Hardware Analysis - IC Diamond Thermal Compound

Re: IC Diamond Thermal Compound

john albrich — 2008-04-14T09:28:21-05:00

I thought this re-sorted chart on thermal conductivity might be of interest. If you want to see them alpha-sorted by material name, go to the web-site.

Note that while aligned graphite (k=1950) has a thermal conductivity much higher than even diamond, amorphous graphite (k=5.7) is extremely low. Yet, they are all the same element in the same state (solid)...just different allotropes.

http://hypertextbook.com/physics/thermal/conduction/
The best ordinary metallic conductors are (in decreasing order) silver, copper, gold, aluminum, beryllium, and tungsten. Diamond beats them all, and graphite beats diamond only if the heat can be forced to conduct in a direction parallel (|) to the crystal layers. The material with the greatest thermal conductivity is a superfluid form of liquid helium called helium II, which only exists at temperatures below 2.17 K. Since it is highly unlikely you will encounter this substance, it is really not worth thinking about except in the fact that it is an exceptional material.

(Note: Where there is a range of values, I placed the item in the lowest (e.g. worst case) thermal conductivity position.-ja)
Thermal Conductivity (k) for Selected Materials (~300 K except where otherwise indicated)
0.0_________vacuum, perfect
0.0001?_____mylar
0.00958_____freon 12, vapor
0.016_______water, vapor (273 K)
0.02 - 0.03___polyurethane foam
0.020_______air, 10,000 m
0.02 - 0.03___polyurethane foam
0.025_______air, sea level
0.025_______water, vapor (373 K)
0.026_______silica aerogel
0.03 - 0.04___wool
0.03 - 0.05___polystyrene foam
0.03 - 0.08___carpet
0.0307______helium I (< 4.2 K)
0.034_______feathers
0.035_______fiberglas
0.04 - 0.09___paper
0.04________cotton
0.05________ice cream powder
0.05 - 0.15___asbestos
0.05 - 1.50___concrete
0.05________polyester
0.05________straw
0.056?______zirconia
0.06________felt
0.0743______freon 12, liquid
0.09 - 0.14___wood
0.11________plywood
0.11________soap powder
0.14________ethanol*
0.15 - 0.27___plaster
0.15 - 0.45___neoprene
0.15 - 0.52___asphalt
0.15________particle board
0.152_______helium gas
0.16________snow (< 273 K)
0.18________brick
0.25________glycol*
0.25________methanol*
0.25________teflon
0.26________mica
0.27________sand
0.41________glycol-water*
0.49________methanol-water*
0.561_______water, liquid (273 K)
0.679_______water, liquid (373 K)
1.0_________limestone
1.1 - 1.2_____glass
1.75________marble
2.2_________granite
2.2_________water, ice (273 K)
2.8_________water, ice (223 K)
5.7_________carbon, graphite (_|_, amorphous)
6.74________plutonium
8.34________mercury
14__________steel, stainless__(273 K)
21.9________titanium
27.6________uranium
35.3________lead
45 - 65______steel, plain (273 K)
66.6________tin
71.6________platinum
80.2________iron
90.7________nickel
93.7________chromium
110_________bronze (273 K)
116_________zinc
120_________brass (273 K)
174_________tungsten
237_________aluminum
317_________gold
401_________copper
429_________silver
895_________carbon, diamond
1950________carbon, graphite (|, parallel)
~100,000?___helium II__(< 2.2 K)

*source data of these 5 * items from http://www.overclockers.com/articles609/
It should be noted that the actual k will depend on the percentage of water in the water/___ol liquid combinations.

Re: IC Diamond Thermal Compound

McFly — 2008-04-14T05:24:24-05:00

I bought mine from HeatsinkFactory.com -- about the same results ... nothing at first, at best a few degrees. Not really worth the extra trouble vs. AS5 if you ask me.

Re: IC Diamond Thermal Compound

Meats_Of_Evil — 2008-04-14T04:37:46-05:00

Where did you bought it from? Is it possible that you got low quality diamond paste? Or not enough carats in the paste, seeing as this is a hand made mix process I keep thinking that everyone could get ripped off very easily.

I would feel better If I made a batch myself.

