The question has begun to pop up across the internets, including the the Short-Media forums: Does upgrading from Arcitic Silver 3 to Arctic Silver 5 provide a significant change in temperature that justifies the cost? In this review the performances of the two thermal pastes will be tested and explained at various fan speeds, voltages, CPU speeds, and CPU loads.

Product Description

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From Arcticsilver.com:

Introducing Arctic Silver 5. With its unique high-density filling of micronized silver and enhanced thermally conductive ceramic particles, Arctic Silver 5 provides a new level of performance and stability. Now available at Arctic Silver dealers worldwide, Arctic Silver 5 is definitely [...] The New Reference.

Since the introduction of the original Arctic Silver, the name has been found in hundreds of thousands of overclockers' sigs. Arctic Silver rarely ever had any competitors until approximately a year ago when ShinEtsu released their G-751 paste. Over time, Arctic Silver lost a few Overclockers; then came Arctic Silver 5.

Why the jump from Arctic Silver 3 to Arctic Silver 5, though? In Japan, where Arctic Silver has a large market, the number 4 is synonymous with death. Therefore, they decided to name the new thermal paste Arctic Silver 5 to avoid the poor marketing.

 

Procedure

To test the two thermal compounds the system listed below was used in a controlled environment:

• A fresh application of Arctic Silver 3 was applied onto the CPU following directions direct from Arcticsilver.com.
• One day was allowed for the Arctic Silver 3 to "burn in"; it ran for 6 hours and then set for 12 hours turned off.
• Arctic Silver 3 was then tested under the following conditions: 1.5vcore 2200 rpm idle and load; 1.5vcore 4600 rpm idle and load; 1.7vcore 2200 rpm idle and load; 1.7vcore 4600 rpm idle and load; 1.9vcore 2200 rpm idle and load; and lastly 1.9vcore 4600 rpm idle and load.
• The procedure was repeated for the Arctic Silver 5
• MBM 5 was used to obtain temperatures.

 

Test System

• Lian Li Pc61
• Abit Nf7-s Bios 18
• AMD 1800+ @ 1.5vcore, 1.7vcore, and 1.9vcore
• SLK900 U (not lapped)
• Vantec Tornado @ 4623 rpm and @ 2220 rpm
• Antec 480W TruePower PSU
• ATi Radeon 9800 Pro 256MB
• Barracuda IV 60 GB Hard Drive
• Western Digital 120 GB Hard Drive
• Lite-On 16xDVD-Rom
• Lite-On 52x24x52 CD-RW
• Vantec Nexus Rheobus

Testing

First, a fresh application of Arctic Silver 3 was applied onto the heatsink and cpu following directions direct from ArcticSilver.com. The computer ran for 5 hours, then sat (turned off) for 15 hours. After this cool down, the computer was turned back on and results were gathered using a Nexus rheobus and prime95. Each test was run for 30 minutes to allow a more accurate reading.

The cpu and heatsink were cleaned using 70% Alcohol swabs. Arctic Silver 5 was then applied and temperatures were gathered using the same procedure.

Reading the Results

Each test result shows eight gauges in seperate boxes. The first box in the upper left is the CPU temperature. The one on the first row 2nd column is the Northbridge temperature. The box in the 2nd row, 1st column is the Vcore for the CPU; it shows different readings than the voltage set in the BIOS. In the next column is Vdimm: the voltage on the memory. In the third row, first column is the RPM of the heatsink fan (CPU fan). The next gauge shows the RPM of the fan mounted onto the GPU. In the fourth row, first colum it shows the speed of the CPU in MHz. The last gauge is the cpu usage percentage. 100% means a full load and 0-5% means the machine is idle.

Description of Results

In the first column, temperatures were taken at stock speeds, voltage, low RPM, and idle CPU usage. In the picture to the right, the temperatures were taken from stock speeds, voltages, high RPM, and low CPU usage. In the next picture, temperatures were taken at stock speeds, voltages, low RPM, and load CPU usage. Then in the final picture in the row, temperatures were taken at stock speeds, voltages, high RPM , and load CPU usage.

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Arctic Silver 3	click to enlarge	click to enlarge	click to enlarge	click to enlarge
Arctic Silver 5	click to enlarge	click to enlarge	click to enlarge	click to enlarge

In this next set, the first column is readings from a CPU at 2GHz (from 1.53), 1.7Vcore (from 1.5), low RPM, and idle CPU usage. The next coulmn is a CPU at 2GHz, 1.7Vcore, full RPM, and idle CPU usage. The next shot is of a CPU at 2GHz, 1.7Vcore, low RPM, and load CPU usage. The last column is a CPU at 2GHz, 1.7Vcore, full RPM, and load CPU usage.

	1	2	3	4
Arctic Silver 3	click to enlarge	click to enlarge	click to enlarge	click to enlarge
Arctic Silver 5	click to enlarge	click to enlarge	click to enlarge	click to enlarge

In the last set are readings taken from a CPU at 2.3GHz, 1.9Vcore, low RPM, and idle CPU usage. The screenshot in the 2nd column are from a CPU at 2.3GHz, 1.9Vcore, high RPM, and idle CPU usage. The next shot is of a CPU at 2.3GHz, 1.9Vcore, low RPM, and load CPU usage. The final shot is from a CPU at 2.4GHz, 1.9Vcore, high RPM, and load CPU usage.

	1	2	3	4
Arctic Silver 3	click to enlarge	click to enlarge	click to enlarge	click to enlarge
Arctic Silver 5	click to enlarge	click to enlarge	click to enlarge	click to enlarge

Conclusion

As a result of applying Arctic Silver 5, temperatures dropped between 1 and 4 degrees Celsius in the various situations tested above. Arctic Silver 5 out-performs Arctic Silver 3 at load, idle, high RPM, low RPM, high speeds & voltages, and low speeds & voltages. Arctic Silver 5 is the clear winner. If you don't have the money to go out and buy an SLK947, this is an excellent, cheap upgrade to push your processor a little farther. Arctic Silver 5 wins in every situation.