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[EOL] Arctic MX-5 is here!!Tests incoming! Completed. Now its MX-6 testing time!

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Mine was very thick. It was like trying to spread a melted gum on the sidewalk. You guys think I got a bad batch? Temps seem as good as the Noctua NT-H1 paste it replaced. I was hoping it'd be better.
 
kanmer said:
Mine was very thick. It was like trying to spread a melted gum on the sidewalk. You guys think I got a bad batch?
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Nope. That seems about right.
kanmer said:
Temps seem as good as the Noctua NT-H1 paste it replaced. I was hoping it'd be better.
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As long as it's not worse, you should be good. Perhaps a better cooling solution? There are many factors that go into cooling. TIM is only one of them. A good TIM will not do it's best if the cooling solution is not good enough to realize the difference.

BTW, Welcome to TPU! :toast:
 
Well, I finally got around to swapping pastes. The original testing was at night when we were in the low 70's, today was in the 90s'. Due to the 20+ degree increase in ambient temps, I couldn't use the original runs to compare MX5 with the new paste, so I did some quick runs for a baseline. The laptop had been heavy use all week, and temps were better than the year old factory paste, but not noticeably better than when I originally got the laptop.

As expected, the MX5 was still wet. I had applied extra after getting high temps with the 1st application, and both chips, and coolers, were well covered. One chip had squeezed out most of the paste on one side again, but you could still see there was plenty to fill in any micro cracks.

After cleaning up the MX5, I applied Kryonaut with a spatula, and painted on a notieably thinner layer than the MX5 had. I ran 3Dmark a few times. The 1st run was lower by around 3.5 degrees on both the GPU, and on it's hot spot. CPU temps dropped by 6 degrees. Following runs had the GPU dropping by 4-5+ degrees. 1 run had the CPU 10-11 degrees cooler, and others were around 8 degrees.

Maybe it's a quality control issue because that's far too wide... Some of it has to with it not being as viscous as Kryonaut. I think it doesn't take to bare procs as well as the Kryo does. Unless the MX5 needed more time to set, it just did not perform like reviews. Reviewers had it performing close to Kryo, but this isn't close. Some of it might be QC, going by mines, and other people's experience. Remember, it was a dollar less a tube for some reason. Why would they have 2 listings for the same product, from the exact same seller, Arctic. It also originally came out watery, but thickened up when I used a spatula to spread it. Similar to other users reports. MX5 might work better on heat spreaders, than it does on bare processors, but mines seems to be from a bad batch.
 
Lateshow said:
Well, I finally got around to swapping pastes. The original testing was at night when we were in the low 70's, today was in the 90s'. Due to the 20+ degree increase in ambient temps, I couldn't use the original runs to compare MX5 with the new paste, so I did some quick runs for a baseline. The laptop had been heavy use all week, and temps were better than the year old factory paste, but not noticeably better than when I originally got the laptop.

As expected, the MX5 was still wet. I had applied extra after getting high temps with the 1st application, and both chips, and coolers, were well covered. One chip had squeezed out most of the paste on one side again, but you could still see there was plenty to fill in any micro cracks.

After cleaning up the MX5, I applied Kryonaut with a spatula, and painted on a notieably thinner layer than the MX5 had. I ran 3Dmark a few times. The 1st run was lower by around 3.5 degrees on both the GPU, and on it's hot spot. CPU temps dropped by 6 degrees. Following runs had the GPU dropping by 4-5+ degrees. 1 run had the CPU 10-11 degrees cooler, and others were around 8 degrees.

Maybe it's a quality control issue because that's far too wide... Some of it has to with it not being as viscous as Kryonaut. I think it doesn't take to bare procs as well as the Kryo does. Unless the MX5 needed more time to set, it just did not perform like reviews. Reviewers had it performing close to Kryo, but this isn't close. Some of it might be QC, going by mines, and other people's experience. Remember, it was a dollar less a tube for some reason. Why would they have 2 listings for the same product, from the exact same seller, Arctic. It also originally came out watery, but thickened up when I used a spatula to spread it. Similar to other users reports. MX5 might work better on heat spreaders, than it does on bare processors, but mines seems to be from a bad batch.
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I have to say I used some Kryonaut for my recent pc build and it came out much dryer then I am used to with Arctic (I think I had mx2) which was a tad concerning.
Its a good thing that arctic remains ermm fluid and all unneeded access is squished out if you apply enough pressure, that is why "too much" thermalpaste isnt really a thing.

