particles, some don’t. Some are good, some aren’t so good. Today we look at Arctic Silver’s new thermal compound. Arctic Silver is a worldwide leader in thermal compounds and is known for their Arctic Silver 3. Today they take the next step in introducing their latest Arctic Silver 5.
Specifications
- Thermal Conductance: 350,000W/m2 °C (0.001 inch layer)
- Thermal Resistance: 0.0045°C-in2/Watt (0.001 inch layer)
- Average Particle Size: 0.49 microns <0.000020 inch
- Extended
Temperature Limits: Peak: –50°C to >180°C Long-Term:
–50°C to 130°C
Performance: 3 to 12 degrees centigrade lower CPU full load core temperatures than standard thermal compounds or thermal pads when measured with a calibrated thermal diode imbedded in the CPU core. - Coverage Area: Arctic Silver 5 is sold in 3.5 gram and 12-gram tubes. The 3.5-gram tube contains enough compound to cover at least 15 to 25 small CPU cores, or 6 to 10 large CPU cores, or 2 to 5 heat plates. At a layer 0.003" thick, the 3.5-gram tube will cover approximately 16 square inches.
Arctic Silver 5 comes in a Ceramique type syringe but with a different color scheme. This syringe is the improved version preventing the compound from becoming stuck and requires less force.
The Arctic Silver 5 arrives more thicker than the before and Arctic Silver claims that the thickness will improve the spread of the compound and effectively fill in the microscopic valleys between die and CPU much better than before. If you think about it, it theoretically does work.
Applying Arctic Silver 5 is still easy as usual while spreading on the CPU or chipset. Just use a clean plastic and spread on.
You may be wondering why Arctic Silver skipped Arctic Silver 4. Well the reason that has been floating around is that they skipped it because the number 4 is bad luck in Chinese. And yes it is true. Number 4 in Chinese isn’t a good thing.
Testing
Well it’s time for some testing. Instead of having Arctic Silver 5 on for 72 hours, I had it on for maybe 2-3 weeks now just to add in if I see any after effects…Other than that, testing is about the same. It will be compared to Arctic Silver Ceramique and Nanotherm PCM+ ver. 1. Version 2 should be the same just with inhibitors so it wouldn’t make much of a difference. The Spire WhisperRock IV cooler was installed for testing. Room ambient temperatures ranged from 19-21c.
Results
Arctic
Silver 5 |
Arctic
Silver Ceramique |
Nanotherm
PCM+ Version 1 |
| Idle (30 mins): 35c | Idle (30 mins): 37c | Idle (30 mins): 36c |
| Load (Toast2, 5 mins): 44c | Load (Toast2, 5 mins): 45.5c | Load (Toast2, 5 mins): 44c |
Observations – After the time period of 3 weeks was up, I removed the cooler to see if anything unusual happened but there was none. No problems, no worries...cough*Nanotherm PCM+*cough. As you can see the Arctic Silver in my tests edged out all compounds by 1-2 degrees.
Conclusion
I like Arctic Silver 5. It improved every so slightly but every bit counts. It’s thicker, a new color, and temperatures decreased. If you already have Arctic Silver Ceramqiue you shouldn’t upgrade to Arctic Silver 5 yet. It’s just a small difference. But once you are done with it, make sure you pick up Arctic Silver 5. It's the best yet! Bar none. It will be used in feature testing.
I rate the Arctic Silver 5 a…
9.5/10!
Pros and Cons
+
Improved Cooling
+ Thicker means better
+ Syringe
- None that I can see except the small price increase in some stores
I want to thank Arctic Silver for allowing us to review this new compound.
