This afternoon I finally changed the fan of the TV server for a new one, an Arctic GT 11 rev.2
Had some trouble getting the push-pins to work around the heatsink, but in the end it sat snug and so I put all cables back in and turned it on. Enormous racket. For a silent cooling solution, it was making quite a lot of noise. Aye, it did cool all right, but really, the noise was louder than the Intel fan had sounded. I also noticed the fan running at only full speed, 2100 rpm.

So I installed Speedfan and turned the speed of the fan down. Even at 300 rpm the racket stayed loud. 62 dBA loud. We could hear it in the kitchen, through two doors and a hallway. I also noticed a tingling sound, as if metal was bouncing around in there.

After 45 minutes of trying to reseat it and putting new cooling paste on, I gave up, packed the thing in and returned it to the store. The store gave me two old Intel fans along, one with a big copper base and one similar to what I had before.

Tried the copper heatsink... didn't fit. Definitely not one for a socket 1156, its push-pins just ran short 2 mm on all sides. So I then tried the other fan... what? Same problem, didn't want to fit.

Knowing my luck, I'd already bought some bicycle oil, so I started oiling my old fan. Put it back together and replaced two of the broken push-pins with parts from the replacement fans. At this point I found that we didn't have any cooling paste anymore, but Holly did have Akasa thermal adhesive tape. I cut a piece out of it, stuck it on the heatsink base and put the computer back together.

Started it up, sounds nice and quiet.
But... it's running 65C idle. I turned the fan speed up to 90% and managed to get it down to 47C. Still not good, as before it was 27C idle. Running just a Flash video in the browser will give temperatures of 105C -- yep, the maximum for the i3-530.

So, in a moment I'm going to take that machine apart again and taking that tape off, as it's really not doing its business. What alternate can I use for cooling paste, though? I've read that people use petroleum jelly, but the only version I have of that is something called udder ointment (uierzalf), which is petroleum jelly with paraffin, a bacterium killing bit and sheep fat. Not sure if that can be used.

So if not, what else can I use? It's just past eleven thirty in the evening, so no option for me to hop to a store and get something else.

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Hiya Jord. Probably toothpaste would work better than thermal pads, until you can get some Arctic Cooling MX-2 or 3, or Artic silver.

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"Living by the wisdom of computer science doesn't sound so bad after all. And unlike most advice, it's backed up by proofs." -- Algorithms to live by: The computer science of human decisions.

Found the problem with the tape, it had air bubbles. That will do it.
So, will mill around for 15 minutes waiting for possibilities.

Does that need to be mint toothpaste, or can we use dental paste as well? ;-)

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I think as long as in ins't the kind with huge chunks of sand in, it'd still be better than the other options ( nothing or thermal pads). Vegemite I guess might not be on hand in Holland, and salt around the metal might not be good anyway. I wonder if anyone tried aluminium foil as a shim, since with enough pressure it should be somewhat plastic.

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"Living by the wisdom of computer science doesn't sound so bad after all. And unlike most advice, it's backed up by proofs." -- Algorithms to live by: The computer science of human decisions.

Well... I rummaged around in all of the pots and small containers that we have containing screws, bolts, washers and all that loose stuff you constantly lose when you (re)build your PCs. I found a small tube of Zalman zinc oxide thermal grease in it.

Can remember I didn't like the stuff, don't know why. Probably because it's white. But given that I don't have a good alternative...

Put it on, put the system back together (7th time tonight), started her up.
Idle temp 19C.
MP4 video in Media Player Classic 36C.
Flash video in browser 38C.

So I guess I got it fixed.
But thanks Jason for the hand on my shoulder. :)

I'll go take her for a test ride, what shall I watch?
Shanghai Knights or Dirty Dozen: The deadly mission?

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I've read that people use petroleum jelly

I do (plain, not with crud in it like yours).
I've been using it on all my crunchers and other PCs I build for family for years.
Works great.

At least 90+% of what thermal grease does is keep air out, which jelly does perfectly. Also, easy to clean off - never dries out - just use a tissue.
It has high enough surface tension that it doesn't run out of the interface and it is non-conducting of electricity and it doesn't evaporate. And it is cheap!

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Has anyone ever tried stuff like this for cooling CPU's?

Zel Jel Stunt Gelâ„¢ (Viscous) (165)

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A pretty extensive review of thermal compounds was posted on the forum here not too long ago. Might be worth a good reading there.

And yes, they tried toothpaste. It....worked better than expected, but not as well as everything else.

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Linux laptop:
record uptime: 1511d 20h 19m (ended due to the power brick giving-up)