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IBM Doubles CPU Cooling With Simple Change
Ars Technica is reporting that IBM has discovered a new cooling breakthrough that, unlike several other recent announcements, should be relatively easy and cost-effective to implement. "IBM's find addresses how thermal paste is typically spread between the face of a chip and the heat spreader that sits directly over the core. Overclockers already know how crucial it is to apply thermal paste the right way: too much, and it causes heat buildup. Too little, and it causes heat buildup. It has to be "just right," which is why IBM looked to find the best way to get the gooey stuff where it needs to be and in the right amount, and to make it significantly more efficient in the process."
sure, it does. Less fans = less power consumption.
"You had this look that of an angel, it was such a bad disguise" --Dishwalla
They etched a series of microgrooves on the surface of the headsink to act as a channel for excess thermal paste. This is supposed to make much better contact than a smooth surface.
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When i ordered my Artic Silver compound, the website had some instructions on how to apply the paste depending on what type of CPU you own. These instructions can be applied to any kind of thermal paste.
here's a link.
http://www.arcticsilver.com/instructions.htm
Previewing comments are for sissies!
If you'd ever taken the time to actually try lapping the heatsink and heat spreaders rather than making fun, you would notice a significant drop in temperatures.
Even today with the new Core 2 Duo CPUs, the IHS have been found to be concave. Personally having lapped my CPU, the load temperatures dropped 10 C - nothing to sneeze at.
This article is more about the refinement of a technique. Notice how the article states "micrometer-length trenches", and not surfaces filled with ridges you can feel by running along it with your finger nail.
Most overclockers know that you get diminishing returns the further you polish the surfaces anyway.
It doesn't help power consumption, but better cooling = less fans = less noise.
Actually, it helps *very* much with power consumption. Usually, resistance goes up as the tempeature does. For example, this is what an incandescent bulb relies on. What this means, is that as the chip gets hotter, it will resist more, causing a need for higher output to get the same usuable energy. By cooling the chip, its resistance stays low, allowing a higher efficiency in power usuage. IOW, less heat, less energy required.
Secondly, as another commentor pointed out, there's the fans that are use to cool it down, which indirectly allows for a lower power-consumption.
Have you read my journal today?
Story is here.
First, you should have done some research. I don't care how much was in that syringe, it was probably too much -- you only need a small amount of thermal paste, just enough to fill the tiny gaps between a CPU and the heat sink.
Second, removing the case's cover will completely disrupt the air flow inside. If that actually makes your CPU cooler, you have some serious problems with the way your fans are set up. If they're set up so that they're constantly pushing cold air over the CPU and hot air out of the case, it should, in fact, be cooler with the cover on.
An easy way to think about it is that the paste is better than an air gap, but worse than contact.
Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
Not true. Artic Silver changed their recommended instructions a couple years ago to the BB-sized dot in the middle of the core technique. This reduces the chance of air bubbles that can occur when you try to level the compound manually because the pressure of applying the heatsink will do a much better job.