Re: IC Diamond Thermal Compound

Mothow — 2008-04-11T13:39:26-05:00

It didnt do squat for my system at frist .It was hard to get out of the tube.I had to let it sit in a cup of hot water for about 10 minutes.And after going through all that my temps were no better than before.But i will say after about 2 days i did see a 2/3c drop in temps with the same amibent temps

Re: IC Diamond Thermal Compound

john albrich — 2008-04-11T12:26:19-05:00

"3-4 degC" is within the margin of error of some of the temperature monitoring systems*

I'm not going to worry unless I'm within maybe 15% of the maximum value permitted by my CPU specification (or there is a sudden, significant, and unexplained increase in the temperature).

Even then, I'd try alternatives to such drastic action first. I could easily create a higher temperature issue by simply performing the Heatsink Assembly uninstall/re-install procedure, and I could easily damage something during the procedure as well.

The risk to my computer just isn't worth it for only 4degC.

(*system=sensor+amplifier electronics+firmware algorithms+reporting software)

Re: IC Diamond Thermal Compound

Robert Nagler — 2008-04-11T10:42:48-05:00

If you ignore the dust collecting on your heatsink after 4-5 month, you have wasted your good money on fancy greases. A dirty heasink can raise your CPU temp by 3-4C.
It's hard to get into the grooves of some heatsinks to get the grit out, so every couple of years remove it, wash it with dish detergent (of course remove the fan) rinse it well ,dry it. Reinstall!! Good luck

Re: IC Diamond Thermal Compound

CrAsHnBuRnXp — 2008-01-13T04:56:09-05:00

CrAsHnBuRnXp said:

FordGT90Concept said:

That's why I was going to buy a lot of them...save on shipping.

Is it so thick that the heatsink won't be able to spread it out when it is put on?

To be honest, Im not all that sure. I didnt want to waste the stuff so I guess Ill find out the next time I take the HSF off. Hopefully soon as I want to get a new mobo.

I will defentaly be getting more when I get the money. Im going to get it in bulk.

When I get my new motherboard next week, I will post a pic in this thread showing what the IC Diamond paste looks like after applying the HSF.

Re: IC Diamond Thermal Compound

Sean Costello — 2007-12-24T03:58:44-05:00

its probally really between 6-8 cts

Re: IC Diamond Thermal Compound

john albrich — 2007-12-24T02:52:22-05:00

Has any one confirmed the actual carat weight of diamonds in the tubes? I should think 7 Carats plus the suspension medium would comprise more material than appears to be in that syringe.

When you buy 7C, 10C, 25C, etc. it would be nice to know that's what you're really buying. Or, are they "cheating" and supplying 7 Carats of weight of diamond + suspension medium?

Re: IC Diamond Thermal Compound

McFly — 2007-12-24T02:08:16-05:00

I'm thinking I may have to get some of that shtuff.

Re: IC Diamond Thermal Compound

Mothow — 2007-12-24T01:10:19-05:00

I have 3 tubes. One i bought from Petra's (Directron.com has it cheaper though)and the other two i got for free.OCforums was offering free tubes of IC Diamond 7 carat thermal paste and ended up sending me 2 tube's..lol.But im waiting on my Ultima 90 before i use it.I dont want to waste it on a Thermaltake TMG i1 even though its a good heatsink.(A little better the the Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro )there isnt much in the tube.I peeled back the cover on one

see open tube
http://img175.imageshack.us/my.php?image=imagejq5.jpg

Re: IC Diamond Thermal Compound

CrAsHnBuRnXp — 2007-12-23T23:02:44-05:00

I just noticed that they are offering $25. I want $25.

Re: IC Diamond Thermal Compound

CrAsHnBuRnXp — 2007-12-23T22:53:51-05:00

john albrich said:

G. G. said: [quote]
A sample of one constitutes "Results are in."??? I had no idea Crash held such commanding power in the hardware community! lol

If you only knew. Lol.

Re: IC Diamond Thermal Compound

CrAsHnBuRnXp — 2007-12-23T22:51:19-05:00

G. G. said:

Hey Crash.....

Take a look

http://www.overclockers.com/home.asp

IC Diamond - User Results A number of Forums are testing IC Diamond and I'd like to share their results with our readers - Results are in at hardwareanalysis.com ("I highly recommend this product to anyone who is looking into a new type of thermal paste for your cooling needs. My max temp is now what my IDLE used to be!"), ocforums.com, techpowerup.com, and icrontic.com.

That is very interesting. I like how my thread is mentioned twice on two separate websites.

Re: IC Diamond Thermal Compound

Shawn Langley — 2007-12-23T10:53:10-05:00

Anyone have a good UK supplier of this? it looks pretty damb awsome