What? Did someone mention Thermal Grease? Hmmm....

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What? Did someone mention Thermal Grease? Hmmm....

Postby Iguana » 09 Jul 2010, 23:32

I didn't know where to ask this and google didn't help much, so I thought I would ask you guys: What's the best thermal grease to use on the ps3??

Recently, about 3 weeks ago I took apart my ps3 so that I could apply better thermal compound on the RSX and C.B./E. and I did some research and I decided to try some articsilver 5, because it had high reviews.. So I went and got my articsilver 5 and I applied it to the gpu and cpu (rubbing off the old compound with alcohol from both the processors and the heat sync). When I applied it I wasted the entire bottle, because I thought why not? :lol:
I guess I wasn't thinking clearly, because when I put it back together, it over heated faster than it did before (when it had the old factory thermal paste) :cry:
So I think I messed up... :|
Oh and until now I've tooken apart my ps3 a couple of times and removed more thermal paste, but it still won't cool down like it did before... :roll:

Soo.. I was wondering what should i try next :?: Any ideas, suggestions?? Or should I just stick with the old factory paste?
I got a PS3 CECHLO1
Thanks!! :mrgreen:

P.S. I've found a good debate on thermal paste here--->>> http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/archive/index.php/t-187606.html
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Re: What? Did someone mention Thermal Grease? Hmmm....

Postby billb » 10 Jul 2010, 00:53

I used Arctic Silver 5 the last time I worked on my original 60GB (CECHA) with good results. That's normally sold in a 3.5 gram tube -- if you used the whole thing it sounds like way too much! :shock: Also, note that there's a "break in" period after applying in which it's supposed to get better over time. See the instructions on the arcticsilver site (they only offer instructions for AMD or Intel CPUs though):

http://www.arcticsilver.com/pdf/appmeth ... d_v1.1.pdf

I used the the method described in those instructions, applying a thin layer.
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Re: What? Did someone mention Thermal Grease? Hmmm....

Postby Iguana » 10 Jul 2010, 03:31

>+<

Alright.. I think I'll give AS5 a second chance..
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Re: What? Did someone mention Thermal Grease? Hmmm....

Postby Iguana » 11 Jul 2010, 02:45

I just got another tube AS5 from radioshack and the guy there said that it's really good, which I know, but guess what he advised... He said that I should get two tubes of AS5 and and use one on the gpu and the the other on the cpu... :lol: and I thought to myself that this guy was crazy!! :lol: Oh and he said that I should melt the circuit board a little so that it bends ?!?!?!? and I'm like :cry: wtf dude? :cry: Anyways I'll try billb's method, because I think it's the safest and best for now :wink:
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Re: What? Did someone mention Thermal Grease? Hmmm....

Postby billb » 11 Jul 2010, 17:26

Iguana wrote:He said that I should get two tubes of AS5 and and use one on the gpu and the the other on the cpu...


LOL wow, these are 3.5 gram tubes? I can just picture all the excess running all over the place in your PS3. :P
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Re: What? Did someone mention Thermal Grease? Hmmm....

Postby Iguana » 11 Jul 2010, 18:42

billb wrote:
Iguana wrote:He said that I should get two tubes of AS5 and and use one on the gpu and the the other on the cpu...


LOL wow, these are 3.5 gram tubes? I can just picture all the excess running all over the place in your PS3. :P

Yep 3.5 grams, that's what it says on the bottle... Oh and I asked him "wouldn't it drip all over the place when I put back the motherboard and use my ps3 for a couple of days?" and he said that it didn't really matter and that the only thing that mattered was that the ps3 was getting cooled off... :?
Iguana wrote:Oh and he said that I should melt the circuit board a little so that it bends ?!?!

