- Joined
- Dec 4, 2011
- Location
- Davenport, Iowa
What do you all recommend as the best thermal paste for cpu? I have used Arctic Silver 5 before but didn't know if there is anything newer and better.
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Thermal Paste
- Thread starter quadcitytech
- Start date
- Joined
- May 10, 2009
My favorite at the moment is MX4, there are a few that are all clustered right at the top.
If you still have AS5 I would use it, when you run out then you can buy something new.
The above said, I use arctic alumina ceramic because it's cheap and withstands subzero temps nicely and is cheap.
If you still have AS5 I would use it, when you run out then you can buy something new.
The above said, I use arctic alumina ceramic because it's cheap and withstands subzero temps nicely and is cheap.
- Joined
- Dec 14, 2010
I like Arctic Cooling MX-2 myself because I can use it on all of my applications without fear for shorting anything out, but AS5 isn't really a bad paste.
- Joined
- Nov 10, 2005
I bought some MX4 to replace the ceramique I've been using since forever on CPU's/GPU's, but ended up using some Chill Factor III that came with my CPU cooler and I haven't bothered replacing it as it works fine. It was easier to apply than AS5, and according to Skineelabs it's supposedly fairly comparable to PK1.
Even when AS5 was king of the hill I basically stuck to ceramique as it's simply easier to work with, and since I don't do any benching there wasn't much point in a ~1-2C difference for me.
Even when AS5 was king of the hill I basically stuck to ceramique as it's simply easier to work with, and since I don't do any benching there wasn't much point in a ~1-2C difference for me.
- Joined
- Feb 17, 2010
- Location
- Manassas, VA
MX-4 seems to be the new standard. I use MX-2 since Microcenter was out of stock and I needed some. 
OP
- Joined
- Dec 4, 2011
- Location
- Davenport, Iowa
- Thread Starter
- #10
Thanks everyone...I ended up choosing MX-4. I put in my order for my parts tonight a bit ago. I posted specs in the general forum.
best by far is indigo Xtreme, but priciest by far. you're best off goin with the a paste, but if you plan on really OCing your comp, and have your cooling setup as you want it and don't plan on changing anytime soon, then indigo extreme works the best, hands down.
- Joined
- Nov 3, 2008
Well I am late but Diamond 24K for me.
I prefer the Shin-Etsu compounds, because I think that they hold up better over time than a lot of other "performance" compounds do.
Here's a fairly recent roundup that includes a bunch of different compounds. Keep in mind that neither cheap digital thermometers nor on-die sensors are very accurate (Intel actually specifies not to use the on-die sensor in its CPUs for thermal testing, iirc), so variations between compounds of up to a few degrees C in either direction in their testing are basically meaningless. The MX4 is about as good as anything else out there.
If you end up liking it it, great. If you don't like how it applies, find something else in the top half of their chart and give that a try. There's not going to be a big enough performance difference to matter. *shrug*
Here's a fairly recent roundup that includes a bunch of different compounds. Keep in mind that neither cheap digital thermometers nor on-die sensors are very accurate (Intel actually specifies not to use the on-die sensor in its CPUs for thermal testing, iirc), so variations between compounds of up to a few degrees C in either direction in their testing are basically meaningless. The MX4 is about as good as anything else out there.
If you end up liking it it, great. If you don't like how it applies, find something else in the top half of their chart and give that a try. There's not going to be a big enough performance difference to matter. *shrug*
