[Review] Indigo Xtreme vs. AS5, MX-2, IC Diamond, Shin-Etsu X23-7783D

[EnJoY]

I am ordering some today to test with my new Corsair H50 and to go along with this, 2 1850 RPM Gentle typhoon. Can we say 7-8C drop across the board! I hope so.

Careful, I used Indigo Xtreme with my H50 and during the reflow process you can damage the pump within the H50's block.

Temps got up to around 80c without the pump or fan connected and once it was done and I booted her up, the H50 made this awful noise from the pump which didn't stop until several hours later.

I'm pretty confident the extreme heat took a toll on the pumps internals, then again I can't be sure. So just be cautious.

[masska]

Careful, I used Indigo Xtreme with my H50 and during the reflow process you can damage the pump within the H50's block.

Temps got up to around 80c without the pump or fan connected and once it was done and I booted her up, the H50 made this awful noise from the pump which didn't stop until several hours later.

I'm pretty confident the extreme heat took a toll on the pumps internals, then again I can't be sure. So just be cautious.

was it a noise similar to when the pump is priming? or maybe the heat caused the water to move. What are your temps like now?

[vengance_01]

Careful, I used Indigo Xtreme with my H50 and during the reflow process you can damage the pump within the H50's block.

Temps got up to around 80c without the pump or fan connected and once it was done and I booted her up, the H50 made this awful noise from the pump which didn't stop until several hours later.

I'm pretty confident the extreme heat took a toll on the pumps internals, then again I can't be sure. So just be cautious.

What would you recommend?

[EnJoY]

My guess is that the heat caused the water to move away from the block and the pump, sort of boiled in there which caused the impeller to start dry.

Temps are fine now, for an H50. Load at 4.0GHz 1.425v on my PHII 965 is 52c prime blend. The H50 is fairly limited in terms of it's heat capacity.

If you're going to do this, I recommend leaving the pump running, fan off for the first 30 seconds, then turn the pump off until it hits 80c, then pump back on. The point being, don't let the pump sit there at 80c for too long. Then leave it going for another minute with just the pump on. Should be enough for proper flow.

[dejanh]

My guess is that the heat caused the water to move away from the block and the pump, sort of boiled in there which caused the impeller to start dry.

Temps are fine now, for an H50. Load at 4.0GHz 1.425v on my PHII 965 is 52c prime blend. The H50 is fairly limited in terms of it's heat capacity.

If you're going to do this, I recommend leaving the pump running, fan off for the first 30 seconds, then turn the pump off until it hits 80c, then pump back on. The point being, don't let the pump sit there at 80c for too long. Then leave it going for another minute with just the pump on. Should be enough for proper flow.

Once the re-flow temperature is reached (~80C) a liquid-cooled system does not need more than about 30 seconds to finish the re-flow before you can turn the pump back on. There should be no damage that occurs at that time. Not to mention that for the water to start boiling in the pump it's temperature actually needs to hit 100C. Contact surfaces should do this much sooner than the temperature of the water actually increases anywhere near the 100C mark.

[vengance_01]

My guess is that the heat caused the water to move away from the block and the pump, sort of boiled in there which caused the impeller to start dry.

Temps are fine now, for an H50. Load at 4.0GHz 1.425v on my PHII 965 is 52c prime blend. The H50 is fairly limited in terms of it's heat capacity.

If you're going to do this, I recommend leaving the pump running, fan off for the first 30 seconds, then turn the pump off until it hits 80c, then pump back on. The point being, don't let the pump sit there at 80c for too long. Then leave it going for another minute with just the pump on. Should be enough for proper flow.

Thanks for the pointers. I will be trying the tim over the weekend. Along with my GT 1850 fans, I should see some nice drops.

[GamerBR]

Has anyone tested to see if there is any difference between a lapped and non lapped CPU using Indigo Xtreme? My first application was in a already lapped CPU, but now I'm getting a new one and it doesn't to see to be worth lapping it if Indigo Xtreme is used.

