The first silver-based, polysynthetic thermal compound for use between modern high-power CPUs and high performance heatsinks or water-cooling solutions.

Arctic Silver 3 features:

Made with 99.9% pure micronized silver. Arctic Silver 3 uses three unique shapes and sizes pure silver particles to maximize particle-to-particle contact area and thermal transfer. This exclusive combination gives the compound a distinctive silver-green color as each type of particle reflects light differently.

Over 70% silver content by weight. Arctic Silver 3 also contains a small percentage of specially engineered micronized boron nitride. The thermally-enhanced boron nitride ceramic particles improve the compound's flow characteristics and long-term stability.

Controlled triple phase viscosity. Arctic Silver 3 does not contain any silicone. The suspension fluid is a proprietary mixture of advanced polysynthetic oils that work together to provide three distinctive functional phases. As it comes from the tube, Arctic Silver 3's consistency is engineered for easy application in a thin even layer. During the CPU's initial use, the compound thins out to enhance the filling of the microscopic valleys and ensure the best physical contact between the heatsink and the CPU core. Then the compound thickens slightly over the next 50 to 200 hours of use to its final consistency designed for long-term stability. (This should not be confused with conventional phase change pads that are pre-attached to many heatsinks. Those pads melt each time they get hot then re-solidify when they cool. The viscosity changes that Arctic Silver 3 goes through are much more subtle and ultimately much more effective.)

Absolute Stability. Arctic Silver 3 will not separate, run, migrate, or bleed.

Thermal conductivity: >9.0 W/mK (Hot Wire Method Per MIL-C-47113)

Thermal Resistance: <0.004°C-in²/Watt (0.001 inch layer)

Extended temperature limits: – 40°C to >180°C

3 to 12 degrees centigrade lower CPU full load core temperatures than standard thermal compounds or thermal pads. When measured with a calibrated thermal diode imbedded in the CPU core.

Negligible electrical conductivity. Arctic Silver 3 was formulated to conduct heat, not electricity. It is only electrically conductive in a thin layer under extreme compression. (While much safer than electrically conductive silver and copper greases, Arctic Silver 3 should be kept away from electrical traces, pins, and leads. The compound is slightly capacitive and could potentially cause problems if it bridged two close-proximity electrical paths.)

Arctic Silver 3 is sold in 3 gram and 6 gram tubes. The 3 gram tube contains enough compound to cover at least 20 to 30 small CPU cores, or 7 to 12 large CPU cores, or 3 to 6 heat plates. At a layer 0.003" thick, the 3 gram tube will cover approximately 18 square inches.

Important Reminder: Due to the unique shape and sizes of the silver particles in Arctic Silver 3, it will take a minimum of 72 hours, and as many as 200 hours to achieve maximum particle to particle thermal conduction and for the heatsink to CPU interface to reach maximum conductivity. (This period will be longer in a system without a fan on the heatsink.) The CPU's temperature will drop as much as 2C to 5C over this "break-in" period.

Caution: We do not recommend using Arctic Silver 3 on the older slot type Intel Xeon processors with large multiple square inch CPU to heatsink interfaces. The huge contact area and large gaps between the processor and the heatsink require a thermal pad or thick mesh-reinforced paste. Arctic Silver 3 can be used on socket type Xeons without a problem.

There are absolutely no returns on this product.