Anywho, yeah idk, I am thinking of getting some MX4 or 5 myself to replace the Kryonaut, though I dont think its preforming poorly as is.
 
Having used both MX-5 and Noctua NT-H2 extensively, I lean heavily towards NT-H2 for it's similar performance and ease of application.
 
Swolley said:
Having used both MX-5 and Noctua NT-H2 extensively, I lean heavily towards NT-H2 for it's similar performance and ease of application.
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The problem with NT-H2 is that it dries out and looses some of it's heat transfer capability over time. MX-5 does not suffer from that problem.
 
lexluthermiester said:
The problem with NT-H2 is that it dries out and looses some of it's heat transfer capability over time. MX-5 does not suffer from that problem.
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To me mx5 and kryonaut spread the same.

Heck Id still use AS5 even lol
 
eidairaman1 said:
To me mx5 and kryonaut spread the same.
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They're comparable to each other in performance as well. KPX also has similar qualities and is an excellent performer also.
eidairaman1 said:
Heck Id still use AS5 even lol
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ArcticSilver5 is, to this day, still a solid performer. And it's still for sale at a reasonable price.

aQi said:
Improved in thermals ?
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Compared to MX-4, yes. We're talking about 3C or 4C so the difference is not huge. But the improvement is there. IF you already have MX-4, it's still a good TIM, use it til it's gone. If you currently need a new TIM, MX-5 is at the top of my list. Reason? As mentioned before, it's a premium performer without the premium price.
 
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CallandorWoT said:
yeah I saw that when I ordered. for ten cents its worth it imo, just in case. lol also the little spatula might come in handy for other stuff so meh.
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If you have ever seen Bill Murray in 'Stripes', you'll know that is the truth!
 
lexluthermiester said:
ArcticSilver5 is, to this day, still a solid performer. And it's still for sale at a reasonable price.
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I ran out of SYY and just had enough to do my 5600X. I have AS5 on my 5900X and its actually pretty good :cool:
 
lexluthermiester said:
Not surprising. AS5 is and always has been a good performer.
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I lost sight of that. I had been using it for a decade before I tried anything else.. and I just kept going up to the top. I had spent so much time using the fancy stuff, I forgot why I had been using AS5 for so long. Now I don't have any fancy stuff, and I am ok with it :D
 
Hello dear and respected members! I own a i7-8750H and a GTX 1060 laptop. Please recommend me the best overall paste in your experience for a laptop. Thanks!
 
XT785 said:
Hello dear and respected members! I own a i7-8750H and a GTX 1060 laptop. Please recommend me the best overall paste in your experience for a laptop. Thanks!
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Thermalright TFX.
 
lexluthermiester said:
Perhaps MX-5, the subject of this thread. Been using it in both of my laptops and it works perfectly. KPX is also an excellent TIM.


This is a good one too!
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Sorry, I should know better :oops:
 
Using MX-4 I just repasted my EliteBook with the i7-1185G7 and (even with the stock paste) it has these short spikes of 100/105C but the average stays low around ~60/~70C
Would changing to MX-5 or Thermalright TFX help? These EliteBook's come with a super tiny heatsink so I am wondering if changing to thicker/different pastes would make any difference?
 

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Salvo39 said:
Would changing to MX-5 or Thermalright TFX help?
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It might help a little, say a few degree C, but the problem is the cooling solution inside the laptop. You need to find a way to get the fan profile to kick into high speed sooner, either through the BIOS or a utility. HP themselves might even have one.

freeagent said:
Sorry, I should know better :oops:
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Wait, what did I miss?
 
I am actually using AS5 right now.. I might have went a bit thin because temps were better before it cured. I can see why I ventured off to try others :D

Its not that great.. I did get another tube of SYY-157 though two day ago :D

One day I will order a tube of MX just to see.. one day..
 
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