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Best Thermal Paste


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Coollaboratory certainly has the best TIMs[1,2], but if you want to avoid the risks of liquid metal there's a safer option on the TG-X thermal pad[3].

[1] Coollaboratory*Liquid Pro - die erste Wärmeleitpaste aus 100% Metall

[2] Coollaboratory*Liquid Ultra - Top Performance für High-End Systeme!

[3] Ultra Soft Thermal Pad TG-X | T-Global Thermal Technology

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I read that the IC Diamond is good, but could have some scratching effect on the chip. Do you know if it's true?

It does scratch if you aren't careful removing it. Get the Arcticlean kit and let the Arcticlean 1 sit for a minute or two (you'll see the paste break down and start to mix in), take a qtip and gently roll it around to pick up all the mess, repeat until it's done then put number 2 on there to get the surface ready for new paste. Same process with the heatsink.

It can leave some pretty gnarly scratches if you try to scrub it off... I have a big long scratch that goes from the left side of my die to about 3/4 across on my 4940MX.

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Antec Formula 7 for me, never had a problem with it.. But I'm one of those who thinks 5 degrees make all the difference so I'd pay more for something that is proven to work better :)

Tbh with ya, Im like that too, but that's because Im a laptop person. Tell a lie, I don't really game, and I like the Intel NUC desktops or the Asus equivalents for barebone kits, however the issue I have then is "Why have two devices?" Because Id always want to take my PC with me. Slight tangent! Any way, I want as cool as possible, because a laptop that has a cool CPU, means a cooler laptop overall, because of the proximity of the components!

Also, back when I had a desktop, I figured that the cooler the CPU, the less the fan has to kick in (And the stock fan was barely operational, but that's probably cos it was an "e" CPU ie: an efficient one) And even in a desktop, there is the issue of heat! And lower temps on a laptop mean slower fans, less heat overall. Less heat overall means better battery life, and less power consumption!

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I've been using Arctic Silver 5 for past 10 years on all custom rebuilds and repairs and have found it to be good solution. Some +20,000 systems have seen its use and haven't failed from it. The paste retains its creamy texture after many years which is a plus as several other thermal pastes tend to crystallize after just a short time (2 to 3 years) of use. However, Arctic Silver 5 is somewhat conductive, so if using it on GPUs make sure not to get any on the small wafer caps on GPU casing. Otherwise, use the Arctic Silver Ceramic 2 for GPU applications.

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I've been using Arctic Silver 5 for past 10 years on all custom rebuilds and repairs and have found it to be good solution. Some +20,000 systems have seen its use and haven't failed from it. The paste retains its creamy texture after many years which is a plus as several other thermal pastes tend to crystallize after just a short time (2 to 3 years) of use. However, Arctic Silver 5 is somewhat conductive, so if using it on GPUs make sure not to get any on the small wafer caps on GPU casing. Otherwise, use the Arctic Silver Ceramic 2 for GPU applications.

I wonder if IC Diamond would do that? ie: crystallise in two-three years. Can't see that one doing so, but of course it does cost more, and yah with AC 5, it is conductive cos of the silver content!

Never used silver ceramique

I use arcticlean over alcohol tho!

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using artic silver MX-4 for a while now. haven't changed it since. got 5 degrees celcius cooler, i'm not sure about the other brands though.

I imagine it has a lot to do with HOW you apply it too. Different manufacturers have different guides on how to apply. Some ask you to paint your CPU, some ask for a dot, some ask for you to use a business card (Coolermaster supply a plastic card from memory) So if you have one particular method in mind, then it might not be the method recommended by that manufacturer

Course, if the manufacturer doesn't specify any thing, then the pea method is probably the one to go for! And a line for laptop CPU's :)

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  • 2 weeks later...

I've also used AS5 but then i tried Gelid gc extreme. IMO it's way better than AS5. I had about 3-4 degrees Celsius less comparing to AS5 in PC and 8-9 in my y510p comparing to stock. Sorry for bad language and i hope this help a little :)

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  • 4 months later...
  • 3 months later...
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I've just tried the other day the new thing from Cooler Master. It's called MasterGel Maker Nano. There aren't many reviews yet as it's released maybe 3 months ago. It's not very expensive at 9.90€ for 4g and so far it's great. http://www.coolermaster.com/cooling/thermal-compound/mastergel-maker/

 

It's noticably better than the MX-2 and MX-4 and appears to be better than the Shin-Etsu X23-7783 I've used previously, but the curing time isn't done yet.

 

Definitely recommend you research and try it out.

 

Edited by cavkic
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From my experience: 

 

Normal paste, good performance per $: Arctic Cooling MX2 (usually non-OCed desktops/laptops)

 

Performance: Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut > IC Diamond 7 > Gelid GC Extreme (non-OCed laptops and OCed desktops/laptops)

 

Insane Performance: CLU (never used CLP so i can't compare) // I never used it in notebook, I find it too dangerous (desktops with heavy air cooling or LC with extreme OC, or CPU delid)

 

Imo best thermal paste now is Kryonaut. But it's expensive. 

Very good performance and... easiest to apply... seriously. Never had so much fun doing repaste.

I had choice between Kryonaut and Cooler Master MasterGel Maker but I've picked Grizzly... I'll check it next time. 

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  • 1 month later...

Noctua makes very good thermal pastes. But you need to consider specific products.

Consider that there are so many bad thermal pastes on the market that mayonnaise is a better alternative (it doesn't last for long obviously).

 

Take one of these: Collaboratory liquid ultra, Artic Silver 6, Noctua NT-H1 and you'll be fine.

Edited by diegomelch
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I have pretty much tried them all, only the top 10% of pastes are worth the effort, if you can't get one of those you may as well use the $1 stuff off ebay.

 

I to this day use MX-2 exclusively, I found it easy to apply and thermally very responsive when applied correctly, for the price you pay you get a kiss ass thermal conductivity.

 

I think there are only 2 other compounds that of a measurable higher standard than MX-2 and both are pretty expensive.

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  • 7 months later...
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Coolabratory's Liquid Ultra and Thermal Grizzly Conductnaut are conductive liquid metals and are obviously better than pastes. Because the topic is thermal paste, Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut and Gelid GC Extreme are the best thermally conductive thermal paste..

However, Artic MX-2 and Artic MX-4 are less than half the price, which makes them better. MX-4 is less dense than MX-2 and performs better thermally. Artic MX-2 is all around the easiest to apply and is the best standard for an economical and relatively long-lasting thermal paste.

Edited by June
long-lasting
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  • 3 weeks later...

When I've bought my clevo (P751ZM) it came with GC Extreme both on CPU and GPU, after a year I've decided it's time to repaste it, so I've bought MX-4. Unfortunately the temps were worse than with GC (mid-high 80, going above 90 with high load on the CPU), so I've decided to try Kryonaut from Grizzly and I won't switch back to anything else (non metal) - without delidding (I am waiting for my rockit cool setup) my 47790K stays in mid 70's - it is expensive but it's worth the price if you don't want to/can't delid your CPU. 

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