# What the best thermal paste in 2019?



## stoggs1 (Feb 2, 2019)

Hey guys, what is the best current thermal paste?  I have been a long time user of Artic Silver 5, but I want to know what is the best right now.  Note I don't want to use liquid metal.  

Thank you.


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## hat (Feb 2, 2019)

Still rocking MX-4. There's a Thermal Grizzly... Kryonaut? That's supposedly a smidge better. 

Neither are electrically conductive (or capacitive, whatever) like AC5 and similar pastes. I haven't used Thermal Grizzly, but MX-4 is easy enough to apply and clean up.


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## Batou1986 (Feb 2, 2019)

I use MX-4 because it doesn't separate like Arctic silver and its pretty cheap.
Everything but garbage OEM paste and liquid metal are within 3* of each other in most tests that I've seen so I don't see the point in spending more money.


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## hat (Feb 2, 2019)

But, damn man, now I want to try liquid metal on my 1070s...


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## Naito (Feb 2, 2019)

I've taken a liking to Thermal Grizzly's Kryonaut recently. Have re-pasted CPUs and GPUs in both desktop and laptops and I have been thoroughly impressed.  MX4 is another one I have used in the past and would not hesitate to use again. Both are very easy to apply and remove and rather fairly priced. As already mentioned, once you get to a certain tier, thermal pastes are all within a degree or two of each other anyway...


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## blobster21 (Feb 2, 2019)

hat said:


> But, damn man, now I want to try liquid metal on my 1070s...



Liquid metal achieve great temperatures, that's a given, but it's a pain in the ass to clean when you remove the heatsink after some time.

The liquid is sticky, it will coalesce into micro droplets than hides on every gaps if you are not carefull when you clean it. It can go as far as shorting some components if the liquid sneak under the cpu socket (that's my own experience of thermal grizzly on an overheating laptop, i had to use a compressed air can and a powerfull vaccuum to remove everything)

And after sometime, the cpu/gpu die will be tarnished and no longer smooth to the touch, because there's some chemical reactions between the different compounds.


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## heky (Feb 2, 2019)

I use the Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut and the Gelid GC Extreme, both very good pastes. But as others have said, most reputable pastes are within 3° to 4°C of each other. So pick the one that is cheapest.


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## GreiverBlade (Feb 2, 2019)

by performances order :
Cooler Master Master Gel Maker Nano (what i use actually)
Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut (what i used previously )
Gelid GC Extreme (cheap and good performances still have some aside, just in case )
Arctic (ex Arctic cooling, nothing in common with Arctic Silver ) MX-4 (what i still use for generic repast outside my own personal rig ) and that one was the one that dethroned the AS 5 long ago 

all 4 are quite good and cheaper than most of their concurrents and most of the time better performing.


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## lZKoce (Feb 2, 2019)

Don't over-sweat it @stoggs1  Over the years I have tried ultra-cheap stuff like "Evercool" pastes and what not. I'd say get what's in your budget. My default choice these days is MX4, but I was pretty happy with Arctic Ceramique as well. Anyhow, personally I don't think a degree or two is ground-breaking. I wouldn't mind better fans though.


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## Arjai (Feb 2, 2019)

blobster21 said:


> It can go as far as shorting some components if the liquid sneak under the cpu socket (that's my own experience of thermal grizzly on an overheating laptop, i had to use a compressed air can and a powerfull vaccuum to remove everything)



I am not sure this is what happened. Thermal Grizzly is non conductive. It also does not cure, or turn hard.


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## blobster21 (Feb 2, 2019)

Arjai said:


> I am not sure this is what happened. Thermal Grizzly is non conductive. It also does not cure, or turn hard.



I was talking about Thermal Grizzly Conductaunot, which is as conductive as any metal can be.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...-works-why-it-fails-and-how-to-use-it.809332/


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## MrGenius (Feb 2, 2019)

That I've used. Listed in order of their thermal conductivity, which also reflects the performance I've observed using them(1 is significantly better than 2, 2 is possibly slightly better than 3, though 2 and 3 might as well be tied, 2 is definitely not worse than 3, and 3 doesn't seem to be any better than 2).

1. Phobya NanoGrease Extreme(which I'm pretty sure is a JunPus DX1 rebrand) 16W/mK
2. Kryonaut 12.5W/mK
3. Cool Silver G4 >12W/mK

Phobya NanoGrease Extreme and Kryonaut are diamond-filled, which I don't recommend using because they damage mating surfaces(though their performance is unbeatable in my experience). Cool Silver G4 is the best silver-filled paste you can get(but is slightly conductive).


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## Susquehannock (Feb 2, 2019)

Grizzly Kryonaut gets my vote. Only drawback is the price. 
Been testing a lot of Xeons in used Dell workstations last several months. So took the opportunity to try some TIMs as well. Real standout was the Kryonaut. About 3-4 degrees C cooler than good old AS5 and Shin Etsu at same load. Also noticed the Kryonaut has excellent viscosity and spreads very well under install pressure. Liked it so much that I bought a big tube and applied it to my GPU and chipset coolers as well.


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## Athlonite (Feb 2, 2019)

Batou1986 said:


> I use MX-4 *because it doesn't separate like Arctic silver* and its pretty cheap.



I've used A5 for years and never had it separate on me ever



hat said:


> Neither are electrically conductive (or capacitive, whatever) like AC5



AS5 is non conductive and only very slightly capacitative


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## Solaris17 (Feb 2, 2019)

Athlonite said:


> I've used A5 for years and never had it separate on me ever
> 
> 
> 
> AS5 is non conductive and only very slightly capacitative



Really? iv had it seperate on me numerous times, with that nasty yellow oil substance.


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## Komshija (Feb 2, 2019)

I'll also vote for Arctic MX4. Best price-per-performance ratio on the market. It might not be the best thermal paste, but it's certainly a among high-end ones considering its characteristics.


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## Susquehannock (Feb 2, 2019)

Solaris17 said:


> Really? iv had it seperate on me numerous times, with that nasty yellow oil substance.


Same here. Which is why a big AS5 tube is in my garage. Separated but still useful as TIM on automotive ignition modules.


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## Deleted member 178884 (Feb 2, 2019)

Arctic mx-4 between IHS and cooler, Conductonaut for delidding


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## xkm1948 (Feb 2, 2019)

Kryonaut for sure. I noticed better temps comparing to NT-H1


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## GreiverBlade (Feb 2, 2019)

MrGenius said:


> Phobya NanoGrease Extreme and Kryonaut are diamond-filled


dunno about the Phobya but for the Kryonaut : NOPE... "*Kryonaut* uses a special structure, which halts the drying out process at temperatures of up to 80° Celsius. This structure is also responsible for the nano-aluminum- and zinc-oxide-parts included in the grease to compound optimally, to compensate for unevenness of the component (i.e. the CPU) or the heat sink, thus guaranteeing remarkable heat transfer. "

on the other hand the cooler master master gel maker nano is a nano diamond past ... but hey ... not everyone is IC and act like a IC 24 (Antec also has a nano diamonds past that act quite nicely ... opposed to ICD past )


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## Vayra86 (Feb 2, 2019)

Used Kryonaut on my latest build, but the effect of paste is much overrated. It is the least important part of your cooling system, as long as the application is done proper. Then again, for the minor price increase, why not get good stuff... I think that is mostly emotional in the end, a peace of mind kind of thing.


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## illli (Feb 2, 2019)

What about this NT-H2 stuff?  https://www.anandtech.com/show/13907/noctua-new-nt-h2-thermal-compound


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## Bill_Bright (Feb 2, 2019)

> Hey guys, what is the best current thermal paste?


It doesn't really matter. Even plain ol' white silicone grease is better than nothing. What matters most is having clean surfaces and applying the TIM (thermal interface material) properly - that and good case cooling and a decent CPU cooler. Oh, and keeping the interior clean of heat trapping dust.

If you look at most reviews, there typically is only a few degrees difference from top to bottom. And the fact is, if you need those few degrees to keep from crossing into the "too hot" zone, you have other cooling issues that need addressing first - like better case cooling

I like AS5 and MX4 but frankly, not too picky.

As for separating, it is important to note TIM is in liquid form only to make it easy to squeeze out of the tube and to spread evenly and smoothly across the die (or pipes - if that is your method). It is the solids in the TIM that do the displacing of air and transfer of heat. That's why it does not matter if the TIM dries out years after application - the solids left behind are still there doing their job. As long as the cured bond is not broken, it does not need to be replaced. 

Remember, there is not a single TIM maker, cooler maker, processor maker, motherboard or graphics card maker that says TIM needs to be replaced because it is x number of years old, or that it has dried out.

So if it separates in the tube, and the solids are still spreadable and don't contain dried chunks - no worries. I would not go out and buy more just because of that.


illli said:


> What about this NT-H2 stuff?


Like its H1 predecessor, it supposedly has no curing time - that is, it has maximum efficiency right out of the tube. I never found that too important but I supposed if someone is going to start "folding" with their CPU at maximum overclocked settings right from the first power up, that might be important to them.


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## eidairaman1 (Feb 2, 2019)

Thermal Compounds I have used.

Antec Aluminum, Arctic Silver 5, Arctic Cooling MX 4.

Ones I haven't tried but heard are good.

Geil GC-Extreme
Cooler Master Gel Maker
Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut.

Thermal Pads-
Akasa Shinetsu

Thermal Epoxy
Arctic Silver Thermal Epoxy.

If you have AS5 still just use it via the pea method on the IHS.

The only one to be wary of is the Thermal Grizzly Conductonaut, or any compound like it for that matter.


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## Bill_Bright (Feb 2, 2019)

eidairaman1 said:


> Thermal Epoxy
> Arctic Silver Thermal Epoxy.


