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IBM Doubles CPU Cooling With Simple Change

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the things-overclockers-have-known-for-years dept.

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."

7 of 208 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Excellent by unborracho · · Score: 4, Informative

    sure, it does. Less fans = less power consumption.

    --
    "You had this look that of an angel, it was such a bad disguise" --Dishwalla
  2. Artic Silver provides great instructions... by madhatter256 · · Score: 5, Informative

    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

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    Previewing comments are for sissies!
  3. Re:Excellent by Chacham · · Score: 4, Informative

    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.

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    Have you read my journal today?
  4. Previously announced in October by writertype · · Score: 4, Informative
    Extreme Tech had this last year. With even more pictures! :)

    Story is here.

  5. Re:And people thought they were cool polishing.... by thrawn_aj · · Score: 4, Informative

    along comes IBM and makes them rough and it cools better :) Hmm, I am not a modder, but I am a lab rat and roughening is a common technique used to increase the effective available surface area that is in contact with the heat-sink compound. This is not limited to CPU cooling and it's a little strange that it's taken so long to implement. Chemists play the same trick when they want to increase the rate of a reaction, powder up your reagents, or your catalysts. Of course, this will work only up to the point where the heat-sink particles (micron sized here I'd guess) can SEE the extra surface area. Hence, there exists a limit to how rough or how fine you want the surface beyond which range the cooling gets less efficient. A fine grit sandpaper (as a responder suggests in this thread) should be the way to go.
  6. Re:Did you read the article? by maxume · · Score: 5, Informative

    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.
  7. Re:Did you read the article? by theantipop · · Score: 4, Informative

    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.