Hey fam. Long time listener first time caller. I recently upgraded to the 5800X3D Anniversary Edition and wanted to post the experience with the Carbice Ice Pad that comes included in all of them. There is a lot of hate and anger online with this cooling solution (This is reddit to be fair) and I am now 30 days in and HUNDREDS of cycles on mine since I live on my computer, so here's a few tips, experiences, and results that might give some people hope.

TLDR: It does get better.

First, Some Upgrade Context: (Scroll down if you want Carbice details)

Original System I Built Back Right Around COVID. Really diving into the Corsair iCUE ecosystem because I liked the case.
- AMD 5600x, undervolted -20 all cores stable and overclocked with PBO.
- MSI MPG B550 Gaming Plus Motherboard
- NVIDIA 3060ti 8GB
- 64GB (16x4) 3600MHZ Corsair Vengance Pro
- Corsair 650w RGB PSU
- Corsair 5000D Airflow Case with 7 fans mounted on front, side, and back.
- Corsair H150i Elite LCD 360mm AIO top mounted
- Samsung 990 NVME x2
- Samsung 870 SATA SSD x1
- Samsung G70B 144hz and (idk what model but cheap) Samsung 60hz 28" 4K Monitors

So I'm coming from a 5600x and 3060ti and I have been playing scaled down on a 4K display for a few years now (Samsung G70B). I sit on this computer 12-14ish hours a day. I do work for 2 different businesses from this computer, I work for a content creator and edit videos regularly, and my only hobby as a single man is basically gaming. I live on this computer LOL. Upgrading has been on the back of my mind but it's been a combination of things that have had me in limbo.

• DDR5 is crazy marked up. I ain't rich and I don't live on much money past my bills.
• 3060ti is basically my biggest bottleneck on anything I wanna upgrade. I am a big fan of sharpness of 4K and I do a lot more than game with this system, so downgrading the monitor isn't really a vibe.
• I really don't hate my computer, so the stars need to line up for an upgrade to make sense.
• I multitask a lot on this computer all day, every day, a lot more than gaming, so the CPU and GPU are basically both going to need switched when the time comes. I see reasons to knock on both of them, so this upgrade is gonna feel pricy.

The original plan was to wait for AM5 and 50x0 cards to come down in price. Which to any enthusiast who pays attention to tech news, just feels like it's never happening. I was open to a 5900XT as the price was going sub $300, but then the 5800X3d got rumored and eventually announced and I decided to wait, Let's see if something lines up.

Then about a week before the 5800X3D went live, I found an absolute million dollar ticket. My local Best Buy listed a MSI 5080 Trio returned for HUNDREDS off retail price. Literally in a cardboard box that wasn't even retail. Something must of gone wrong with returning this because I was thinking to myself, returning without original box is normally impossible. But screw it, I get 15 days risk free to try it so it's now or never.

Purchased the 5080, upgraded my PSU, and ordered a 5800X3D Anniversary Edition on release day. Literally down to the absolute last penny I could afford draining my bank accounts and let's see if it's finally worth it. I won't see this offer for a 5080 again, and who knows how long the 5800X3D is gonna stick around or get scalped.

I was hesitant about the Carbice Ice Pad. I've been working in IT most of my life, building several computers for an old job at a local PC shop, and I want to believe in thermal pads, but we all know paste is tried and true.

Carbice Ice Pad Results

I was really disappointed when I first upgraded. I was running HOT. Like holy crap hitting 85c doing anything. Booting up the computer and browsing Chrome never dropped to a comfortable idle temperature. Coming from my -20 undervolted 5600x I was thinking something ain't right. I was hitting 80c+ doing ANYTHING. I even got an error rebooting up the computer that my CPU was overheating once or twice into the BIOS. Never seeing the light of day of anything near idle temps in the 50s.

I tried reloading windows from scratch. Maybe I had something eating my CPU. No change.

I tried using MSI's Kombo Strike BIOS options. A built in overclock and undervolt for the 5800X3D which is normally locked. Yeah no, it was still bad. Over 80c even on Kombo Strike 3.

I end up disabling Kombo Strike and doing a manual undervolt. And gained performance and lost temp. This helped a lot upfront about a week in after some research that this is just a good change for the 5800X3D regardless. I was pushing the system and dropped 5-10c.

• All Cores Curve Optimizer: -30
• PPT (Package Power Tracking): 100W
• TDC (Thermal Design Current): 70A
• EDC (Electrical Design Current): 100A

After nearly a month, the good news is I am down to 40-50c on desktop. and 70-75c gaming or beating up the CPU on my heaviest of workloads. Editing videos or gaming. I have even tried gaming on lower resolutions before posting this and the 5800X3D is staying right there at full load. I downloaded Cinebench, and I can't get above 80c on that. So it is getting better.

Today before posting this review, I also defaulted my BIOS. Let's make sure my undervolt isn't the only fix... and I'm still staying cooler than I was upon first purchase with reasonable idle temps.

Also for additional context, I have not taken off my AIO since I first installed it on the 5800X3D. No remounts or touch ups.

This thermal pad really needs HUNDREDS to THOUSANDS of heat cycles to break in I can confirm it after no doubt after a month of daily cycles on mine now. It's not bad, but don't expect low temps with it day 1 or a magic button or fix. Especially if coming from non-X3D chips. I do question AMD's partnership here a little bit, because like most of the enthusiast community I was thinking to myself, this feels way too hot out the gate. The 5800X3D is notorious to run hot, but it will get to a familiar temp again. I feel solid on the Carbice Ice Pad and my upgrade venture and I wasn't paid to say that lol.

End notes:

• 5600x to 5800X3D: I see expected gaming 1% low improvements and multitasking improvements. Yes you can feel them upfront but it's not a brand new computer feeling and not sure about $350 value still.
• Carbice Ice Pad: Questionable partnership for AMD. Once it breaks in, It's not really any lower temps than what I would expect with thermal compound and initially it feels REALLY bad... but I am only a month in. It is at a comparable temp now, and Carbice claims it ends up being better so I'll ride it out.
• 3060ti to 5080: worth every penny at my cost. With a 4K monitor, this was the biggest improvement as expected, but I know I'm not really CPU limited for the immediate future.