Interested in some new thermal paste...suggestions?

happita · Jan 27, 2014

Just got an email from the egg with a 25% off coupon for thermal pastes. Since my Arctic MX-2 is running around a few more applications left in the little tube, I might want to re-up on some better stuff. This is the list that has the promotions, can someone tell me which one would be best for both CPU's and VIDEO CARDS?
I don't want to have to spend more than $12

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...SNDRJASURBC&bop=And&Order=PRICED&PageSize=100

ogharaei · Jan 27, 2014

PK-3 is pretty good

AlexSnider · Jan 27, 2014

MX-4 is very good.

Nordic · Jan 27, 2014

Good write up here.
http://www.maximumpc.com/article/features/geek_tested_17_thermal_pastes_face

LAN_deRf_HA · Jan 27, 2014

Gelid GC extreme is still my go to. If you liked OCZ freeze you'll like it, but it's a $1 over.

Solaris17 · Jan 27, 2014

I did some VERY in depth searching when my 290X was being shipped in preparation for the temps I would need to tackle the day it arrived.

In short I came to

MX-4
Noctua
PK-3

Liquid high performance TIMS (thought seriously about it but with so many burrs on the coolers surface decided to go the normal paste route)

those are my top 3 findings in no particular order I rated them primarily off of

Amount available per-tube
Cooling Performance
Ease of spread
Longevity before dry out

I eventually settled with MX-4 and havent gone past 74ºC in any game at the highest settings with a 290X

Nordic · Jan 28, 2014

Besides that maximum pc write up, my personal experience is as follows. Mx-4 is really cheap for the amount you get and how well it performs. It is what I have been using. I have my hands on some thermaltake tg-3 that is pretty good stuff. Tuniq is the best I have had but the difference is 1-2 degrees, practically margin of error in my hands at least.

4ghz · Jan 28, 2014

Prolimatech Pro-PK3 seems to have good reviews recently.

XL-R8R · Jan 28, 2014

Shin-Etsu x23 7783D appears to be very good indeed, with little burn in time and easily surpassing the Cheese in durability. :roll:

But, for an "all round wonder paste", it has to be MX-2.

Typically you can find it around the £15/€18/$25 price point for 30g; shockingly good value for money, all things considered, and it is actually quite a well balanced and forgiving paste. :toast:

Durvelle27 · Jan 28, 2014

Shin-Estu x23 7783D hands down is the best TIM I've ever used and its very cheap & nonconductive

happita · Jan 29, 2014

Solaris17 said:
I did some VERY in depth searching when my 290X was being shipped in preparation for the temps I would need to tackle the day it arrived.

In short I came to

MX-4
Noctua
PK-3

Liquid high performance TIMS (thought seriously about it but with so many burrs on the coolers surface decided to go the normal paste route)

those are my top 3 findings in no particular order I rated them primarily off of

Amount available per-tube
Cooling Performance
Ease of spread
Longevity before dry out

I eventually settled with MX-4 and havent gone past 74ºC in any game at the highest settings with a 290X

I'm having many thoughts running through my head regarding some of the performance of the pastes I have seen at various review sites. They seem to be all over the place. I wish there was completely controlled testing (via ambient room temps and spread methods) across all pastes. However it seems that's harder said than done.

My most important characteristics when choosing a paste is as follows:

#1 Cooling performance
#2 Longevity (How long it can last in the tube AND on the cooler before becoming less effective)

My budget is still $13. I still have a 25% off promo code on this listing I have in my OP. So I have these 4 pastes in mind:

Noctua NT-H1 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608008&ignorebbr=1
Gelid GC-Extreme - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835426020&ignorebbr=1
Prolimatech PK-3 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835242027&ignorebbr=1
Arctic Cooling MX-4 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186038&ignorebbr=1

My single 4g tube of MX-2 has served me since 2008, let that be a comparison point in suggesting me 1 of these pastes. I do not apply often, although I probably should once a year.

Nordic · Jan 29, 2014

Mx-4 is what I would choose out of that

d1nky · Jan 29, 2014

ive used mx4, mx2, cf3, pk3, CLU, xspc, xigmatek

out of all of them i prefer the PK-3

next on my list is gelid and shin etsu

Processor	i5-7600k
Motherboard	ASRock Z170 Pro4
Cooling	CM Hyper 212 EVO w/ AC MX-4
Memory	2x8GB DDR4 2400 Corsair LPX Vengeance 15-15-15-36
Video Card(s)	MSI Twin Frozr 1070ti
Storage	240GB Corsair Force GT
Display(s)	23' Dell AW2310
Case	Corsair 550D
Power Supply	Seasonic SS-760XP2 Platinum
Software	Windows 10 Pro 64-bit

System Name	Main Workstation
Processor	Ryzen 1700 @ 3800 GHz
Motherboard	ASRock Fatal1ty AB350 Gaming K4
Cooling	Noctua NH-D15S
Memory	2 x 8 GB G.Skill Flare X 3200 MHz
Video Card(s)	EVGA GTX 1800 Classified
Storage	Crucial MX200 500 GB
Case	BC1 Open Benchtable Silver
Audio Device(s)	Sennheiser HD 650 /w Apogee Groove and Moon Audio Silver Dragon cable
Power Supply	Seasonic Platinum 860W
Mouse	Logitech G Pro
Keyboard	Leopold FC980C White /w Hasu controller
Software	Windows 10 64 bit