I have used Arctic Silver Thermal Epoxy and it works great. However, it is extremely important to remember this, as the name implies, is an "adhesive" TIM. It, like all "adhesive" TIMs is NOT to be used between CPUs and heatsinks. At least not CPUs that are mounted in normal motherboard CPU sockets. If you use them there, you will not be able to remove the cooler without risking damage to the CPU, the CPU socket, and the CPU mounting mechanism. I have seen adhesive TIM used with surface mounted (soldered) processors in some budget notebooks, netbooks, and tablets.

These adhesive TIMs work great for gluing heatsinks to chipsets, some VRMs and some memory modules in PCs. They are meant to permanently attach the heatsink to the device.


eidairaman1 said:


> The only one to be wary of is the Thermal Grizzly Conductonaut, or any compound like it for that matter.


Why? Grizzly Conductonaut has received good reviews. Yes, it is a metal based TIM, and yes, it can react with aluminum heatsinks. But with careful application and the use of copper heatsinks, unless there's something I missed, it can be a great alternative option.


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## eidairaman1 (Feb 2, 2019)

Bill_Bright said:


> I have used Arctic Silver Thermal Epoxy and it works great. However, it is extremely important to remember this, as the name implies, is an "adhesive" TIM. It, like all "adhesive" TIMs is NOT to be used between CPUs and heatsinks. At least not CPUs that are mounted in normal motherboard CPU sockets. If you use them there, you will not be able to remove the cooler without risking damage to the CPU, the CPU socket, and the CPU mounting mechanism. I have seen adhesive TIM used with surface mounted (soldered) processors in some budget notebooks, netbooks, and tablets.
> 
> These adhesive TIMs work great for gluing heatsinks to chipsets, some VRMs and some memory modules in PCs. They are meant to permanently attach the heatsink to the device.
> Why? Grizzly Conductonaut has received good reviews. Yes, it is a metal based TIM, and yes, it can react with aluminum heatsinks. But with careful application and the use of copper heatsinks, unless there's something I missed, it can be a great alternative option.



Oh by the way for epoxy I just mix in Arctic Silver 5 to make it semi permanent and about conductonaut yeah most definitely copper to aluminum galvanized-exfoliation corrosion.


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## GreiverBlade (Feb 2, 2019)

eidairaman1 said:


> The only one to be wary of is the Thermal Grizzly Conductonaut, or any compound like it for that matter.


well if you don't like LM i can understand .... but at that time all LM are in that category, just write "imho i avoid LM past"  instead of naming one that got quite good if not excellent ratings over reviews  

some user are quite fond of LM for deliding jobs (i have a tube of Conductonaut aside ) 



eidairaman1 said:


> about conductonaut yeah most definitely copper to aluminum galvanized-exfoliation corrosion.


indeed all Gallium based LM then


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## MrGenius (Feb 2, 2019)

GreiverBlade said:


> dunno about the Phobya but for the Kryonaut : NOPE... "*Kryonaut* uses a special structure, which halts the drying out process at temperatures of up to 80° Celsius. This structure is also responsible for the nano-aluminum- and zinc-oxide-parts included in the grease to compound optimally, to compensate for unevenness of the component (i.e. the CPU) or the heat sink, thus guaranteeing remarkable heat transfer. "
> 
> on the other hand the cooler master master gel maker nano is a nano diamond past ... but hey ... not everyone is IC and act like a IC 24 (Antec also has a nano diamonds past that act quite nicely ... opposed to ICD past )


I don't know where you quoted that from. But I'm calling *bullshit*. Not on the info provided necessarily. But that it also has diamond particulate, or some other thing that scratches and pits every surface I've ever applied it on, in it. Which in my experience has only happened with other known diamond-filled pastes. And has happened with EVERY one of them that I've used. And NEVER with any pastes that aren't diamond-filled. So...I'm drawing my own conclusions there. If it walks like a duck...and talks like a duck...it's diamond-filled.

I'm pretty surprised no one else has noticed what I'm talking about with Kryonaut. Maybe I got a bad/contaminated tube. But...I doubt it. There's not much really to convince me that they're able to get the performance they get out of it without it containing nano-diamonds either. Unless Thermal Grizzly has some sort of high-level wizards casting magic spells to make nano-aluminum and zinc-oxide perform better at thermal conductivity than every other manufacturer who uses the same shit in their TIMs. Yeah...right.  It's really a 1 + 1 = 2 deal. Unless you suck at math...and don't know what 1 + 1 is. 

EDIT: I think I might email TG and ask "why you shit scratch all my heatsink, IHS, and CPU/GPU die? WTF?". See what they have to say about it then. Hell...I got pics if the want 'em. I'm NOT BSing about it. I'll make a goddamn vid showing me wipe a drop off of it off a shiny new glass mirror...and all the scratches it leaves when I'm done.


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## Bill_Bright (Feb 2, 2019)

eidairaman1 said:


> Oh by the way for epoxy I just mix in Arctic Silver 5 to make it semi permanent


Never thought of doing that. And you still got good heat transfer?


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## Athlonite (Feb 3, 2019)

Solaris17 said:


> Really? iv had it seperate on me numerous times, with that nasty yellow oil substance.



jezz how big a tube you using I've never had the 3.5 gram tubes separate on me


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## Deleted member 158293 (Feb 3, 2019)

I generally go through a lot of paste so Ceramique II is sold in large quantities for the same price as tiny siringes and is close enough in performance for me.


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## GreiverBlade (Feb 3, 2019)

MrGenius said:


> I don't know where you quoted that from. But I'm calling *bullshit*. Not on the info provided necessarily. But that it also has diamond particulate, or some other thing that scratches and pits every surface I've ever applied it on, in it. Which in my experience has only happened with other known diamond-filled pastes. And has happened with EVERY one of them that I've used. And NEVER with any pastes that aren't diamond-filled. So...I'm drawing my own conclusions there. If it walks like a duck...and talks like a duck...it's diamond-filled.
> 
> I'm pretty surprised no one else has noticed what I'm talking about with Kryonaut. Maybe I got a bad/contaminated tube. But...I doubt it. There's not much really to convince me that they're able to get the performance they get out of it without it containing nano-diamonds either. Unless Thermal Grizzly has some sort of high-level wizards casting magic spells to make nano-aluminum and zinc-oxide perform better at thermal conductivity than every other manufacturer who uses the same shit in their TIMs. Yeah...right.  It's really a 1 + 1 = 2 deal. Unless you suck at math...and don't know what 1 + 1 is.
> 
> *EDIT: I think I might email TG and ask "why you shit scratch all my heatsink, IHS, and CPU/GPU die? WTF?". See what they have to say about it then. Hell...I got pics if the want 'em. I'm NOT BSing about it. I'll make a goddamn vid showing me wipe a drop off of it off a shiny new glass mirror...and all the scratches it leaves when I'm don*e.



and no application of TG K did ever scratch a single heatsink/IHS/Die for me ... sooooo .... i may call BS too ... but feel free to do *so*



MrGenius said:


> I'm pretty surprised no one else has noticed what I'm talking about with Kryonaut. *Maybe I got a bad/contaminated tube*. .


and i am pretty surprised that you are the only one who noticed that but *yeah probably more that .*

1+1=2 can also work like that ... "if i have that issue, why the other don't notice it?"  or 1-1=0 (you have the issue i don't have the issue... is there an issue?)

although as i mentioned ... the only ND past to avoid are the one from IC (ICD Paranoia is real ... "if ICD is that bad then all the ND past ARE!") , the one from CM MGMN also never made a scratch on the H115i and the 6600K IHS

remember that?


MrGenius said:


> Numbers man. It's all about the numbers.
> 
> Cooler Master MasterGel Maker 11 W/mk
> Kryonaut 12.5 W/mk
> ...



and



GreiverBlade said:


> used both, atm i use the cooler master and no abrasion issue (quite some time since initial application) even tho i wasn't totally in my comfort zone when i saw it was a nano diamond composite, tho they are cooler master ... and not some random bob with no tact whatsoever named IC Diamond, also saw Antec one doing some minimal scratch but not like the ICD.
> 
> they behave quite similarly at +/-1° as far as i have seen.
> 
> ...





also ... "Most thermal compounds (aluminum and zinc oxide) are abrasive and could scratch both the IHS and heatsink."
maybe the seating is a tad more stable for me which could explain why i have none on my actual setup (i used TG K for quite some time till i swapped to CM MGMN)


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## Bill_Bright (Feb 3, 2019)

GreiverBlade said:


> also ... "Most thermal compounds (aluminum and zinc oxide) are abrasive and could scratch both the IHS and heatsink."


"Most"? Ummm no. Got a link? Pretty sure (like 99.999% sure) that is not true at all. 

However, "some" ceramic TIMs claim to use "micronized diamonds" (basically, diamond "dust") and those might be considered abrasive. However, they are not to be used as a polish and rubbed into the surfaces. So actually scratching the surfaces would not be a problem if applied properly.


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## F7GOS (Feb 4, 2019)

stoggs1 said:


> Hey guys, what is the best current thermal paste?  I have been a long time user of Artic Silver 5, but I want to know what is the best right now.  Note I don't want to use liquid metal.
> 
> Thank you.



https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/...onaut-taming-the-hotspot.251876/#post-3983092

Check the topic there for reference, I jumped to TG kryonaut for my Vega 64 and its been pretty darn good since - definite step up from the cheaper options, if its worth 3 x the price of something mainstream like MX2 then its for you to decide... for Vega though it was perfect.


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## dirtyferret (Feb 4, 2019)

I use Noctua H1 because it's relatively cheap and the difference among pastes is minuscule (more of a sugar pill effect)


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## Bill_Bright (Feb 4, 2019)

I wish they would stop putting toothpaste and denture cream in those lists. To me, it puts the seriousness, sincerity, and integrity of the entire comparison testing in question. 

