Is 25g of thermal paste enough?

[OCMusicJunkie]

Okay, this is silly but I can't find the info and I need to order some TP to get here by the weekend- going to be moving some older processors into my bench rig and will probably need around 10 applications of paste just for this. Ideally would like to have enough to get through a few of these sort of sessions. I just can't remember how large of tube I had run out most recently.

Choice of paste aside, the AS5 Céramique I use comes in both 2.7g and 25g sizes- is 25g as much paste as I'm imaging? Or if I wanted enough to last for some while, should I look at an even larger tube?

 

[Leegit]

3g of TIM is enough for 10 applications on small chip. I would think for your setup you would need a 7-12g tube. There is a 12g tube of AS5 on Newegg for 20$. I almost bought it yesterday but then decided to go with a smaller tube of Noctua NT-H1.

If you want some leftover afterwards, then sure go with a bigger tube, but 25g is a lot. How much is that gonna set you back?

 

[OCMusicJunkie]

Thanks for the help- that clears up things and I'm happy to go with the 25g for sure then. $7.49 on Newegg for the Céramique 25g tube seems like a steal.

 

[Leegit]

Yeah go for it

 

[GoD_tattoo]

25g is a huge tube. It's like a giant syringe. Lasted me well over a year or two of a lot of benching. Lasts forever.

 

[ATMINSIDE]

I've had that exact tube for two years now.

Let's just say that if I saw a syringe that big at the doctor, I wouldn't be a happy person.

 

[wagex]

i must be doing something wrong 25g is enough for a cpu for me









LOL edit: i dont think all the tim ive ever owned adds up to 25g fwiw, and i did alot of benching last year.

 

[ATMINSIDE]

You mean you use a bucket of TIM every application?

 

[I.M.O.G.]

2 tubes of 25g lasted me about a year and a half with A LOT of benching and reapplications.

If you haven't bought already, I wouldn't recommend the Ceramique on Newegg. It is Ceramique 2, and I'm not sure if its any good for cold... People used to say the regular ceramique was alright for cold, and it was especially cheap. You can't get the old ceramique any more so ceramique 2 is the next best thing, in that sense.

Last time I had to re-up I bought the 30g tube of MX-2, and its really hard to say as there are so many factors with benching subzero, however I really like the MX-2 and I got some improved results with it. Maybe it was luck, but I did improve some 2D benches on the 3770K with it, and I got some better 3D results rerunning some cards that I already had good scores with. Could have been many factors of course, but the MX2 certainly didn't hurt.

25G of Ceramique 2 - $7.50
30G of MX-2 - $15.99

It costs twice as much for only 5G more, but in the scheme of things, paste is pretty cheap. With 25g or 30g, there's a good chance you will never have to buy paste again.

 

[TheHutchTTU]

Leegit posted this over in the benchmarking forum a couple of days ago, might help.

http://forum.hwbot.org/showthread.php?t=71658

 

[NiHaoMike]

25g will be enough for a very long time, unless you build PCs or other electronics for a living.

I actually have a 150g tube of MG Chemicals paste that I have already used half of over a few years (lots of electronics work).

 

[Tech Tweaker]

Let me put it this way, I bought one of those monster 60g tubes of Arctic Cooling MX-2 and it lasted me like a year and-a-half.

I used that one tube on literally everything. CPU heatsink mounts, GPU heatsink mounts, test mounts, heatsink testing on CPU's and chipsets. I'd say I do a lot more paste replacements than the average user would, since I also work on other people's computers and replace old paste for them as well, but less than some of the super-active benchers.

I actually had it so long the solids were starting to separate from the liquids in the paste solution, so a really massive tube of it might not be recommended.

 

[OCMusicJunkie]

Just to wrap this up, I ended up going with the 25g of Ceramique 2 just because I've got the system down for quick and effective application of the stuff. I'm not so worried about the sub-zero performance quite yet; when I do get there, I'm going to remember the MX-2 and give that a shot. This'll still be good to have around then for putting on the chips once they are done benching and are going back to pedestrian use for a while. I weighed some pennys to see what 25g felt like yesterday after ordering. Think you guys are right I'm not going to run short.

 

[hokiealumnus]

2 tubes of 25g lasted me about a year and a half with A LOT of benching and reapplications.

If you haven't bought already, I wouldn't recommend the Ceramique on Newegg. It is Ceramique 2, and I'm not sure if its any good for cold... People used to say the regular ceramique was alright for cold, and it was especially cheap. You can't get the old ceramique any more so ceramique 2 is the next best thing, in that sense.

Last time I had to re-up I bought the 30g tube of MX-2, and its really hard to say as there are so many factors with benching subzero, however I really like the MX-2 and I got some improved results with it. Maybe it was luck, but I did improve some 2D benches on the 3770K with it, and I got some better 3D results rerunning some cards that I already had good scores with. Could have been many factors of course, but the MX2 certainly didn't hurt.

25G of Ceramique 2 - $7.50
30G of MX-2 - $15.99

It costs twice as much for only 5G more, but in the scheme of things, paste is pretty cheap. With 25g or 30g, there's a good chance you will never have to buy paste again.

So you like MX-2 on sub-zero? Very interesting.

I didn't even know they sold 30G tubes of MX-2. If it's good for sub-zero, this is exciting. I hate Ceramique's application/removal, it's just too darn thick. If MX-2 works as well or better, I'll have to get one of the giant tubes.

Completely unrelated - anybody want to buy a gently used giant tube of Ceramique2 for $15.99?







(Just kidding folks, just kidding.)

 

[ATMINSIDE]

Completely unrelated - anybody want to buy a gently used turkey baster of Ceramique2 for $15.99?

Fixed that for you Hokie.

 

[OCMusicJunkie]

I heart shoprunner- on the truck for delivery so I can get cooking over here.

I feel somewhat guilty having them ship a whole 2-day fedex package just for thermal paste though.