|
Arctic Silver Ceramique
review by David, 17 August 2003
Introduction
Imagine you just bought a nice new CPU for your system-to-be.
High performance CPUs of today generate a ton of heat, figuratively
speaking. The more heat there is, the more likely your CPU is to not
function at its intended speed, whether the speed the manufacturer
intended it to run, or the speed the user intends the processor to
run at. Thus, a shiny new heatsink is purchased along with that CPU.
In addition, the computer enthusiast of today will almost certainly
get some quality thermal paste to go along with the heatsink.
The choice
of thermal paste in the market is rather wide. There is the usual
plain white goop, copper-based pastes, silver based pastes, and many
more, costing a wide variety of prices.
We take a look at a relatively new entry into the thermal
paste market from Arctic Silver Inc; Ceramique.
Ceramique?
Heres
some quick information about the compound.
The high-density, ceramic-based thermal compound
specifically designed for modern high-power CPUs and
high-performance heatsinks or water-cooling
solutions.
Made with micronized aluminum oxide, boron
nitride and zinc oxide. Ceramique
uses a high-density layered composite of five unique shapes of
thermally conductive aluminum oxide, boron nitride and zinc
oxide sub-micron particles to maximize particle-to-particle
contact area and thermal transfer.
This
exclusive combination provides performance exceeding most
metal based compounds.
- Average particle size: 0.38 microns <0.000015 inch
( 67 particles lined up in a row equal 1/1000th of an
inch. )
Controlled triple phase
viscosity.
- Ceramique does not contain any silicone.
- The suspension fluid is a proprietary mixture of
advanced polysynthetic oils that provide superior
performance and long-term stability.
- During the system's initial use, the heat from the
CPU lowers the viscosity of the compound to enhance the
filling of the microscopic valleys and ensure a minimum bond
line between the heatsink and the CPU core. Then the
compound thickens slightly over the next 100 to 300 hours of
use to its final consistency designed for long-term
stability.
- (This should not be confused with conventional phase
change pads that are pre-attached to many heatsinks. Those
pads melt each time they get hot then re-solidify when they
cool. The viscosity changes that Ceramique goes through are
much more subtle and ultimately much more effective.)
Excellent Stability - Ceramique is
engineered to not separate, run, migrate, or bleed.
Electrical Insulator - Ceramique does
not contain any metal or other electrically conductive
materials. It is a pure electrical insulator, neither
electrically conductive nor capacitive.
Wide Temperature Limits - Peak: – 40°C
to >180°C, Long-Term:
– 40°C to 140°C
Industry Leading Performance - 2 to 10
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.
|
Lets take a closer look at the contents.
A
Closer Look >>
|