Here is a test/tutorial on how to apply thermal compound. Click in the menu on 'How to do it', then 'Cooling Compound'. (Menu doesn't work in FF).

In the article is also a link to the 'peanut butter as thermal compound' test

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I think the people that did the testing to show that substances like peanut butter and mayonaise are just as good as silver for use as thermal compounds may have been smoking something.

No, they just tried it & measured the results. And the result speaks for themselves. Pretty much anything (when applied correctly) between the hetsink & the CPU is better than nothing.
And those compunds that are supposed to be the best thing you can imagine are either no better than just standard thermal paste, or so marginally better it's pretty much within the range of the error of measurement.
The advantage heatsink compound has over vegemite or toothpaste is that even when it does dry out it will still be effective. That is not likely to be the case with the other 2.

For those that are interested, Thermal goop comparison.

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Grant
Darwin NT

It seems like food would spoil and mold would get in there and destroy the heat conductivity after several days.

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You missed something......
The primary cooling medium is a free unimpeded flow of air.
Ambient temperature aside......

I suggest cleaning out all the air vents with a soft paintbrush and replacing any fibre filters with new (if fitted).
Do not forget to clean the cooling fan blades as these act as dust magnets on the leading edges (you may notice a reduction in noise after doing this)

The main watchwords here are:- MAKE SURE IT IS TURNED OFF AND DISCONNECTED FROM THE MAINS ELECTRICITY SUPPLY AND THAT YOU TAKE PRECAUTIONS TO PREVENT STATIC DISCHARGES.
If you do not feel competent enough to do this then take it to someone who is.

Regards,
Graeme Murphy.
www.boincuk.com

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Liquid nitrogen is also very nice. I get mine courtesy of the local university. Can you see me lugging around a tank of gas just to use a notebook computer?

My boxed Prescott 640 came with the Intel standard aluminum heatsink and speed adjustable fan and with the Intel thermal heat pad. The CPU will run at a maximum 64C (32C case) with HT on and both processors running at 100%. It usually runs at 59C..61C under a normal full load. All this is within the normal operating range. Even in the summer with a 40C case the CPU temp remains within normal range.

I got the best improvement in temp reduction of about 4C by changing the case. The new case has a hole in the side with a large tube that funnels cold outside air directly to the top of the CPU heat sink. I also have a 80mm fan mounted on the case side that blows outside air directly on the NV6800 video card which gave a huge temp reduction for the video card. I also have 3 high volume exhaust fans and, yes, sometimes it seems a little bit noisy.

In the real world the cooling solution only has to be sufficient not perfect. A perfect heatsink would be made of solid gold or titanium. There is also a high performance thermal resin that permanently 'glues' the heatsink to the CPU and has nearly perfect heat transfer characteristics. Make your own conclusion about the practicability of such a solution.

I have two old P3s that were installed with common thermal grease which I'm sure has hardened. Both of them still do not run any hotter than they did when they were new. Again, the heat transfer only has to be sufficient not perfect.

I'm sure that if you overclock your CPU you would then need to have the very best heat solution that was available which is probably going to be water cooling. I did see an ad for a small air-conditioning unit that sits under your case that looks like another possible solution for really hot systems.

I also realize that the discussion was started regarding a notebook computer so most of what has been said here is academic at best. For a notebook I might suggest a Peltier device. An good article about this can be found here. Although, the reviews of all the available Peltier devices report that the cooling improvement is marginal at best.

I was talking to the proprietor of a computer store the other day and he said that changing the heatsink or the fan of any processor voids the warranty of that processor. Don't know whether taking apart the processor and its heatsink to apply new or different thermal grease would void it too or not. I wouldn't be surprised if it would.

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I was talking to the proprietor of a computer store the other day and he said that changing the heatsink or the fan of any processor voids the warranty of that processor. Don't know whether taking apart the processor and its heatsink to apply new or different thermal grease would void it too or not. I wouldn't be surprised if it would.

But some cpu's, Pent M for instance, are supplied without heatsinks.

Liquid nitrogen is also very nice. I get mine courtesy of the local university. Can you see me lugging around a tank of gas just to use a notebook computer?

Now where's that little red wagon when you need it?

Back to the original poster on this one...You're notebook wouldn't happen to be a Dell, would it?

I've found that my Del Latitude D610 runs a good 2-3 degrees cooler if I leave the end of the machine with the bottom intake vent hanging off the end of the desk...

Silly design, that...