If someone is out of TIM, the solution is NOT to find anything that looks like paste. The solution is to not use the computer until you go buy some legitimate TIM. Even Walmart and the Home Depot have options that will hold you over. 

If they want to establish a baseline, they should use what's been used for 70+ years, basic Silicone Heat Sink Compound.


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## 64K (Feb 4, 2019)

Bill_Bright said:


> I wish they would stop putting toothpaste and denture cream in those lists. To me, it puts the seriousness, sincerity, and integrity of the entire comparison testing in question.
> 
> If someone is out of TIM, the solution is NOT to find anything that looks like paste. The solution is to not use the computer until you go buy some legitimate TIM. Even Walmart and the Home Depot have options that will hold you over.
> 
> If they want to establish a baseline, they should use what's been used for 70+ years, basic Silicone Heat Sink Compound.



I've seen sillier. One chart I saw a while back they even ran a test using chocolate for paste.


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## lexluthermiester (Feb 4, 2019)

stoggs1 said:


> Hey guys, what is the best current thermal paste?  I have been a long time user of Artic Silver 5, but I want to know what is the best right now.  Note I don't want to use liquid metal. Thank you.


I use Arctic's MX4 personally and in my shop. AS5 is still a top performer if you have some and want to use it up. If not just go with MX4 and call it good. 
https://www.arctic.ac/us_en/mx-4.html
Grizzly Conductonaut is top notch too, but is more expensive(last time I checked), but it's a metal TIM. I would highly recommend Grizzly Kryonaut if you go the Grizzly route;
http://www.thermal-grizzly.com/en/products/16-kryonaut-en



eidairaman1 said:


> Oh by the way for epoxy I just mix in Arctic Silver 5 to make it semi permanent





Bill_Bright said:


> Never thought of doing that. And you still got good heat transfer?


I've done that too. Heat conduction was unaffected. And it worked well, kept the heatsink on but was removable with some careful work.


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## Borna Horvat (Feb 4, 2019)

I think it's all water off duck's back, and you should buy the most affordable one.


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## dirtyferret (Feb 4, 2019)

64K said:


> I've seen sillier. One chart I saw a while back they even ran a test using chocolate for paste.



that was hardware secrets, they also used butter, mayo (did well), diaper cream, and toothpaste among some other things


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## eidairaman1 (Feb 4, 2019)

Bill_Bright said:


> Never thought of doing that. And you still got good heat transfer?




Yes I do Bill for your info, I used that mixture to attach tweakmonster Ramsinks to the Ram modules on a M18 gpu in my xps gen 1 laptop so I could overclock the card.


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## ArbitraryAffection (Feb 4, 2019)

I use Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut as I heard it is the best TIM that is _not _electrically conductive. I have notoriously shaky hands and i always spill a bit on the PCB or even in the socket (no joking). It's AM4 and i just put the CPU in and squished it down and it still works haha. I did just buy a tube of Arctic MX-4 though as it is cheaper than grizzly and i figure it makes no difference for stock or undervolt (what i am doing).

I also use a TIM cleaning kit + purifier to clean the surface for best thermal conductance.


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## Vayra86 (Feb 4, 2019)

dirtyferret said:


> that was hardware secrets, they also used butter, mayo (did well), diaper cream, and toothpaste among some other things



Seriously this round up of results = /thread on all paste quality related questions. Mayonaise. Definitely trying that some day.


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## Bill_Bright (Feb 4, 2019)

Vayra86 said:


> Mayonaise. Definitely trying that some day.


Just remember what mayonnaise is made out of. Eggs! Really want a rotten egg smell coming out of your computer? 

I love eggs, but I'll pass on that one.


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## Vayra86 (Feb 4, 2019)

Bill_Bright said:


> Just remember what mayonnaise is made out of. Eggs! Really want a rotten egg smell coming out of your computer?
> 
> I love eggs, but I'll pass on that one.



Yep, you just confirmed this will be my April Fools' joke. I'm going to offer to build somebody a PC.


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## John Naylor (Feb 4, 2019)

You will drive yourself crazy looking at the reviews because when the differences are so small, 2/10ths of a degree can drop ya quite a bit.   Having read prolly 3 or 4 dozen of these ... along with 25 years experience building boxes, and leaving LM off the table, we recommend:

For CPUs:

- For the best that money can buy, Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut takes the cake.  It was cost prohibitive but now can be bought for $8 in the "condom pak"  ... the tube is a bit more expensive.

- AS5 and Shin Etsu G751 have been running tied at the top of the pack in most tests.  AS5 however takes about 7 - 8 weeks to cure under normal usage and while not conductive, it is capacitive so if it gets on contacts it can do damage.  This can be avoided if ya patient and skillful so many folks ignore the limitation ... you probably won't have an issue.  But that's kinda like saying "You probably won't get pregnant".   Why take the chance ?  Shin Etsu doesn't have either issue and it's < $4.00

For GPUs:

I don't know why anyone would remount a GPU cooler w/o doing the whole shebang but if just doing the GPU, you can stick with the above.  However... on the GPU, you have all those memory chips and VRMs to cover not only oin the cooler side but also the backplate.  I find Shin Etsu. IC Diamond, and others tendy dry out and get a bit sticky by the time I'm coating surface No. 24.  Here I use Gelid Extreme .... it has a longer workability time and the little application tool is real handy on those lil VRMs.


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## theFOoL (Feb 4, 2019)

I'm just rocking the Sliver 5 for 4 years so far


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## eidairaman1 (Feb 4, 2019)

Bill_Bright said:


> Never thought of doing that. And you still got good heat transfer?





lexluthermiester said:


> I use Arctic's MX4 personally and in my shop. AS5 is still a top performer if you have some and want to use it up. If not just go with MX4 and call it good.
> https://www.arctic.ac/us_en/mx-4.html
> Grizzly Conductonaut is top notch too, but is more expensive(last time I checked), but it's a metal TIM. I would highly recommend Grizzly Kryonaut if you go the Grizzly route;
> http://www.thermal-grizzly.com/en/products/16-kryonaut-en
> ...




The reason why I know about doing it this way is because I asked and what is so great about doing it that way it said it makes it a semi permanent Bond without affecting the thermal transfer properties of the compound and the epoxy and what I mean by semi-permanent is that it is resistant to vibration but you can remove it under normal mechanical force with your hands you don't even required tools to remove you know this stuff I used it on my Dell XPS gen 1 laptop with the M18 graphics card which is a 9800 with 256 megabytes of RAM hi installed Tweak monster ram sinks to the VGA RAM on the card and all that is required to remove those Ram sinks is pressure on one of the ends of the ram sink to remove it and also Lex Luthor Meister Arctic Silver 5 is still my favorite thermal compound mx4 as good as well but now I know a list of them that I could use and not happy any complaints


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## Jetster (Feb 4, 2019)

rk3066 said:


> I'm just rocking the Sliver 5 for 4 years so far



Been using it for like 10 years at least


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## Space Lynx (Feb 4, 2019)

stoggs1 said:


> Hey guys, what is the best current thermal paste?  I have been a long time user of Artic Silver 5, but I want to know what is the best right now.  Note I don't want to use liquid metal.
> 
> Thank you.



this is the best paste.
no mess.
cools 1-2 celsius colder than any paste other than the conductonaut.

best decision I ever made.


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## Athlonite (Feb 5, 2019)

@lynx29  yeah they're not supposed to be to bad I remember watchin Linus do a video on it a while ago now


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## delshay (Feb 5, 2019)

Athlonite said:


> @lynx29  yeah they're not supposed to be to bad I remember watchin Linus do a video on it a while ago now



I'm keeping an eye on "Hitachi TC-HM03" thermal pad which is used in Radeon 7 graphic card according to reveiws. I'v used Innovation Thermal pad, but idle temperature is too high, so it could not stay on my CPU/GPU die, but it is used elsewhere inside my R9 Nano.


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## Susquehannock (Feb 5, 2019)

White toothpaste is not all that silly when you consider it's comprised mainly of Aluminum oxide (alumina, aloxide, etc). Same component in many ceramic based TIMs. Makes an excellent abrasive too.


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## lexluthermiester (Feb 5, 2019)

Susquehannock said:


> White toothpaste is not all that silly


Except that it's been tested and shown to be worse than if you just used nothing and had bare metal to metal contact.


----------



## Susquehannock (Feb 5, 2019)

lexluthermiester said:


> Except that it's been tested and shown to be worse than if you just used nothing and had bare metal to metal contact.


My tests were not that way. Once the fluids evaporated after a few days it was still a bit better than just slapping the sink on there. Then again I tried toothpaste on unmodified heatsink. Probably would be different if lapped flat to a mirror finish. I also tried some 10,000 grit alumina polishing compound. Seemed to work better than the standard white paste. Anyway ... was just making a comparison and happy they don't test with bologna anymore. Glad I bought the big tube of Kryonaut.


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## peche (Feb 5, 2019)

shite came a bit late to the party, i do love thermal interface material threads!

Best paste for bla bla bla.... well my friends, there is no best, better or worse, is all matter of application method, what does this mean?

Application method, surface clean-out, also mounting presure and cooler might affect results, as well case airflow and ambiance temperature, so taken this out, performance and results may vary according the choice of TIM, i truly state that i love Arctic mx 4 cause it brings great performance and you could find it pretty easy out there, also it spreads easy, might be to hard for some and to easy for others, but according results this babe sits around the best sellers and best performers! 

