Details
Arctic Silver 5 is the reference high-density silver thermal compound from Arctic Silver, made with 99.9% pure micronized silver and enhanced thermally conductive ceramic particles. It is made for the gap between modern high-power CPUs and high-performance air coolers or water blocks, contains no silicone and is not electrically conductive. This listing is the 12-gram syringe.
Properties
- Type
- Silver thermal compound (paste)
- Filler
- 99.9% pure silver plus zinc oxide, aluminum oxide and boron nitride
- Filler content
- Over 88% by weight
- Silicone
- None
- Electrical conductivity
- Not electrically conductive (very slightly capacitive)
- Syringe
- 12 g
Made with 99.9% pure silver
Arctic Silver 5 uses three unique shapes and sizes of pure silver particles. Arctic Silver says this maximizes the particle-to-particle contact area and the heat transfer through the compound.
High density
More than 88% of the compound by weight is thermally conductive filler. Next to the micronized silver it holds sub-micron zinc oxide, aluminum oxide and boron nitride particles, which Arctic Silver says improve both performance and long-term stability.
Controlled triple-phase viscosity
The suspension fluid is a proprietary mix of advanced polysynthetic oils, with no silicone. As it comes from the syringe the compound is easy to spread. During the first use of the CPU it thins out to fill the microscopic valleys between heatsink and heat spreader, then over the next 50 to 200 hours it thickens slightly to its final consistency for long-term stability. Arctic Silver points out that this is not a phase change pad that melts and solidifies with every heat cycle; the changes are much more subtle.
Break-in period
Because of the shapes and sizes of the particles, it takes up to 200 hours and several thermal cycles before the particle-to-particle conduction and the heatsink-to-CPU interface reach their best. On systems that read the internal CPU diode the measured temperature often drops 2 to 5°C over this period. The break-in happens in normal use, as long as the computer is switched off now and then so the interface can cool to room temperature; it takes longer with a slow or no fan on the heatsink.
Not electrically conductive, but keep it tidy
Arctic Silver 5 is formulated to conduct heat, not electricity, which makes it much safer than electrically conductive silver or copper greases. It is very slightly capacitive, though, so keep it away from electrical traces, pins and leads; it could cause problems if it bridges two close electrical paths.
Absolute stability
Arctic Silver says the compound will not separate, run, migrate or bleed. It is RoHS 3 compliant.
Technical data
| Model | AS5-12G |
| Type | High-density polysynthetic silver thermal compound |
| Average particle size | Under 0.49 micron (under 0.000020") |
| Temperature limits, peak | -50°C to over 180°C |
| Temperature limits, long-term | -50°C to 130°C |
| Performance | 3 to 12°C lower CPU full load core temperatures than standard thermal compounds or pads (Arctic Silver, measured with a calibrated diode in the CPU core) |
| Coverage of the 3.5 g syringe | 15 to 25 small CPU cores, 6 to 10 large CPU cores or 2 to 5 heat plates; about 16 square inches at 0.003" thick |
| Appearance | Gray, odorless grease |
| Compliance | RoHS 3 |
| Syringe content | 12 g |
Notes
- Arctic Silver advises against Arctic Silver 5 on the old slot-type Intel Xeon processors, whose large interfaces and wide gaps need a thermal pad or a thick mesh-reinforced paste. Socket-type Xeons are fine.
- Clean the old compound off with ArctiClean or isopropyl alcohol before a new application. Arctic Silver keeps its application methods for Intel and AMD processors on its website.
- Arctic Silver sells Arctic Silver 5 in a 3.5-gram and a 12-gram syringe for retail. This listing is the 12-gram syringe.
In the box
- 1x Arctic Silver 5 thermal compound, 12 g syringe
Arctic Silver's safety data sheet is a PDF.