From this I'm thinking that he's had a bent motherboard, and that he thinks that it's standard for all ps3's or something?!?!.. because I asked him why should I heat up and bend my motherboard? and he said that it would fit in better when I re-assembled my ps3...
=======================================================================================================================================
The only thing that he advised that I haven't done yet was after I cleaned up the heatsync, gpu, and cpu was that I should run a heat gun or hair drier over them for about 10 minutes... So I guess I'll try that step before applying the the thermal paste on the gpu and cpu...
Unless you guys advise me against that idea...
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Re: What? Did someone mention Thermal Grease? Hmmm....

Postby ppietro » 11 Jul 2010, 20:07

Iguana wrote:I cleaned up the heatsync, gpu, and cpu was that I should run a heat gun or hair drier over them for about 10 minutes... So I guess I'll try that step before applying the the thermal paste on the gpu and cpu...
Unless you guys advise me against that idea...


I would advise you against that idea.

This guy at RadioShack has no business giving out this kind of advice. It's very irresponsible of him to give out speculation - and bad speculation at that - as fact.

So - let's go through the guy's advice:

1. Arctic Silver is good paste.

Yes - that's true. That's about the only thing that's true in what he said.

2. You should get two tubes of AS5 and and use one on the gpu and the the other on the cpu...

Wow - all kinds of fail here. You should only apply a very thin film of AS - or any other cooling compound. The reason why is that if you put more than a thin layer, it turns the compound into an insulator, not a conductor. The thermal conductivity only works for a thin, thin layer. Too much, and it traps the heat in.

3. You should melt the circuit board a little so that it bends

This is extremely dangerous with modern 4 layer - or more layer - circuit boards. Bending them like that could break internal traces.

4. You should run a heat gun or hair drier over [the heatsync, gpu, and cpu] for about 10 minutes

Using a heat gun on these components could damage them, the solder connections, the capacitors, and many other things. That's why you should only do this as a last resort - say if you have the YLOD. Many of the component solder "reball" facilities won't even take a PS3 if you've applied the heat gun to it. Unless your system has completely failed, and you're trying to recover it to back it up, I wouldn't heat gun it.

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Re: What? Did someone mention Thermal Grease? Hmmm....

Postby Iguana » 11 Jul 2010, 21:34

ppietro wrote:This guy at RadioShack has no business giving out this kind of advice. It's very irresponsible of him to give out speculation - and bad speculation at that - as fact.

Yeah I know... thought he said he's fixed xbox's and ps3's for his friends before... (I wonder how his friend's reacted :idea: :evil: :lol: )
See that RadioShack dude is crazy :cry:

Anyways I think this is where I originally messed up when I wasted my first bottle --->>
ppietro wrote:The reason why is that if you put more than a thin layer, it turns the compound into an insulator, not a conductor. The thermal conductivity only works for a thin, thin layer. Too much, and it traps the heat in.

Oh and I haven't done anything to my ps3 yet, maybe today or tomorrow...

I think it's time for some comments :D
ppietro wrote:3. You should melt the circuit board a little so that it bends

This is extremely dangerous with modern 4 layer - or more layer - circuit boards. Bending them like that could break internal traces.

Also, if you heat up the motherboard too much the electrical components could explode explode.. :shock: Anybody here ever threw a circuit board in fire and waited to see what could happen?? All the electrical components heat up so much that they explode like small bombs...

ppietro wrote:4. You should run a heat gun or hair drier over [the heatsync, gpu, and cpu] for about 10 minutes

Using a heat gun on these components could damage them, the solder connections, the capacitors, and many other things. That's why you should only do this as a last resort - say if you have the YLOD. Many of the component solder "reball" facilities won't even take a PS3 if you've applied the heat gun to it. Unless your system has completely failed, and you're trying to recover it to back it up, I wouldn't heat gun it.

I won't be using a heat gun then... I've heard that heat ruins the metal some how, and like you said they could be damaged beyond repair... :oops:

And if you're wondering... I don't have the YLOD or any thing like that.. I just wanna cool down my ps3 :roll: besides I live in Florida and it's really hot and arid during the summer especially if you live in a two story house and your rooms upstairs... :shock:
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