Regards,


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## lexluthermiester (Feb 5, 2019)

Susquehannock said:


> My tests were not that way. Once the fluids evaporated after a few days it was still a bit better than just slapping the sink on there. Then again I tried toothpaste on unmodified heatsink. Probably would be different if lapped flat to a mirror finish. I also tried some 10,000 grit alumina polishing compound. Seemed to work better than the standard white paste.


Fair enough. It would be interesting to see more in-depth testing like that.


Susquehannock said:


> Glad I bought the big tube of Kryonaut.


It's good stuff.


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## Susquehannock (Feb 5, 2019)

peche said:


> shite came a bit late to the party, i do love thermal interface material threads!
> 
> Best paste for bla bla bla.... well my friends, there is no best, better or worse, is all matter of application method, what does this mean?
> 
> ...


This is very true. Far too many variables for any absolutions here. Not to go off on a tangent, surface finish can be a critical factor too. Being a career machinist I am bit of a geek about those kind of things. Even within the Dell T3500 proprietary heatsinks I have seen two variations in how the contact surface is machined. One is far more smooth and flat than the other. CPU heatspreaders? They are rarely flat either, if ever.


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## peche (Feb 7, 2019)

Susquehannock said:


> This is very true. Far too many variables for any absolutions here. Not to go off on a tangent, surface finish can be a critical factor too. Being a career machinist I am bit of a geek about those kind of things. Even within the Dell T3500 proprietary heatsinks I have seen two variations in how the contact surface is machined. One is far more smooth and flat than the other. CPU heatspreaders? They are rarely flat either, if ever.


totally true, surface is where the reason for Tim starts,  also monthing presure might affect, there is no rule for mounting presure, since you cant measure it, but is important to try, research and also do this, exchange ideas...

Cleaning must have a place here, traces or leftovers of old tim could affect results.

Regards,


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## vMax65 (Feb 9, 2019)

Always used the good old MX-4 but just changed to the new Cooler Master MasterGel Maker Thermal Paste 'Ultra High Performance, Nano Diamond Particles....
I found it great and did better than the MX-4 but most importantly it was so easy to spread...Not bad at all..


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## hat (Feb 9, 2019)

I would be wary of diamond pastes. I still remember the whole IC DIamond debacle here at TPU... that was fun.


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## vMax65 (Feb 9, 2019)

hat said:


> I would be wary of diamond pastes. I still remember the whole IC DIamond debacle here at TPU... that was fun.



Thanks for the heads up...I'll look into it.


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## hat (Feb 9, 2019)

If I could go back and edit my post on the first page, I would. It seems TG Kryonaut is also a diamond paste, so I wouldn't recommend it... not without specifically mentioning that it is a diamond paste and can scuff up surfaces. As for me, I'll stick with MX-4.


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## eidairaman1 (Feb 9, 2019)

hat said:


> If I could go back and edit my post on the first page, I would. It seems TG Kryonaut is also a diamond paste, so I wouldn't recommend it... not without specifically mentioning that it is a diamond paste and can scuff up surfaces. As for me, I'll stick with MX-4.



Conductonaut I'd be wary of for sure


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## hat (Feb 9, 2019)

eidairaman1 said:


> Conductonaut I'd be wary of for sure


That's a liquid metal paste. I wouldn't even mention it, unless I knew the person I was talking to was quite experienced, or delidding a CPU (in which case, I'd hope they'd be experienced anyway).


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## peche (Feb 11, 2019)

hat said:


> I still remember the whole IC DIamond debacle here at TPU... that was fun.


stinky fish memories, cant believe i came late to that party too. lool


----------



## stoggs1 (Feb 14, 2019)

Thanks for all the replies, I appreciate the input and I learned some new and interesting things about TIM.

I ordered some noctua nt h1.


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## John Naylor (Feb 14, 2019)

It's hard to claim "the best" from a single test or even a test with limited samples.  The benchmark test for product performance and application methods was the 80-way test done by benchmark reviews.   If anyone every finds a link to that and the application article archived anywhere, the link would be most appreciated.  The ones mentioned are mostly in the top 10 but unless all the others are in it and performance among tests is not consistent, it's hard to say anything with certainty ... that's why I used the 80-way test as my benchmark.  

Another facet that must be considered however is "working time".  IC Diamonds products for example are a bit thick.  You can make it more workable for longer by putting a cup of water in the microwave a bit and, after taking it out, give the tube a warm bath ... don't take too long tho as it will get to room temps rather quickly.  Some even warm up their CPU and heat sink with a hair dryer.   Deinitely not for use with GFX cards ... no matter what you do, not going to keep it workable on 16 VRMs, 8 memory chips and the GPU ... and then flipping it over to do the backplate side.


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## danbert2000 (Feb 14, 2019)

stoggs1 said:


> Thanks for all the replies, I appreciate the input and I learned some new and interesting things about TIM.
> 
> I ordered some noctua nt h1.



Compared to Kryonaut, NT-H1 is cheaper and easier to use. Kryonaut is like a thick paste. NT-H1 is more viscous and forgiving. I saw next to no temperature change going from NT-H1 to Kryonaut, and it cost way too much.

Next time I'm probably going to try NT-H2. Sticking with Noctua is my plan, they make good everything.


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## RealNeil (Feb 15, 2019)

Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut is what I use most of the time.


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## dirtyferret (Feb 15, 2019)

danbert2000 said:


> Compared to Kryonaut, NT-H1 is cheaper and easier to use. Kryonaut is like a thick paste. NT-H1 is more viscous and forgiving. I saw next to no temperature change going from NT-H1 to Kryonaut, and it cost way too much.
> 
> Next time I'm probably going to try NT-H2. Sticking with Noctua is my plan, they make good everything.



NT-H2 review below, plus it's in French so it got the stinky cheese award making it fantastique! (or bad, my french sucks)


https://www.hardwarecooking.fr/test-noctua-nt-h2-et-lingettes-na-scw1/


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## Susquehannock (Feb 23, 2019)

hat said:


> If I could go back and edit my post on the first page, I would. It seems TG Kryonaut is also a diamond paste, so I wouldn't recommend it... not without specifically mentioning that it is a diamond paste and can scuff up surfaces. As for me, I'll stick with MX-4.


TG Kryonaut is diamond based? Worried about scuffing surfaces? Better not use any aluminum oxide (a common abrasive) products either as it is just below Diamond on the Mohs hardness scale. Which leaves out virtually all the ceramic based TIMs.


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## Bronan (Feb 23, 2019)

@MrGenius
I do not really agree that it does make such a big difference however all 3 are pretty the best you can buy and they all are expenssive.
I preffer still grizzly however i am no longer opening up my gpu's to put better paste in them ... especially because they made it much harder to open up the cards.
And you also might damage any vapor chamber if  is present, which many use these days (if your not cautious enough)


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## Vario (Feb 23, 2019)

dirtyferret said:


> NT-H2 review below, plus it's in French so it got the stinky cheese award making it fantastique! (or bad, my french sucks)
> 
> 
> https://www.hardwarecooking.fr/test-noctua-nt-h2-et-lingettes-na-scw1/


Oh boy that 0.5 to 1 degree delta between the pastes, thats totally not in the realm of error is it?  its CLEARLY better LOL  /s


----------



## Wavetrex (Feb 23, 2019)

All tests are pointless the minute after applying paste.
Apply mayo or toothpaste, let the computer run for at least ONE MONTH, and then test for temps !

That's what makes the difference between a good compound and a not so good one (or something really bad), how long it keeps it's characteristics after time passes, humidity and oxygen make their way into the substance and so on.