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The most I've ever done with a notebook is look at it. But if I had had one I would have made or bought a wire rack to prop it several inches (perhaps ten centimeters) off the desk to let air circulate freely under it. Maybe an old dish drainer that Mama used to use?......

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I was talking to the proprietor of a computer store the other day and he said that changing the heatsink or the fan of any processor voids the warranty of that processor. Don't know whether taking apart the processor and its heatsink to apply new or different thermal grease would void it too or not. I wouldn't be surprised if it would.

But some cpu's, Pent M for instance, are supplied without heatsinks.

OEM processors are supplied without heatsinks, and a 1 year warranty.

"Boxed" processors come with a Heatsink/Fan, and a longer warranty if you use the factory setup.

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I was talking to the proprietor of a computer store the other day and he said that changing the heatsink or the fan of any processor voids the warranty of that processor. Don't know whether taking apart the processor and its heatsink to apply new or different thermal grease would void it too or not. I wouldn't be surprised if it would.

But some cpu's, Pent M for instance, are supplied without heatsinks.

OEM processors are supplied without heatsinks, and a 1 year warranty.

"Boxed" processors come with a Heatsink/Fan, and a longer warranty if you use the factory setup.

Pentium M's do not come with Heatsinks, if you build with AOpen mobo's, AOpen provide the heatsink. Aopen i915GMm-HFS

Andy

Pentium M's do not come with Heatsinks, if you build with AOpen mobo's, AOpen provide the heatsink.

Must all be OEM CPUs then.
Retail versions have always come with their own heatsink/fan- at least for desktops. Is there a retail version of the PentiumM or are they all OEM?

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Grant
Darwin NT

Back to the original poster on this one...You're notebook wouldn't happen to be a Dell, would it?

I've found that my Del Latitude D610 runs a good 2-3 degrees cooler if I leave the end of the machine with the bottom intake vent hanging off the end of the desk...

Silly design, that...

LOL, mine too. (although I have a compaq/hp ).

When I leave it running, I set it on top of a small book. That is just enough room to let the air run underneath and get to the vents.

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Fear will keep the local systems in line. Fear of this battle station. - Grand Moff Tarkin

Pentium M's do not come with Heatsinks, if you build with AOpen mobo's, AOpen provide the heatsink.

Must all be OEM CPUs then.
Retail versions have always come with their own heatsink/fan- at least for desktops. Is there a retail version of the PentiumM or are they all OEM?

Except for two I have reclaimed from smashed laptops, where it all started, they have all been retail, in fancy Intel boxes. I've been using them to build 100% silent media centre's for friends and friends of friends. They are powerful enough to run two digital TV card's so that you can record three, free to air digital channels and play a DVD at the same time.

Andy

I've found that my Del Latitude D610 runs a good 2-3 degrees cooler if I leave the end of the machine with the bottom intake vent hanging off the end of the desk...

LOL, mine too. (although I have a compaq/hp ).

When I leave it running, I set it on top of a small book. That is just enough room to let the air run underneath and get to the vents.

Much cooler temperatures can be reached by slightly (or even "massively" :-) by as much as 0.5 Volt - depends on actual processor piece) undervolting the CPU. The whole Pentium M family and newer Athlons are capable doing this with small software utilities.

Peter

I've found that my Del Latitude D610 runs a good 2-3 degrees cooler if I leave the end of the machine with the bottom intake vent hanging off the end of the desk...

LOL, mine too. (although I have a compaq/hp ).

When I leave it running, I set it on top of a small book. That is just enough room to let the air run underneath and get to the vents.

Much cooler temperatures can be reached by slightly (or even "massively" :-) by as much as 0.5 Volt - depends on actual processor piece) undervolting the CPU. The whole Pentium M family and newer Athlons are capable doing this with small software utilities.

Peter

Pentium M's can be safely run with core voltage at 1.1v, reported on several review and message boards. I can also verify mine has been running at this for at least 6 months with absolutely no ill effects.

Andy

Much cooler temperatures can be reached by slightly (or even "massively" :-) by as much as 0.5 Volt - depends on actual processor piece) undervolting the CPU. The whole Pentium M family and newer Athlons are capable doing this with small software utilities.

Pentium M's can be safely run with core voltage at 1.1v, reported on several review and message boards. I can also verify mine has been running at this for at least 6 months with absolutely no ill effects.

While testing it, this Pentium Mwas running many days fine at 0.95V at full speed. To be sure stable, I increased it later to 1.05V, but the temperature is still by 19 deg. C lower than at default voltage (heat difference of by 14 Watt lower consumption).

Peter