What Thermal Paste Do You Use?

[brock029]

I have always used Arctic Silver 5, but really only because it was the first one I had ever used and have heard nothing but great things about it, so I stuck with it. So, I want to see what other people use and maybe if there is something a little more cost effective that works just as good.

 

[NYJimbo]

Thermaltake TG-2
...............

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

The thermal pads that come with the retail Intel heat sinks are fine.

I've been a big overclocking fan since the Pentium 66 days when I first learned how..and in the Pentium MMX and Pentium II and III days I got huge into it on my gaming rigs.

I never noticed worthwhile differences in thermal pads, vs tons of different brands of plain old silicon heat sink goop. Right here in the the draw of my desk I have just a tube of "GC Electronics" brand paste. And my gaming rig with its overclocked aging Core 2 Duo is doing just fine.

 

[tek9]

Arctic Cooling MX-2..................

 

[brock029]

The thermal pads that come with the retail Intel heat sinks are fine.

I've been a big overclocking fan since the Pentium 66 days when I first learned how..and in the Pentium MMX and Pentium II and III days I got huge into it on my gaming rigs.

I never noticed worthwhile differences in thermal pads, vs tons of different brands of plain old silicon heat sink goop. Right here in the the draw of my desk I have just a tube of "GC Electronics" brand paste. And my gaming rig with its overclocked aging Core 2 Duo is doing just fine.

Pretty much what I do I use whatever it comes with and when its time to replace I use artic silver. Good to hear though that you don't really notice a difference even with overclocking. I really don't monitor temperatures too often so really just go by what I hear. Unless of course you get a computer in that seems like its over heating.

 

[MobileTechie]

I use Arctic Silver if I'm trying to solve a specific heat problem but to be honest I'm not convinced there is much, if any, difference between any of the modern grey pastes or pads.

 

[ComputerRepairTech]

This was confirmed a while back that the TIMs they have on the more recent intel retail heatsinks (the 3 stripes with pushpin attachment method) are just as good as quality products like mx2.

I know for sure this was not always the case.

 

[brock029]

This was confirmed a while back that the TIMs they have on the more recent intel retail heatsinks (the 3 stripes with pushpin attachment method) are just as good as quality products like mx2.

I know for sure this was not always the case.

Yeah I know I quickly replaced my thermal paste on my old 939 cpu and it fixed its shutting off problem

 

[iisjman07]

Normally cheap generic heatsink compound, unless it's a thermal issue or a gaming rig, then it's probably Arctic Silver

 

[crashtech]

Arctic Silver 5 here as well, though like many I'm not convinced there is any appreciable difference in performance compared to standard heat sink grease. Whatever fill the gaps and is stable over time.

Come to think of it, that is the one area where Arctic Silver seems to excel. I've witnessed many dried out and crusty white grease installations, but the Arctic Silver has never done that to me.

 

[jbartlett323]

It really depends on application...
For laptops, i use MX-2 or other non-conductive paste. For general computing desktops, I use whatever is easy to hand (typically AS-5), or whatever is on there stock fan. For high-end builds that need a smidge better cooling, they too will get MX-2.

As for TIM not making a difference, i beg to differ... Yes, average is only a few degrees, however the spread from junk TIM to good TIM can be quite large... Check out this thread on Xtremesystems.org for a few graphs made by smart people (not me ): http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums...-Labs-The-TIM-Thread...&highlight=TIM+roundup
Us watercoolers tend to take our paste very seriously...

 

[brock029]

Arctic Silver 5 here as well, though like many I'm not convinced there is any appreciable difference in performance compared to standard heat sink grease. Whatever fill the gaps and is stable over time.

Come to think of it, that is the one area where Arctic Silver seems to excel. I've witnessed many dried out and crusty white grease installations, but the Arctic Silver has never done that to me.

same here, i took apart my laptop yesterday to clean out the dust, lifted the heatsink and all of the original paste just flaked off.

 

[sassenach]

Another Arctic Silver 5 user here. It works and is easy to use.

 

[Method]

They're all pretty much the same aren't they?

 

[rudger]

I was thinking about asking this a couple of weeks ago when I needed some more thermal paste and ended up ordering another tube of arctic Silver 5 in the end.

normally I use whatever is on the underside of the heat sink when I'm fitting a new Heat sink & fan, however any machine that comes into the workshop for a full health check will get arctic silver 5 fitted or any machine that is running hot or I suspect is overheating will also get the arctic silver 5 treatment.

 

[frase]

Arctic silver 5 as well here.

 

[Tepin]

I use Arctic Alumina for most applications, can pick up 14g syringe for less then ten bucks and it lasts forever.

I do keep a tube of Arctic Silver 5 on hand that I use when I think it's necessary but most of the time the ceramic is just fine.

 

[crashtech]

It really depends on application...
For laptops, i use MX-2 or other non-conductive paste. For general computing desktops, I use whatever is easy to hand (typically AS-5), or whatever is on there stock fan. For high-end builds that need a smidge better cooling, they too will get MX-2.

As for TIM not making a difference, i beg to differ... Yes, average is only a few degrees, however the spread from junk TIM to good TIM can be quite large... Check out this thread on Xtremesystems.org for a few graphs made by smart people (not me ): http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums...-Labs-The-TIM-Thread...&highlight=TIM+roundup
Us watercoolers tend to take our paste very seriously...

Interesting post, thanks. Are there any long-term tests of these compounds available? An important question for many is how a given material will perform 1 or 2 years later. Even though Arctic Silver 5 performed relatively poorly in the linked tests, for me personally it has withstood the test of time.

 

[jbartlett323]

Interesting post, thanks. Are there any long-term tests of these compounds available? An important question for many is how a given material will perform 1 or 2 years later. Even though Arctic Silver 5 performed relatively poorly in the linked tests, for me personally it has withstood the test of time.

There are a few long term tests, but i cant remember where to find them. It is generally accepted that most pastes above a standard cheap ceramic will last "long enough" , with those showing shorter cure times supposedly lasting the longest.
My outlook: AS-5 or above will last. Period.

 

[Boston Pro Comp Serv LLC]

Tuniq tx-2 or Artic Silver 5 which ever is still in stock.