[dejanh]

Has anyone tested to see if there is any difference between a lapped and non lapped CPU using Indigo Xtreme? My first application was in a already lapped CPU, but now I'm getting a new one and it doesn't to see to be worth lapping it if Indigo Xtreme is used.

Assuming that the thermal interface between the die and the IHS is good (which it almost certainly is), there will be absolutely no purpose to lapping especially when using IX. IX really makes a perfect bond between your sink/block and the IHS.

[EnJoY]

Once the re-flow temperature is reached (~80C) a liquid-cooled system does not need more than about 30 seconds to finish the re-flow before you can turn the pump back on. There should be no damage that occurs at that time. Not to mention that for the water to start boiling in the pump it's temperature actually needs to hit 100C. Contact surfaces should do this much sooner than the temperature of the water actually increases anywhere near the 100C mark.

Yes, I understand the water wasn't actually boiling (I understand boiling points), I'm really not sure what, if anything may have occured. In a normal watercooled system, there would be no issues. However in my H50, where the pump is right on top of the waterblock, things are different.

[KaRLiToS]

Can someone tellme (suggest me) THE BEST thermal paste on the market, I dont care about the price!

[masska]

Can someone tellme (suggest me) THE BEST thermal paste on the market, I dont care about the price!

-----Here-----

[LarsMarkelson]

^ agreed, and I highly recommend reading the skinneelabs Vapor review linked on that page too.

[Church]

indigo xtreme is even better then Coollaboratory Liquid Pro/Ultra?

[LarsMarkelson]

Unsure but it has a major advantage in that it is easy to remove.

[Tabzilla]

indigo xtreme is even better then Coollaboratory Liquid Pro/Ultra?

The Indigo Xtreme website has a link to a review where it was outperformed by the coollaboratory stuff (which I thought was odd). However, Skinee said somewhere that the Coollaboratory TIM was incredibly hard to remove.

[Captain_Harlock]

Coollaboratory Pro is the one that is hard to remove. Coollaboratory Ultra is supposed to fix that. Also Pro will destroy aluminum and in a matter of days/weeks, sor of like an acid. Again, the new Ultra is supposed to fix that, and make it simpler to apply. Vapor said he was look forward to testing the new Ultra. Its very hard to get in N. America right now. But from the german reviews I've read, it does indeed solve these problems, and is eaiser to apply. The down fall is its a good 1-2 degrees below the original Pro. But then again, that still puts it right there in the top two or three TIM's and you get what looks to be maybe 5 to 10 applications for about the same price or less than I-X. That give it a unique edge for those who like to change blocks alot. I'm still waiting for Vapor to do a test for us here in N. America, but I think its gonna be a real winner.


EDIT

Here link to official site showing vids on how to apply and remove the new Liquid Ultra.

http://www.coollaboratory.com/en/produkte/liquid-ultra/

[Nickel020]

Ultra will still react with aluminum! It only fixes the hardening issue.

The problem with Liquid Pro is that it hardens after some time, kind of "soldering" the cooler and CPU together (you need to lap both your CPU and cooler a little to get it off). And it bonds a little with copper surfaces, leaving silver marks on them. Hopefully Ultra doesn't do this. If it doesn't, Vapor will review it

[orbiter]

Anybody know how the new Arctic Sliver Marix thermal compound compares to all the newer TIM's out there?

[Captain_Harlock]

Well it does seem that it still reacts with aluminum. Coollaboratory did say that one of their design goals for their next TIM (ie Liquid Ultra) was to make it safe for aluminum. I guess they seemed to have dropped that. But its clean up is pretty damn simple. Wipe it off with a towel. Not to many TIM's can claim that one and its light-years ahead of Liquid Pro. The vid shows an alcohol towelet being used, but the instructions say to just use a kitchen towel to wipe it off, and that no chemical is necessary for cleaning.

EDIT

Well, I'll let you guys know how well it works in a few weeks. I just ordered me up a batch, lol. Picked the slow but cheap shipping so it will take at least two weeks to get to me here in the states. I'm redoing my crunching rig and will give it a whirl with that one. It will be a simple e8400 and I've yet to decide on one of my older water blocks...either the fuzion V1 with inserts and backplate or XSPC Delta V3. I find it kind of funny that they provide alcohol towelets for cleaning when they say no chemicals are needed and you can use a kitchen towel, but they dont provide an applicator brush which is need to spread it out. lol.