Another example:
Put french fry oil inside a cooling fan - Works great. Start the computer the next day... it's noisy. Let the computer sit for 1 month - The fan doesn't even spin anymore, it's completely locked solid.

~~~
Edit: I vote for TG Kryonaut.

Applied it on my pretty hot 6800K. It has the same decent and good temp delta today as it had 6 months ago when I applied it. No degradation whatsoever.


----------



## Vario (Feb 23, 2019)

I'm running AS5 on my videocard with an Arctic Mono Plus, the videocard never exceeds 50*C ever no matter the game.  I know its fashionable to bash on AS5 now because its the mainstay for the past two decades but the stuff is still fine to use, never had an issue with it.  Using it on my CPU too.  CPU idles at 27 and rarely gets over 55*C in games.  Run the stuff until the system is taken apart.  It stays potent forever.  I also found a 15 year old tube of it in my attic and tried it out and it works just as well as the newer tube without any separation.


----------



## Susquehannock (Feb 23, 2019)

Vario said:


> I'm running AS5 on my videocard with an Arctic Mono Plus, the videocard never exceeds 50*C ever no matter the game.  I know its fashionable to bash on AS5 now because its the mainstay for the past two decades but the stuff is still fine to use, never had an issue with it.  Using it on my CPU too.  CPU idles at 27 and rarely gets over 55*C in games.  Run the stuff until the system is taken apart.  It stays potent forever.  I also found a 15 year old tube of it in my attic and tried it out and it works just as well as the newer tube without any separation.


Always interesting to hear differing experiences and opinions. Never bashed AS5, nor was I ever a fan. Hard to clean and got better temps from Shin Etsu X23 back in the old days, much to the shagrin of some. My large tube started separating badly after only a couple years at room temp. So the AS5 stays in my garage and is used on automotive ignition modules now.


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## hat (Feb 23, 2019)

Susquehannock said:


> TG Kryonaut is diamond based? Worried about scuffing surfaces? Better not use any aluminum oxide (a common abrasive) products either as it is just below Diamond on the Mohs hardness scale. Which leaves out virtually all the ceramic based TIMs.


It's not as damaging as other pastes. Personally, I still have some IC Diamond 7 from that debacle we had with them here at TPU, and I'll use it on some applications, but not others. I wouldn't use it on a bare die, or in a situation where I want a better paste (like on my 2600k), or on a HDT cooler (because the heatpipes are already thin, so I don't want to risk damaging them with such a paste), but I'll use it for basic applications... I believe I have some on my Athlon II x4.


----------



## Deleted member 185658 (Feb 24, 2019)

i was told that watercooling paste is the best thermal paste for air heatsinks, is this true?


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## micropage7 (Feb 24, 2019)

genericnpc said:


> i was told that watercooling paste is the best thermal paste for air heatsinks, is this true?


nope, all the same
just use what you trust, with water block or just HSF, no big deal


----------



## lexluthermiester (Feb 24, 2019)

genericnpc said:


> watercooling paste


What are talking about?


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## freeagent (Feb 24, 2019)

I never had a problem with AS5. Put a grain of rice (or so) on the center of the CPU, plant your cooler on top, give it a titty twister, then clamp it down. Its good stuff. Swore by it for years.. Honestly, I mounted so many times over the years, it does take a bit to perfect your technique, I can see why guys don't like it if you have only used it a few times. Clean up is super easy too, the key is 99% iso alcohol. I ran out of AS5 last year and haven't bothered to replace it yet. I am using the Chill Factor 3 that came with Le Grand Macho RT and True Spirit 140 Power. Its actually pretty decent. I usually don't use anything except AS5. I've tried the Noctua paste when I owned D14, it was ok, but I went back to AS5 lol.. ICD7 was ok, I tried it during their beta test. It was a bit thick, and scrubbed the ihs a bit. I didn't use it for too long.


----------



## Vario (Feb 24, 2019)

freeagent said:


> I never had a problem with AS5. Put a grain of rice (or so) on the center of the CPU, plant your cooler on top, give it a titty twister, then clamp it down. Its good stuff. Swore by it for years.. Honestly, I mounted so many times over the years, it does take a bit to perfect your technique, I can see why guys don't like it if you have only used it a few times. Clean up is super easy too, the key is 99% iso alcohol. I ran out of AS5 last year and haven't bothered to replace it yet. I am using the Chill Factor 3 that came with Le Grand Macho RT and True Spirit 140 Power. Its actually pretty decent. I usually don't use anything except AS5. I've tried the Noctua paste when I owned D14, it was ok, but I went back to AS5 lol.. ICD7 was ok, I tried it during their beta test. It was a bit thick, and scrubbed the ihs a bit. I didn't use it for too long.



I put a tiny blob in the center, put a thin plastic bag on my finger and then spread the AS5 smooth over the top of the surface until it has a thin but very uniform coating of grey paste, and then install the heatsink on top, seems to give me really consistently excellent results, rarely need to re-do.


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## jsalpha2 (Feb 24, 2019)

+1 Ceramique  Got a giant tube many years ago. Will buy the same again unless something fantastic comes along.


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## las (Feb 24, 2019)

MX-4 is easy to apply but temps are 3-5C higher when I'm using that compared to Kryonaut or Gelid CG Extreme for example.


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## delshay (Feb 24, 2019)

I want to see someone with the right contacts bring Hitachi TC-HM03 to us normal users.


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## cornemuse (Feb 24, 2019)

*I wonder. How much better is the best/most $$ paste compared to the worst/cheapest paste??*

Do they have like "English racing paste" ? (<- attempt at humor!) (when I was a kid, they/we had 3 speed bikes refered to as 'english, & english racing bikes') (actually made in England), the q above is serious, tho , ,


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## TheMadDutchDude (Feb 24, 2019)

I'm currently using Arctic MX-4 but I am a huge, huge fan of the Noctua NT-H1 (and H2) paste. 

Kryonaut for most applications is fantastic, too. I don't use liquid metal anymore as I don't need to de-lid my current CPUs for 24/7 use. The 6700K that I do have in my bench rig is de-lidded using MX4 in the middle.


----------



## Vayra86 (Feb 24, 2019)

cornemuse said:


> *I wonder. How much better is the best/most $$ paste compared to the worst/cheapest paste??*
> 
> Do they have like "English racing paste" ? (<- attempt at humor!) (when I was a kid, they/we had 3 speed bikes refered to as 'english, & english racing bikes') (actually made in England), the q above is serious, tho , ,



Define better... its like those 3 speed bikes, all it takes for worse paste is that you'll have to apply more force (fan speed) to get on top of the hill


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## cornemuse (Feb 25, 2019)

Vayra86 said:


> Define better... its like those 3 speed bikes, all it takes for worse paste is that you'll have to apply more force (fan speed) to get on top of the hill



Better, more efficient heat transfer? Isnt that what the paste is there for in the 1st place?


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## gamefoo21 (Oct 3, 2019)

I'm surprised they still make AS5, after it was 3rd party tested and it was actually very middling paste, think it tested at 3.1 or 3.2mw/k, not the much higher advertised number. It also suffers from temp degradation, because it ages badly. It was easy to get but Shin Etsu was better back then. Now it's easily available but much better options are too.

I've got a box of pastes Kryonaut, CLU, CLU Extreme, MX4, NT-H2, Ceramique 2, even some really spiffy german industrial pastes... Oh and a very old tube of AS5.

Kryonaut gets used but it's painfully expensive. Derpier is part owner of Thermal Grizzly, so I don't trust him to honest about his 'reviews'. Steve at GN slurps hard, when KNaut fails it's because of anything else. I do have it on my Fury X and the full cover block, and it performs well there.

MX4 though in my testing gets within 1-2'C using my preferred installation method. It's so much cheaper and it's rated for 8 years. Have computers with their coolers still installed 4 years later and the temps are still like they were.

NT-H2 is a long life H1, it's good for at least 5 years, and it's a bit better than MX4 but it's more money.

I've got some viciously expensive silicone free german certified 10mw/k stuff. It works a treat, but it's use is limited because money is real.

The Liquid Metals destroy standard TIMs. But they have conditions... conductive, very conductive. Do not use on or near enough to contact aluminium, it will corrode it. Also nickel plating seems to make it less reactive. Conductonaut is wild money for difference in the noise from Coolaboratory Ultra aka CLU, which makes me think Conductonaut is CLP, because Ultra has things that lessen the thermal performance but make it nicer behaving. The Extreme seems to dial back on the niceness a bit for higher performance.

Graphite pads are... handy in places. LoL

In summary... for ambient cooling, air/water:

For most people: Arctic MX4 or Noctua NT-H2, pick by price. Arctic Silver Ceramique gets the honourable mention, as a direct AS5 upgrade.

For those who want to be flashy: TG Kryonaut, IC 24, Gelid Extreme

For the those who know what they are doing... liquid metal.


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## GoldenX (Oct 3, 2019)

You are all wrong, the best is the pre applied one on stock coolers. It's free.


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## oobymach (Oct 3, 2019)

Arctic mx-4 here too. I tried a couple others like noctuas nt-h1 but I like the arctic. I also prefer the non conductive pastes even though the crystal and fuses now are covered which minimizes the risk of zapping your cpu with silver or other metal conductive paste. 

Mx-4 spreads easily and spreads thin and is sticky which you want in a thermal paste. Stock thermal paste depending on your heatsink manufacturer may be ok but many pastes have been tested objectively and results don't lie. Toothpaste and denture cream can be substituted in a pinch but they'll never be as good as proper thermal paste.

https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/thermal-paste-comparison,5108-9.html


----------



## freeagent (Oct 3, 2019)

I am using Thermalright TF8 right now. I really like it. Its probably the best I've used so far in my limited experience.. I liked it so much I put it on my wife's laptop


----------



## FreedomEclipse (Oct 3, 2019)

MX-4 for 99% of things. NT-H1 or H2 for anything beyond.


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## Bill_Bright (Oct 3, 2019)

> I'm surprised they still make AS5, after it was 3rd party tested and it was actually very middling paste, think it tested at 3.1 or 3.2mw/k, not the much higher advertised number. It also suffers from temp degradation, because it ages badly