System Name	The Black Alex Snider
Processor	Intel® Core™ i7 4770K 8MB - Stock
Motherboard	MSI™ Z87-GD65 GAMING - LGA 1150
Cooling	Corsair Hydro Series H80i Dual Fan
Memory	2x4GB DDR3 1600MHz G.Skill RipJaws X
Video Card(s)	ASUS™ GTX 660Ti DC2T 2GB - 1137MHz
Storage	SSD Corsair Force GS 128GB - Seagate Barracuda 1TB 7200RPM 64MB - Samsung 320GB 7200RPM 16MB
Display(s)	Samsung 20' B2030 1600x900
Case	Cooler Master Elite 430 Black Edition
Power Supply	XFX PRO550W Core Edition Full Wired
Software	Windows 8.1 PRO Update 1 X64
Benchmark Scores	http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/7965029

Processor	7800x3d
Motherboard	Gigabyte B650 Auros Elite AX
Cooling	Custom Water
Memory	GSKILL 2x16gb 6000mhz Cas 30 with custom timings
Video Card(s)	MSI RX 6750 XT MECH 2X 12G OC
Storage	Adata SX8200 1tb with Windows, Samsung 990 Pro 2tb with games
Display(s)	HP Omen 27q QHD 165hz
Case	ThermalTake P3
Power Supply	SuperFlower Leadex Titanium
Software	Windows 11 64 Bit
Benchmark Scores	CB23: 1811 / 19424 CB24: 1136 / 7687

System Name	Obelisc
Processor	i7 3770k @ 4.8 GHz
Motherboard	Asus P8Z77-V
Cooling	H110
Memory	16GB(4x4) @ 2400 MHz 9-11-11-31
Video Card(s)	GTX 780 Ti
Storage	850 EVO 1TB, 2x 5TB Toshiba
Case	T81
Audio Device(s)	X-Fi Titanium HD
Power Supply	EVGA 850 T2 80+ TITANIUM
Software	Win10 64bit

Interested in some new thermal paste...suggestions?

happita

ogharaei

AlexSnider

Nordic

LAN_deRf_HA

Solaris17

Super Dainty Moderator

Nordic

4ghz

XL-R8R

Durvelle27

Moderator

happita

Nordic

d1nky

System Name	Rocinante
Processor	I9 14900KS
Motherboard	EVGA z690 Dark KINGPIN (modded BIOS)
Cooling	EK-AIO Elite 360 D-RGB
Memory	64GB Gskill Trident Z5 DDR5 6000 @6400
Video Card(s)	MSI SUPRIM Liquid X 4090
Storage	1x 500GB 980 Pro \| 1x 1TB 980 Pro \| 1x 8TB Corsair MP400
Display(s)	Odyssey OLED G9 G95SC
Case	Lian Li o11 Evo Dynamic White
Audio Device(s)	Moondrop S8's on Schiit Hel 2e
Power Supply	Bequiet! Power Pro 12 1500w
Mouse	Lamzu Atlantis mini (White)
Keyboard	Monsgeek M3 Lavender, Akko Crystal Blues
VR HMD	Quest 3
Software	Windows 11
Benchmark Scores	I dont have time for that.

System Name	"IBT 10x Maximum Stable"
Processor	Intel i5 4690K @ 4.6GHz -> 100xx46 - 1.296v
Motherboard	MSI MPower Z97
Cooling	Corsair H100i + 2x Corsair "HP Edition" SP120's
Memory	4x4GB Corsair Vengence Pro 2400mhz @ 2400MHz 10-11-12-31-1T - 1.66v
Video Card(s)	MSI Gaming GTX970 4GB @ 1314 Core/1973 Mem/1515 Boost
Storage	Kingston 3K 120GB SSD + Western Digital 'Green' 2TB + Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB
Display(s)	Iiyama Prolite X2377HDS 23" IPS
Case	Corsair Carbide 300R
Audio Device(s)	Rotel RA-04/Cambridge Audio Azur 540R + B&W DM302/Cerwin Vega AT12 / Sony MDR-XB700 & FiiO E5
Power Supply	EVGA NEX650G + Silverstone Extensions
Mouse	Always failing me....
Keyboard	Endlessly broken.....
Software	Windoze 7 Pro 64-bit/Windoze 10 Pro
Benchmark Scores	I had some of these once upon a time? Old age has seen me misplace them....

System Name	Black Prometheus
Processor	\|AMD Ryzen 7 1700X
Motherboard	ASRock B550M Pro4\|MSI X370 Gaming PLUS
Cooling	Thermalright PA120 SE \| AMD Stock Cooler
Memory	G.Skill 64GB(2x32GB) 3200MHz \| 32GB(4x8GB) DDR4
Video Card(s)	\|AMD R9 290
Storage	Sandisk X300 512GB + WD Black 6TB+WD Black 6TB
Display(s)	LG Nanocell85 49" 4K 120Hz + ACER AOPEN 34" 3440x1440 144Hz
Case	DeepCool Matrexx 55 V3 w/ 6x120mm Intake + 3x120mm Exhaust
Audio Device(s)	LG Dolby Atmos 5.1
Power Supply	Corsair RMX850 Fully Modular\| EVGA 750W G2
Mouse	Logitech Trackman
Keyboard	Logitech K350
Software	Windows 10 EDU x64

System Name	Zotan
Processor	i9-10850K
Motherboard	Gigabyte Z490 Gaming X AX
Cooling	H100
Memory	32GB Viper 3200
Video Card(s)	Zotac RTX3080
Case	Airflow 275R
Power Supply	RMX850
Benchmark Scores	d1nky@hwbot.org