Current best thermal paste?

[EarthDog]

+1 I prefer MX2 and its viscosity/spread than MX-4. You can also find turkey baster sized tubes for dirt cheap occasionally... I think I got a 65g tube for like $20, LOL

 

[thebluebumblebee]

Here's a review of TIM's from 2011. Based on that review, I got some TG-1 and liked working with it better than AS-5. (MX-4 is not included in that review) It did seem to work better than AS-5.
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/coolers/display/thermal-interface-roundup-1.html

 

[Solaris17]

im an MX-4 guy I literally spent HOURS going over all the different pastes including liquids and it came down to

MX4
NT-H1
PK1

I just went with MX4 and I love it!

 

[newbsandwich]

Last couple times I used MX-2, and it has worked great over the years. Next time I'll try the MX-4.

Now, how about what's the best application method? Pea sized dot in the middle of chip, line down the middle, 3 lines, or spread it all over?

 

[GreiverBlade]

Arctic (cooling) MX4/MX2 and lately Gelid GC Extreme (it has TPU thumb up on the package! can't go wrong xD) but surely not any Arctic (nope not cooling) one well the AS5 and ceram had many fans but versus the 3 i recommend they are : more expensive (or pack less quantity for the same price) and +/-1° only

for spread method : rice grain method is enough (pea sized??? a pea is a bit big xD)

 

[remixedcat]

Been using as5 for years and its been good.

 

[eidairaman1]

As5, cerameaque, mx2/3/4 are ones id use.

 

[Aquinus]

I still use AS5 or MX-4 regardless of what charts say, it does the job, and for laptops I'm not generally fussed about 1 - 2 degrees difference.

Bingo. I just replenished my AS5 supply with a 10g tube. It gets the job done so I can't complain. As long as it's half decent paste you shouldn't really have to think into it too much.

for spread method : rice grain method is enough (pea sized??? a pea is a bit big xD)

Depends on the size of the area you're covering. My 6870s have a tiny area so a grain of rice is a better estimation, however my i7 3820 (being skt2011) is a huge area to cover.

 

[Kaynar]

Didn't IC Diamond destroy people CPU's and GPU's? There was a thread about it here.

There were multiple people in this thread that had major issues with the paste

http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/techpowerup-official-ic-diamond-test.170121/page-23

Im aware of this thread and I've applied IC Diamond multiple times on the same CPU over few years and never had issues.

 

[OneMoar]

Cool Laboratory Liquid PRO ?

 

[Athlonite]

I still use AS5 for everything it's easy to find it's easy to spread lasts a good long while before needing replacement and I only use a very thin layer none of this plop on a pea sized blob and squish it between IHS and HS crap that leads to bleeding out of the sides just spread a nice thin layer pop on the HSF and run a few 10's of iterations of IBT to heat it up then let it cool repeat every day for a week and it's cured and working as it should for GPU's I use F@H to heat up the die

 

[FreedomEclipse]

Prolimatech PK-3 or Arctic MX-4 get my votes. MX-4 gets my vote cuz its slightly a bit cheaper but as far as price goes. They are roughly in the same ball park.

So far ive used PK-3 on both my GPUs and CPU and its worked great. My CPU idles around 28-30'c though it could be because its about 15-16.5'c in my room

 

[Mussels]

OK, MX-4 arrived today and doing some tests now.

On the dried up stock paste it thermal throttled from Wprime alone, so i cant really compare to it.
Temps monitored with throttlestop and afterburner - only reporting the max temp registered, not average.

Wprime 1024 + Heaven 4.0 (GPU OC'd)

Old Arctic Silver Ceramique:
CPU: 92C
GPU: 63C

so while this is a very unreasonable load i'll never encounter in normal use of the laptop, its worth noting that these temps got hot enough to almost throttle the CPU. on a hot summers day, it WOULD throttle.

Brand Spankin new MX-4:

CPU: 86C
GPU: 65C (FPS was slightly higher, i think heaven got more CPU power this time around)


So the MX4 was definitely a winne this time around, but the ASC had dried up and gone all stringy so it wasnt really a fair fight i guess.

 

[Dbiggs9]

I use MX-4 for all my needs.

 

[INSTG8R]

I was a long time AS5 and Ceramique user. Tried Noctua NH-1 was nothing special. I am now an MX-4 user. Just so nice to work with and works great too boot.