This is all pretty much nonsense, and inaccurate too. 

Is AS5 the absolute most efficient TIM? No. Does it need to be? NO!!! 
Does it suffer from temp degradation over time? Yes. Do all TIMs? YES!!! Does it matter? NO!!! 
Does it take longer than many to "cure"? Yes. Does it matter? NO!!!!
Does it age badly? NO!!!!!!!  It will easily last 5, 10, 15 years or longer AS LONG AS the cured bond between the mating surfaces is not broken - just like other TIMs!
Way WAY too much emphasis is put on which is "best". The most efficient transfer of heat occurs with direct metal to metal contact between the mating surfaces. The purpose of TIM is to fill the microscopic pits and valleys in those mating surfaces. So any excess TIM is in the way! 

So *what matters most* is (1) TIM is used, and (2) that it is applied properly! 

If you "need" the few extra degrees a higher rated TIM provides to avoid crossing over-heated thresholds and preventing the processor from activating thermal protection/safety measures, then YOU have failed to properly configure your case cooling and/or YOU have failed to properly set up your overclocking, if applicable. 

As long as the processor is operating comfortably within its normal operating range, all is good. Cooler does NOT automatically mean better. That is, a CPU running at 30°C will NOT be more stable, perform better, or have a longer life expectancy than a CPU running at 50°C. 

All that 30°C (or 20°C) gets you is bragging rights.


GoldenX said:


> You are all wrong, the best is the pre applied one on stock coolers. It's free.


I agree. Today's OEM TIM and OEM coolers are vastly superior to those provided years ago by the CPU makers.


----------



## P4-630 (Oct 3, 2019)

Have been using Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut since 2016.


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## gamefoo21 (Oct 3, 2019)

Bill_Bright said:


> *snip*



Aging badly because it starts temp degradation after a year, sooner all to often. It also requires set time, and it's fussy about how it's installed. Set time is also a pain because you have to 'burn in' every time to see if it is working right, unless you mess up bad. It's also veeery pressure sensitive, so lower pressure mounts don't do well with it.

AS5 is old, overpriced, and performs like a mid-grade OE paste. It's out performed by Ceramique, and Ceramique is cheaper.

The only reason AS5 is still sold is because enough people settled on it when it was the best thing easily available, and like that reply, refuse to accept that it's simply 'ok' now, and won't move on.

Why buy AS5 when there's better available and that better is cheaper? Brand loyalty? Get Arctic Silver Ceramique, it's more efficient and it lasts longer before degrading too.

I used a lot of AS5 back in the day, but it got retired like my Radeon 9800 XT for the same reasons. I used to review thermal goop in a past life, so it forced me to keep an open mind. I miss the phase change liquids, that worked great until they oxidized the surfaces.... that was aging badly. LoL


----------



## jayjr1105 (Oct 3, 2019)

MX4 is best for the $ hands down.  You'll only see ~1% gains spending more on thermal grizzly products.

If you want to be really cheap.  There is stuff from chinese ebay sellers called GD900.  It's like $2 for a big a$$ tube of it.  Some youtubers have proven it to be very good and very close to MX4 performance.


----------



## eBombzor (Oct 3, 2019)

freeagent said:


> I am using Thermalright TF8 right now. I really like it. Its probably the best I've used so far in my limited experience.. I liked it so much I put it on my wife's laptop


Same. TF8 is my favorite paste by far. Easy to spread, high performance, it lowered my GPU temps by 4 C (was using some paste I got at Best Buy before b/c I ran out of GC-E). Also relatively good value for high performance paste.


----------



## freeagent (Oct 3, 2019)

I used as5 for years, never had a problem with it. It never degraded, I liked it better than the Noctua paste. AS5 is good stuff. You need to apply it properly for good results. If you are new to it, you will probably have to remount a few times to dial in your application. I would still use it if I had some. I hear a lot of complaints, but I myself would just chalk it up to inexperience.


----------



## ShrimpBrime (Oct 3, 2019)

I have been using Antec Formula 6/7 pastes for a long time. Upgraded from AS5 many years ago. 
Various pastes in between on the bench. 
Most pastes seem to be within a few degree of each other honestly.


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## jayjr1105 (Oct 3, 2019)

AS5 is an antique.  20+ products out there that are better performing, don't have a silly "break-in" period and have zero electrical conductivity.  Oh and also cost less.  Stop buying AS5 because it's "nostalgic"


----------



## ShrimpBrime (Oct 3, 2019)

jayjr1105 said:


> AS5 is an antique.  20+ products out there that are better performing, don't have a silly "break-in" period and have zero electrical conductivity.  Oh and also cost less.  Stop buying AS5 because it's "nostalgic"



lol, I think it's called a burn in.... But all pastes need time to "break-in" or I'd call it "settle in" as the paste pushes out from the mounting pressures of the cooling device.
They do recommend running warm for some amount of time which probably thins it out a bit and helps with push out.

EDIT: I stand myself corrected. It is Break-in time for sure.

*Break-In Period by Thermal Compound: (AMD)*
Arctic Silver 5: Break-in period: 200 hours (Break-in period will occur during normal use.) Temps will drop several degrees over the break-in period measured with a thermal diode in the hottest part of the CPU core.

Céramique 2: Break-in period: 25 hours (Break-in period will occur during normal use.) Temps will drop several degrees over the break-in period measured with a thermal diode in the hottest part of the CPU core.

Arctic Alumina: Break-in period: 36 hours (Break-in period will occur during normal use.) Temps will drop several degrees over the break-in period measured with a thermal diode in the hottest part of the CPU core

source: http://www.arcticsilver.com/PDF/appmeth/amd/vl/amd_app_method_vl_1.3.pdf


----------



## Vario (Oct 3, 2019)

jayjr1105 said:


> AS5 is an antique.  20+ products out there that are better performing, don't have a silly "break-in" period and have zero electrical conductivity.  Oh and also cost less.  Stop buying AS5 because it's "nostalgic"


AS5 isn't electrically conductive.  Just about all silicon based pastes perform within 1 to 2 degrees C.  Most of these products cost about the same amount.   I prefer AS5 because the mounting lasts a long time.  For example, I have a Radeon HD 7850 videocard pasted 7 years ago with AS5 that still has the same temperatures as when it was freshly pasted.  These temperatures were substantially better than the stock paste.  I will continue to buy it.  Also, I personally have never experienced temperature change 200 hours in, it works fine immediately just like everything else.


----------



## Bill_Bright (Oct 3, 2019)

gamefoo21 said:


> Aging badly because it starts temp degradation after a year, sooner all to often. It also requires set time, and it's fussy about how it's installed.


Again, nonsense and inaccurate.

Degradation over the entire lifespan of many years is only a few degrees, typically less than 5°C. So again, if you "need" those 5° to keep from getting too close to the thermal thresholds, then YOU have failed to properly set up cooling. And it is not at all fussy about installing. In fact, it is simple.


freeagent said:


> You need to apply it properly for good results.


True for every TIM out there.



gamefoo21 said:


> The only reason AS5 is still sold is because enough people settled on it when it was the best thing easily available, and like that reply, refuse to accept that it's simply 'ok' now, and won't move on.
> 
> Why buy AS5 when there's better available and that better is cheaper? Brand loyalty? Get Arctic Silver Ceramique, it's more efficient and it lasts longer before degrading too.


You really don't know what you are talking about. Please see the last line of my sig. Do your home work. Arctic Silver 5, $5.95 for 3.5g or $1.70 per gram. Arctic Silver Ceramique, $4.99 for 2.7g or $1.84 per gram.  MX-4, $7.62 for 4g or $1.90 per gram.

Did you look at the link oobymach posted? No one, including me, said AS5 is the best. Yes, it is in the middle of the pack. But so what? It is less than 6° off from the top performer which costs a fortune. And it is only 3°C off from the best non-metallic paste, Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut which costs a whopping $7 per gram! For 3°? Forget it.

FTR, I am not defending AS5 because I think it is the best. I am defending it because of all the nonsense being spewed about it. It is a good TIM - much better then many other name brand products.


----------



## jayjr1105 (Oct 3, 2019)

Vario said:


> AS5 isn't electrically conductive.  Just about all silicon based pastes perform within 1 to 2 degrees C.  I prefer AS5 because the mounting lasts a long time.  I will continue to buy it.


It's more conductive than modern carbon based paste and that's enough for me to sleep better at night.  It does have actual silver in it right?  And silver is metal right?  I'll still pass on AS5


----------



## Vario (Oct 3, 2019)

gamefoo21 said:


> AS5 is old, overpriced, and performs like a mid-grade OE paste. It's out performed by Ceramique, and Ceramique is cheaper.


Ceramique is junk.


----------



## ShrimpBrime (Oct 3, 2019)

Pass on Ceramique and pass on AS5 with the 200 hr "break-in" time. I have to WAIT to get better temps!!?? lol, nah, pass.


----------



## Vario (Oct 3, 2019)

ShrimpBrime said:


> Pass on Ceramique and pass on AS5 with the 200 hr "break-in" time. I have to WAIT to get better temps!!?? lol, nah, pass.


The 200 hour thing doesn't really matter.  You know immediately that it is mounted properly based on idle and load temperature and how rapidly it can transition from load back to idle temperatures.

I have never noticed AS5 temperature reduction, if any, after 200 hours, I put it on and it works.

I have installed NTH1, PK3, X23, G751, and several other pastes I had lying around with the same processor and heatsink as AS5 and the temperatures were the exact same.

I tried Ceramique back in 2006 and it didn't cool as well as AS5 and also didn't last as long.

At one point a few years back I had a GTX 770 graphics card with a heatsink that seemed really sensitive to any amount of movement, it would dislodge slightly and the temperatures would go to hell.  AS5 seemed to be the tackiest and the temperatures stayed constant.   The thinner pastes such as NTH1 and PK3 didn't last long at all.  X23 was okay but it required preheat to soften it.

I have used Coollaboratory Liquid Ultra and Liquid Pro, these products were the biggest hassle and they also alloyed to a copper H100 base requiring lapping to fix.


----------



## Raven Rampkin (Oct 3, 2019)

Having not even tried it once, I already feel allergic to the Kryonaut and the buzz surrounding it. Sorry about that ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Probably a game changer at an edible price but some sellers suuuuuure have decided to cash in on the hype.