[Church]

I beleave it might work very similar to pro (well, within 1 degree probably). Problem is that one can really check if new LM won't "solder" or won't "stain" anymore after half a year of usage.

[Captain_Harlock]

Well if it doesnt have an advers effect on temps, who cares about the staining of an area you can see with a cooler on in the first place. I never heard that Liquid Pro's left over silver smuges caused any negative impact on a new TIM. As for how effective it is, all the reviews I've seen show it between 1-2 degrees worse than Pro. Buts thats still puts it right up near the top. I'm curious as to how well it will work for things like chipsets and GPU's.

[Church]

Aight. From what i've heard about that "soldering" issue - it simply makes it harder to remove cooler/waterblock. And "staining" doesn't impact in any way functional/thermal capabilities, only looks. But it might be issue for those that want not just keep using for long time same hardware, but care a lot about selling it later on to others. So at the end it's up to own choice +few degrees better temps or unaffected looks for ease of selling.

[dejanh]

Aight. From what i've heard about that "soldering" issue - it simply makes it harder to remove cooler/waterblock. And "staining" doesn't impact in any way functional/thermal capabilities, only looks. But it might be issue for those that want not just keep using for long time same hardware, but care a lot about selling it later on to others. So at the end it's up to own choice +few degrees better temps or unaffected looks for ease of selling.

Liquid metal pro/ultra does not get better temperatures than IX. Look up TIM reviews across the net and here and you will see where it ranks. IX is hands down the best TIM money can buy right now or rather ETI.

[Nickel020]

But its clean up is pretty damn simple. Wipe it off with a towel. Not to many TIM's can claim that one and its light-years ahead of Liquid Pro. The vid shows an alcohol towelet being used, but the instructions say to just use a kitchen towel to wipe it off, and that no chemical is necessary for cleaning.

This no proof, as they just wiped off the stuff they put on for the installation video. If you don't heat it up Liquid Pro won't stain either.

As for how effective it is, all the reviews I've seen show it between 1-2 degrees worse than Pro. Buts thats still puts it right up near the top.

None of the reviews I've seen are good enough to warrant such a statement, which ones are you talking about? I didn't see one with multiple mounts and accurate measurements of water/air temp, so the results don't mean anything.

Aight. From what i've heard about that "soldering" issue - it simply makes it harder to remove cooler/waterblock. And "staining" doesn't impact in any way functional/thermal capabilities, only looks. But it might be issue for those that want not just keep using for long time same hardware, but care a lot about selling it later on to others. So at the end it's up to own choice +few degrees better temps or unaffected looks for ease of selling.

It will only harden after months of installation, stains will start much earlier though, although they can be polished out wit Nevr Dull (might rub out the CPU markings though). The problem is with properly reviewing it. The waterblock & CPU will not be exactly the same as before if it's stained after the first installation. This is why Vapor will only review it if it doesn't stain. I'm getting it in ~3 days, then I'll try it and if the results are good, Vapor will try to get a sample in the US or I'll get one to him from Germany

Liquid metal pro/ultra does not get better temperatures than IX. Look up TIM reviews across the net and here and you will see where it ranks. IX is hands down the best TIM money can buy right now or rather ETI.

Proof? Accoding to Vapor's review here Indigo is 2C better than MX2, and Liquid Pro is defintely more than 2C better than MX2.

[Church]

Mhmm. Original paste test/review by Vapor isn't exactly this year's. Indingo Xtreme & Shin Etsu are still best these days, or there are new even better TIMs arround since time of test (counting out already mentioned liquid metal). Are there any other testers with skills worth trusting to? (i've seen several tests/roundups with often wierdly mixed up order and unexpected winners, so i'm guessing lack of skills of those reviewers to apply paste in right way/right ammount/consistent way between tested items/waiting enough for pastes to 'cure/burn in')