Diamond Thermal paste

**hannibal** · 12-24-10, 08:09 PM

I am preparing for a new build as stated in a previous thread, and I came across this:

IC Diamond 7 High-Performance Thermal Compound 1.5g at Xoxide!

and I don't know what to make of it, part of me says I should go with AS5 since I am creature of habit, on the other hand this stuff is cheaper and supposedly MUCH better. What do you folks make of this?

-H

**BigHub** · 12-24-10, 08:24 PM

I went and bought myself some early Christmas presents...

Corsair H50 Water Cooler for the CPU (idles @ 27 degrees Celsius and 37 degrees Celsius under full-load)
Antec 900 II case
Creative SB X-Fi Titanium sound card

**Arreo** · 12-24-10, 08:27 PM

AS is fine...

Frankly, I"m not sure it really matters all that much. All you are really doing is smoothing out tiny surface irregularities and making maximum surface-to-surface contact between the CPU and the heat sink. I think any decent thermal paste would work fine and I don't see much need to get some ridiculously expensive shit.

**Viktor_Olin** · 12-25-10, 01:50 PM

Originally Posted by hannibal

I am preparing for a new build as stated in a previous thread, and I came across this:

IC Diamond 7 High-Performance Thermal Compound 1.5g at Xoxide!

and I don't know what to make of it, part of me says I should go with AS5 since I am creature of habit, on the other hand this stuff is cheaper and supposedly MUCH better. What do you folks make of this?

-H

The last big review of thermal interface materials (TIMs) I could dig up rated the IC Diamond an A-, in the Excellent Performance category: 80-way Thermal Interface Material Performance Test | Thermal Interface Material,Thermal Paste,Heatsink Compound,80-Way Thermal Interface Material Best Thermal Paste Heatsink Compound Cooling Performance Comparison Benchmark Tests

However, from the article:

While I would feel perfectly safe working with any thermal material tested in this article, from the best to worst, my confidence lies within the knowledge of how insignificant TIM is on a properly prepared surface with good contact pressure.

**hannibal** · 12-25-10, 04:05 PM

Thank you to Victor, I see now that on the same reference system the temperature envelope is 4-5K and that in the end there is not a lot of difference between these products. Since I am a creature of habit AS5 gets the nod. Why mess with a good thing.

-H

**HeavyG** · 12-25-10, 08:58 PM

Hannibal, I have read quite a few articles on the comparison of these products and the results are typically the same... for overclocking, the Diamond paste does perform at a few degrees cooler than the AS5, but I am pretty much with you... AS5 has been a good quality product and has passed the test of time. While Diamond paste may perform better now... how about 2 months from now?

Stick with AS5...

**HeavyG** · 12-25-10, 09:00 PM

Originally Posted by BigHub

I went and bought myself some early Christmas presents...

Corsair H50 Water Cooler for the CPU (idles @ 27 degrees Celsius and 37 degrees Celsius under full-load)
Antec 900 II case
Creative SB X-Fi Titanium sound card

Nice upgrades, Hub! I have the Corsair H70 (very similar to your H50) and I love it. You should be happy with your H50. Not only do they perform, but they look really cool as well.

**BigHub** · 12-25-10, 09:38 PM

I can turn my H50 into a 70 by adding another fan to make it a push/pull. The H50 works extremely well as it is though.

**hannibal** · 12-26-10, 01:25 AM

idk, I have never trusted water cooling, and I heard that at least initially the H50s could leak. But sealed water cooling is the way to go unless you are trying to do SLI GTX 480s then you probably need to water cool those too. Not the 580s from what I understand.

-H