 

[Mussels]

people posted while i was editing (protip: dont forget to plug in the laptop CPU fan) but hte results are edited in above.

MX4 lowered CPU temps by 6C - and it may get better as it settles in/burns in, etc.

 

[eidairaman1]

I read a x pattern or spread method provided best thermals,

 

[Mussels]

I read a x pattern or spread method provided best thermals,

it varies. this time around i spread it on both CPU, GPU and their heatsinks before applying, just to be sure it was spread properly.

the fan *is* quieter when watching HD videos, so the mild load temps are lower too.

 

[micropage7]

I read a x pattern or spread method provided best thermals,

i dunno, but i always use pea method or small dots if the paste hard to spread

 

[Jetster]

Well we have these threads many times. So Ill say it again. Paste is Paste I buy what is on sale. If I have to choose it would be AS5 And no I don't use tooth paste or peanut butter. The temp difference in the top 10 brands is so close. And the only time I spread it is if there is no Heat Spreader

 

[micropage7]

personally i think if the difference just about 2 degrees max
its just x factor (pressure, warm up period etc)

 

[Mussels]

Well we have these threads many times. So Ill say it again. Paste is Paste I buy what is on sale. If I have to choose it would be AS5 And no I don't use tooth paste or peanut butter. The temp difference in the top 10 brands is so close. And the only time I spread it is if there is no Heat Spreader

hey to be fair i wanted to know what was best for a laptop scenario, which isn't commonly asked. and i made a decent difference going to MX4.

 

[Aquinus]

OK, MX-4 arrived today and doing some tests now.

On the dried up stock paste it thermal throttled from Wprime alone, so i cant really compare to it.
Temps monitored with throttlestop and afterburner - only reporting the max temp registered, not average.

Wprime 1024 + Heaven 4.0 (GPU OC'd)

Old Arctic Silver Ceramique:
CPU: 92C
GPU: 63C

so while this is a very unreasonable load i'll never encounter in normal use of the laptop, its worth noting that these temps got hot enough to almost throttle the CPU. on a hot summers day, it WOULD throttle.

Brand Spankin new MX-4:

CPU: 86C
GPU: 65C (FPS was slightly higher, i think heaven got more CPU power this time around)


So the MX4 was definitely a winne this time around, but the ASC had dried up and gone all stringy so it wasnt really a fair fight i guess.

Like AS5, doesn't the ASC need to cure before thermal transfer is optimal? I think this needs to be put into perspective.

I just replaced the paste on my reference 6870. I've done 3 runs using furmark (Kombustor) on each day after applying the AS5.
The first day my loaded temperatures hit 85*C @ 1.25v, I had to tone it down to 1.2v to keep it at 85*C. A day later I run furmark at 1.25v again and it held steady at 81*C. Another day later I did the same stress test I did the two prior times and got 71*C and it was able to handle my 1Ghz/1.3v OC again.

Just keep in mind, some pastes cure. You won't get a good reading off of it until it cures, much like how I had to work on it for a couple days before it started behaving normally again. Just throwing that out there.

 

[Mussels]

Like AS5, doesn't the ASC need to cure before thermal transfer is optimal? I think this needs to be put into perspective.

I just replaced the paste on my reference 6870. I've done 3 runs using furmark (Kombustor) on each day after applying the AS5.
The first day my loaded temperatures hit 85*C @ 1.25v, I had to tone it down to 1.2v to keep it at 85*C. A day later I run furmark at 1.25v again and it held steady at 81*C. Another day later I did the same stress test I did the two prior times and got 71*C and it was able to handle my 1Ghz/1.3v OC again.

Just keep in mind, some pastes cure. You won't get a good reading off of it until it cures, much like how I had to work on it for a couple days before it started behaving normally again. Just throwing that out there.

the ASC was almost 2 weeks old with the laptop having daily use, including stress tests and benchmarks. wasnt gunna get any better.

 

[Aquinus]

Here's a review of TIM's from 2011. Based on that review, I got some TG-1 and liked working with it better than AS-5. (MX-4 is not included in that review) It did seem to work better than AS-5.
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/coolers/display/thermal-interface-roundup-1.html

They also said they only let the paste cure for 1 hour. I had to wait 72 hours for the temps on my 6870 to become reasonable with AS5. I question how they they tested each paste because AS5 can run almost 15*C or warmer while it's initially curing.