Innovation Cooling's Diamond 7 TIM test results

[123bob]

Nice report Bail....good pics, nice approach on testing patterns! I'll add the best pieces of your report to my next report. I've been minimal with the pics....I like your approach here.

OK, here’s the biggie in my book. Testing against Shin Etsu X23….I’ve have had my best mounts with this paste. It can be somewhat difficult to work with, but very good…..


Specs:
Q6600 G0 VID = 1.275
Abit IP35 Pro bios = 14
Gskill 2 x 1Gb regular old 800mhz stuff

Settings:
FSB: 360 MHz
Multi: 9x
Core Speed: 3.24 GHz
DRAM Ratio: 1:1
PCI-E Clock: 100 Mhz
Vcore bios: 1.335v
DDR2: 1.825v
CPU Vtt: 1.2v
vMCH: 1.25v
vICH: 1.05v
ICHIO: 1.5v
DDR2 ref: 0%
CpuGtlref 0/2: 67%
CpuGtlref 1/3: 67%

Readings:
vcore "actual idle" (CPUz reading) : 1.290
vcore "actual loaded" (CPUz reading) : 1.260

Cooling:
CPU Block/Cooler: Fuzion - Standard install – screws cranked down very hard to the end of spring compression, then about 2 turns more. Call it a hard mount…
Before TIM: Shin Etsu X23
Mount age: about 6 months old.
Paste pattern: 2 rice grains in the middle with a thin square ring around the "ditch", about 3/16 from the outer edge.

Before Temps:
Idle-Before: CoreTemp v0.97.1
Ambient: 26.4C

Core 0: 32
Core 1: 34
Core 2: 31
Core 3: 31

Load-Before: (Boinc-all four cores @ 100%) CoreTemp v0.97.1 @6 months runtime...
Ambient: 26.4c

Core 0: 42
Core 1: 44
Core 2: 38
Core 3: 39

After Paste pattern:
Healthy Pea size in middle. See pic below
Mount: Screws cranked down very hard to the end of spring compression, then about 2 turns more. Call it a hard mount…




After Temps:

After Idle: Coretemp 0.97.1 @5 min runtime
Ambient: 26.4
Core 0: 32
Core 1: 33
Core 2: 30
Core 3: 30

After Load: (Boinc-all four cores @ 100%) CoreTemp v0.97.1 @5 min load.
Ambient: 26.4
Core 0: 42
Core 1: 44
Core 2: 38
Core 3: 39

After Load: (Boinc-all four cores @ 100%) CoreTemp v0.97.1 @4 HOURS load.
Ambient: 24.1
Core 0: 38
Core 1: 40
Core 2: 36
Core 3: 37

My interpretation of the results….

D7 averaged 0.75C better at idle than ShinEtsu.
D7 was the same as Shin Etsu at only 5 minutes at load.
D7 was 0.7C better than Shin Etsu at 4 hours loaded. (this factors in the 2.3C degree change in ambient temp…)

So, my conclusion is that D7 can beat Shin Etsu. I honestly didn’t think it would…..

EDIT: Another Data Point
Farm-04
After Load: (Boinc-all four cores @ 100%) CoreTemp v0.97.1 @12.5 HOURS load.
Ambient: 21.2
Core 0: 34
Core 1: 37
Core 2: 32
Core 3: 33

Ambient delta is 5.2C from "before load" to this data point. Calculating this in and doing the average across the cores, I now come up with a 1.55C improvement. So, it is improving over time, without the twist and with the heavy compression I have in this block mount. Good stuff. END EDIT

To Tasty, some “brain drizzle”.
1. I got to thinking about the composition of this stuff. It has diamonds as micro particles and the primary heat transfer mechanism. Diamonds are a VERY hard substance. When we twist the mount, are we really screwing it up? We move particles that may have stuck into the mating surfaces, and create micro-gouges in the IHS and HS. Is this better? Should we perhaps not twist and instead apply only downward force? The squish, without the twist? I would think we want to embed the diamond crystal in both opposing sides of the mount. That is the key to diamond’s heat transfer. Transfer is across its crystalline structure. If I twist, do I stack up particles in the grooves and screw up the interface layer? My empirical tests show worse results when I really mash and twist. I blew out the mount on the first machine I reported on in this thread (farm-12). I did that to the second one as well, farm-09. This one (farm-04), I did not do that to, and I won’t. My temps on farm-04 improved over run-time….

2. The Pea size seems golden so far. My best mounts came from that.

3. I’m about to switch gears on the first three machines here. Farm-04, 09, and 12 are going to be playing musical parts for some other testing I’m doing. Therefore, their mounts won’t be able to age. What I’m thinking of doing is exactly some aging tests with them. I’ll do my swapping, record the data on each machine with D7 mounts, then let them run for a week, or month, or whatever you want to see….

4. I have 10 other quads I can test on. I’ll do them all if you want. Most of the rest are Shin Etsu x38, G751 types. I may have one or two AS5 machines. I’ll have to check their logbooks. (For the rest of my teammates, yes, I keep logbooks on each machine. I track the hardware, settings, op systems, clocks, freeze-ups, failure, swaps, etc in the books. Well worth the time to write in them. I can tell you my clocks, for any given config, using the logs….It’s hard to be an Engineer sometimes…..) The question here is on getting more samples. I can cover the 10, but may run out if you want further pattern, application, or aging tests. (And no, I'm not eating the stuff on toast. It really doesn't taste that good... I am intrigued by the bacon grease part though, still.....) I'm up to testing different compositions too. I wonder if a bit thinner, no twist, would result in better transfer. The animal you're dealing with is not like metal or ceramic based TIMs. I find this entire exercise fascinating....and yes, if Innovative profits from it, just remember your friends here at XS/WCG......

Regards,
Bob

EDIT: This is supplied by my mass water cooler on the farm.....