Otherwise, MX-2 if you're a retrofreak/pervert, MX-4 for general use, GC-Extreme for extreme use, and GD900 if you're a pervert once again  Minor experience + major Google-fu is the source in case you wonder  There are the Noctuas, the Mastergel and some other options as well if you love experiments.
Also, wasn't the Arctic Silver's manufacturer the one behind that major customer service phVckuppe a few years ago? (I mean, that one with grandmas, where a rep went nuts in the respective forum thread.) Had something to do with paste abrasiveness iirc. *EDIT they weren't*


----------



## lexluthermiester (Oct 3, 2019)

gamefoo21 said:


> Aging badly because it starts temp degradation after a year, sooner all to often.


But it's less than 5% typically, which really doesn't affect much long term. Bill is right, undisturbed TIMs which are initially effective stay effective long term.


----------



## jayjr1105 (Oct 3, 2019)

Raven Rampkin said:


> Having not even tried it once, I already feel allergic to the Kryonaut and the buzz surrounding it. Sorry about that ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Probably a game changer at an edible price but some sellers suuuuuure have decided to cash in on the hype.
> Otherwise, MX-2 if you're a retrofreak/pervert, MX-4 for general use, GC-Extreme for extreme use, and GD900 if you're a pervert once again  Minor experience + major Google-fu is the source in case you wonder
> Also, wasn't the Arctic Silver's manufacturer the one behind that major customer service phVckuppe a few years ago? (I mean, that one with grandmas, where a rep went nuts in the respective forum thread.) Had something to do with paste abrasiveness iirc.


The only time I'd maybe splurge on Kryonaut is if I had a gaming laptop that was noisy/hot.  Every little bit counts with those.


----------



## Vario (Oct 3, 2019)

lexluthermiester said:


> But it's less than 5% typically, which really doesn't affect much long term. Bill is right, undisturbed TIMs which are initially effective stay effective long term.


The thin stuff like Noctua NTH1 pumped out in my experience.  I had a couple tubes of that and some other stuff and I gave them away for free to various eBay buyers when I sold hardware because I found these to be inferior.  Its a good way to get rid of this kind of stuff, also gave away spare fans, etc.

AS5 requires a bit more finesse than putting a dot in the center, unlike the thinner pastes,  it really works best if you spread it with your finger in a baggy.  The paste mounts just last longer than the others, atleast from my experience, and I don't like having to unmount hardware if I can avoid it.


----------



## The Egg (Oct 3, 2019)

jayjr1105 said:


> AS5 is an antique.  20+ products out there that are better performing, don't have a silly "break-in" period and have zero electrical conductivity.  Oh and also cost less.  Stop buying AS5 because it's "nostalgic"


Geez.  I had no idea the situation was so bad.  I have enough AS5 left for about 50 CPU applications, but after reading your post, I'm immediately tossing it in the trash.  All these years I thought it was performing well for me, but it wasn't actually performing well.  It was all a mirage.  Now I've gotta rip my PC apart and reapply with something less antique.  Do you think I'm risking disaster if I wait a couple weeks to do the same for nearly all my family/friends?


----------



## ShrimpBrime (Oct 3, 2019)

Vario said:


> The 200 hour thing doesn't really matter.  You know immediately that it is mounted properly based on idle and load temperature and how rapidly it can transition from load back to idle temperatures.
> 
> I have never noticed AS5 temperature reduction, if any, after 200 hours, I put it on and it works.
> 
> ...



Wouldn't be able to confirm anything about a burn in time. Haven't purchased AS5 in many many years. There's just a lot of better pastes on the market now-a-days. 
I mean, I'd use it maybe on a family members DELL or HP. I certainly wouldn't put it on any of my video cards. AS5 is only good for up to 130c. 
You can, this is just my preference and opinion. 

The stuff I like has this for specs. 
Diamond particles measuring 0.0000015 cm rated at 8.3 w/mK. -50 to 250c.


----------



## jayjr1105 (Oct 3, 2019)

Try ShinEtsu syringe if you want thicker stuff for flimsier heatsinks. It's pretty good stuff.


----------



## Vario (Oct 3, 2019)

The Egg said:


> Geez.  I had no idea the situation was so bad.  I have enough AS5 left for about 50 CPU applications, but after reading your post, I'm immediately tossing it in the trash.  All these years I thought it was performing well for me, but it wasn't actually performing well.  It was all a mirage.  Now I've gotta rip my PC apart and reapply with something less antique.  Do you think I'm risking disaster if I wait a couple weeks to do the same for nearly all my family/friends?


LOL.  Risking disaster.  Make sure you use a grounding strap too and maybe do the disassembly and reassembly in a proper ISO-1 clean room.  You can't be too sure.


----------



## Raven Rampkin (Oct 3, 2019)

You may discard that blob about Arctic Silver  The offender was actually IC (IC Diamond to be precise). Right on this board, too! Anonymous remembers.


----------



## Vario (Oct 3, 2019)

Raven Rampkin said:


> You may discard that blob about Arctic Silver  The offender was actually IC (IC Diamond to be precise). Right on this board, too! Anonymous remembers.


Yeah IIRC it was marring the devices it was mounted to.
edit: https://www.hardwarebbq.com/ic-diam...e-hand-thermal-pastes-damaging-cpu-gpu-cores/


----------



## jayjr1105 (Oct 3, 2019)

Why is everyone so butt hurt about AS5?  It's a 20 year old formula.  Technology improves, and though time, things naturally get better.  Is it that hard of a concept to grasp that there's better forumla's out there nowadays?  Nobody said it would blow up your system if you use it, we're saying there's better TIM out there that doesn't have the pitfalls of AS5 for the same amount of money.


----------



## Vario (Oct 3, 2019)

jayjr1105 said:


> Why is everyone so butt hurt about AS5?  It's a 20 year old formula.  Technology improves, and though time, things naturally get better.  Is it that hard of a concept to grasp that there's better forumla's out there nowadays?  Nobody said it would blow up your system if you use it, we're saying there's better TIM out there that doesn't have the pitfalls of AS5 for the same amount of money.


For me, it has more to do with spreading disinformation about electrical conductivity.


----------



## jayjr1105 (Oct 3, 2019)

Vario said:


> For me, it has more to do with spreading disinformation about electrical conductivity.


Electronically speaking everything is conductive, even air or a piece of rubber.  Air and rubber are just extremely poor conductors and better insulators.  So if you're telling me a thermal material with ACTUAL metal bits in it isn't conductive, you're wrong.


----------



## Vario (Oct 3, 2019)

jayjr1105 said:


> Electronically speaking everything is conductive, even air or a piece of rubber.  Air and rubber are just extremely poor conductors and better insulators.  So if you're telling me a thermal material with ACTUAL metal bits in it isn't conductive, you're wrong.


Funny how people watercool computers but panic over thermal paste.


----------



## ShrimpBrime (Oct 3, 2019)

Raven Rampkin said:


> You may discard that blob about Arctic Silver  The offender was actually IC (IC Diamond to be precise). Right on this board, too! Anonymous remembers.



Well I have some of that too. But I was talking about Antec F7. 
Been running naked cores with it for many years.

Marring? Sorta, but then I dont care, just lap the core to 3000 grit and better than new again.
(I run lidless chips)


----------



## Vayra86 (Oct 3, 2019)

Y'all are way overcomplicating the thermal paste race.

If you can get no air bubble application done, you're done. Its that simple. Paste is the least of your worries. Dust, case airflow, heatsink dissipation capacity versus the CPU underneath, those are the real things to look at. And that is why a middle of the road paste is JUST FINE and if you want to spend big for peace of mind, by all means, but its nothing more or other than just that.

/thread. And that also goes for the 2020 version of this topic...


----------



## Bill_Bright (Oct 3, 2019)

jayjr1105 said:


> It does have actual silver in it right? And silver is metal right? I'll still pass on AS5


So what if it has metal in it? Metal typically is a great conductor of heat, and silver is one of the best. That's a good thing. And that's why the metal TIMs top that list. So what if a 20 year old formula? Again, is 3°C really that important? NO!!!!!!


jayjr1105 said:


> Why is everyone so butt hurt about AS5?


Because of nonsense like yours above, and below.


jayjr1105 said:


> Electronically speaking everything is conductive


Just because you may apply a big enough potential to cause voltage to arc across a gap, that does not mean electricity was conducted. Tunneling is not conduction.

I guess if you are so careless you squeeze out the entire tube of AS5, causing it ooze all over the motherboard, then you have a problem. But in that scenario, you have no business being inside the computer in the first place.



The Egg said:


> Geez. I had no idea the situation was so bad.


It's not.


----------



## Raven Rampkin (Oct 3, 2019)

Vayra86 said:


> If you can get no air bubble application done, you're done. Its that simple. Paste is the least of your worries.



Unless it's KPT-8 from the Soviet times or straight up mayo


----------



## TheoneandonlyMrK (Oct 3, 2019)

hat said:


> But, damn man, now I want to try liquid metal on my 1070s...


Nowt beats it IMHO.


----------



## jayjr1105 (Oct 3, 2019)

Bill_Bright said:


> Again, is 3°C really that important? NO!!!!!!
> 
> Because of nonsense like yours above, and below.


I'm sorry, was the title of this thread "What's the most mediocre thermal paste in 2019 with a few drawbacks" or "What's the best thermal paste in 2019"???

If you want to get super technical and pick apart my posts with a fine tooth comb, then AS5 isn't even in the ballpark of discussion and shouldn't even have been mentioned in this thread.  The thread starter clearly asked about the *best* thermal paste in *2019.*  Simple as that.  And AS5 isn't in this discussion anymore because it simply doesn't perform as well as a dozen more modern pastes, not to mention it's difficult to clean up compared to carbon based TIM's, has a 200 hour break in period, and gives you no incentive to buy it from a price perspective.

If someone starts a thread about what's the best TV in 2019, nobody is suggesting a Plasma or CRT just because technically it still "works".


----------



## lexluthermiester (Oct 3, 2019)

jayjr1105 said:


> Why is everyone so butt hurt about AS5? It's a 20 year old formula.


It's a formula that works. It's age is irrelevant, something I suspect you have yet to understand.


----------



## Bones (Oct 4, 2019)

Vario said:


> Ceramique is junk.


Have to disagree, I use it all the time and it works fine...... Plus it's cheap too.
With what I do it's gotta be cheap.


Raven Rampkin said:


> Having not even tried it once, I already feel allergic to the Kryonaut and the buzz surrounding it. Sorry about that ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Probably a game changer at an edible price but some sellers suuuuuure have decided to cash in on the hype.
> Otherwise, MX-2 if you're a retrofreak/pervert, MX-4 for general use, GC-Extreme for extreme use, and GD900 if you're a pervert once again  Minor experience + major Google-fu is the source in case you wonder  There are the Noctuas, the Mastergel and some other options as well if you love experiments.
> Also, wasn't the Arctic Silver's manufacturer the one behind that major customer service phVckuppe a few years ago? (I mean, that one with grandmas, where a rep went nuts in the respective forum thread.) Had something to do with paste abrasiveness iirc. *EDIT they weren't*



I've tried Kryonaut and it's..... OK.

Mainly meant and formulated for extreme use (Subzero), for everyday use it's not worth the expense at all.
I've been using the newer MX-4 Carbon stuff https://www.newegg.com/arctic-cooling-ac-mx4/p/2MB-000S-00017 and that works good without being too expensive for daily or any other use. Works with Ln2 as well, did that a couple weeks ago with it - No problems at all, even at full pot. 


jayjr1105 said:


> I'm sorry, was the title of this thread "What's the most mediocre thermal paste in 2019 with a few drawbacks" or "What's the best thermal paste in 2019"???
> 
> If you want to get super technical and pick apart my posts with a fine tooth comb, then AS5 isn't even in the ballpark of discussion and shouldn't even have been mentioned in this thread.  The thread starter clearly asked about *the best thermal paste in 2019.  Simple as that.*  And AS5 isn't in this discussion anymore because it simply doesn't perform as well as a dozen more modern pastes, not to mention it's difficult to clean up compared to carbon based TIM's, has a 200 hour break in period, and gives you no incentive to buy it from a price perspective.
> 
> ...


Technically speaking, since it's still being made, sold and used in 2019 it does matter.


----------



## killster1 (Oct 4, 2019)

P4-630 said:


> Have been using Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut since 2016.


yea same here but i recently found out that its only good for 4 years or less? really i didnt even read much about it, its pretty cheap on ebay 8$ for maybe 40 applications.


----------



## jayjr1105 (Oct 4, 2019)

lexluthermiester said:


> It's a formula that works. It's age is irrelevant, something I suspect you have yet to understand.


Is the tile of this thread, "Thermal paste that works"? or "Best Thermal Paste 2019"?


----------



## lexluthermiester (Oct 4, 2019)

jayjr1105 said:


> Is the tile of this thread, "Thermal paste that works"? or "Best Thermal Paste 2019"?


It's still being manufactured and will continue to be, and is still in the top 3 in performance/cost ratio. You were saying?


----------



## jayjr1105 (Oct 4, 2019)

lexluthermiester said:


> It's still being manufactured and will continue to be, and is still in the top 3 in performance/cost ratio. You were saying?


Lots of old crap is still manufactured because of it's mind share.  Top 3 in the perfomance to cost ratio?  You realize we're talking about pennies here right?  #17 in that chart with a 9900K.  16 TIM's performed better (that they tested), there's probably more.


----------



## FordGT90Concept (Oct 4, 2019)

jayjr1105 said:


> If you want to get super technical and pick apart my posts with a fine tooth comb, then AS5 isn't even in the ballpark of discussion and shouldn't even have been mentioned in this thread.


AS5 has to sinter which takes hundreds of hours and thermal cycling.  It's not an easy thing to benchmark.

I installed this HSF with a decade old AS5 (purchased around 2005) back in 2015.  4 years later, the temps under 100% load are either the same or less as they were in 2015 (~50C across all cores).  Of course I don't know what the ambient temperature was then versus now.  BOINC may also be working on something computationally different then versus now.  But yeah... computer goes off almost every night and when it's running, it's at 100% like it is now.  The AS5 is definitely fully sintered by now.




Been using AS5 exclusively for over a decade, no complaints here.


----------



## jayjr1105 (Oct 4, 2019)

FordGT90Concept said:


> AS5 has to sinter which takes *hundreds of hours* and thermal cycling.  It's not an easy thing to benchmark.


Good point, another reason to not buy it.


FordGT90Concept said:


> Been using AS5 exclusively for over a decade, no complaints here.


Not saying it's terrible or that it will blow up your system.  There are just better pastse nowadays, that's it.


----------



## FordGT90Concept (Oct 4, 2019)

jayjr1105 said:


> Good point, another reason to not buy it.


If you're changing HSFs every day/week/month, definitely.  AS5 is only for the long haul.


----------



## lexluthermiester (Oct 4, 2019)

FordGT90Concept said:


> AS5 has to sinter which takes hundreds of hours and thermal cycling. It's not an easy thing to benchmark.


Oh please stop that myth. Yes it has cure time, however it works within 96% of maximum until it does. Mountains out of molehills, please stop making them.


jayjr1105 said:


> Good point, another reason to not buy it.
> 
> Not saying it's terrible or that it will blow up your system.  There are just better pastse nowadays, that's it.


Ok, we understand your opinion. We don't have to agree with you though..


----------



## FordGT90Concept (Oct 4, 2019)

lexluthermiester said:


> Oh please stop that myth. Yes it has cure time, however it works within 96% of maximum until it does. Mountains out of molehills, please stop making them.


Considering the worst score and best score is a split of only 8%, you're random number stipulating a 4% change is huge. 

It's not a myth, a Department of Energy study looked in to it.  Of all the compounds they tried, sintering silver (Arctic Silver 5) is the only one that improved from the initial test.  The rest (except graphite thermoplastic which never changes) stayed roughly the same until they started degrading.
Final summary: https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy16osti/66754.pdf


----------



## FreedomEclipse (Oct 4, 2019)




----------



## FordGT90Concept (Oct 4, 2019)

His method of spreading paste is terrible. GD-900 may have performed the best for him simply because it's so viscous that it worked all the bubbles out itself.


----------



## lexluthermiester (Oct 4, 2019)

FordGT90Concept said:


> It's not a myth, a Department of Energy study looked in to it.


I remember that thread and nothing has changed. The testing method was flawed and the use case scenario is not applicable to cooling PC components. Perhaps you would be well served by re-reading that thread yourself.


FordGT90Concept said:


> His method of spreading paste is terrible.


Saw that a day after it was posted, excellent testing methods as well as conclusions.


----------



## FordGT90Concept (Oct 4, 2019)

lexluthermiester said:


> The testing method was flawed and the use case scenario is not applicable to cooling PC components.


By "flawed" you mean scientific?  They used a thermal couple as a heat source which provides constant wattage, they apply exactly 100 micrometers of gap with exactly 60 (I think it was) bars of pressure, and they cycle the thermal couple in a predefined pattern.  Yeah, I'm gonna go with NERL results over random YouTube guy, spank you very much. 



lexluthermiester said:


> Saw that a day after it was posted, excellent testing methods as well as conclusions.


[facepalm.jpg]
I marked the obvious places that will form an air pocket in just one shot:



I have no confidence in his testing.  One air bubble over the sensor and the reading is wrong.  His application methodology makes it inevitable.

Air pockets are second only to complete vacuums in terms of thermal resistance.


----------



## freeagent (Oct 4, 2019)

How do you get air bubbles when you plant your cooler, and clamp it down to proper specifications, ie all the way..? You get air pockets when you lift your cooler off to check your tim print, but at that point I'm sure you already know to wipe it off and start fresh.

I find a lot of the stuff on youtube to be entertaining. I don't take most of it seriously, and neither should you..


----------



## FordGT90Concept (Oct 4, 2019)

Valleys become air pockets.  If you're not hearing pops as it is being tightened, you either have no air pockets or the air is trapped inside.  In general, there isn't enough force (because PCBs are weak) in computing applications to force the air pockets out.  That's why proper application of the TIM is critical.


----------



## freeagent (Oct 4, 2019)

I haven't heard any pops like you describe. That's hardcore. I guess if people mount their coolers with the plastic still on, anything is possible.

Edit:

How much paste do you have to use to get that to happen? Lol.


----------



## jayjr1105 (Oct 4, 2019)

lexluthermiester said:


> Exactly.


You also get bubbles if you do a piss poor job of applying the TIM, not just if you lift it off and press right back down.


----------



## FordGT90Concept (Oct 4, 2019)

freeagent said:


> I haven't heard any pops like you describe. That's hardcore. I guess if people mount their coolers with the plastic still on, anything is possible.


As I said, you'll hear the PCB crack before you hear the pops of air bubbles escaping (it's a function of air pressure, applied pressure, and viscosity).  That's why you have to apply thermal paste/grease in a way that prohibits the formation of valleys that will become air bubbles.


You know what? I do have two pieces of dense, clear plexiglass here, I could demonstrate how air bubbles form but...meh...can't be arsed to do it when it should be common sense.  Case in point, ever get an air pocket when applying a screen protector?  Same thing.


----------



## freeagent (Oct 4, 2019)

What PCB cracks when you tighten your cooler down? MSI lol? I kid I kid.. never owned one. Well, I have never had that problem because my coolers are tight, and I guess I know how to apply TIM thankfully.


----------



## FordGT90Concept (Oct 4, 2019)

You're not following the train of thought so...have a video demonstrating the differences:









At 2 minutes in, you can see a pocket form:




Then when he applies pressure...wow...it's awful (only solid white isn't a pocket, all the grayness has air):



Same TIM in a cross configuration.  This is what it *should* look like:





What I was saying about popping...the only way to work that bubble out in the first picture is to apply thousands of pounds of force--an industrial press which would cause an explosive pop as it escapes.  You'll destroy something if you try that with a processor.  Don't.  Just apply the TIM in a dot, line, X, asterisk, or any other pattern that works from the center out to vacate all of the air as pressure is being applied.  Do NOT pre-spread.  Air is an insulator.  Doesn't matter what TIM you use, air pockets will prohibit it from functioning.

So yeah, his (the Aussie's) test is invalid because his method is conducive to producing air pockets and results will be completely inconsistent across different TIMs.  His graph shows this too: normally it's an 8% spread between best and worst, his is much wider.


----------



## fullinfusion (Oct 4, 2019)

Thermal Grizzly Kryo paste by far,,, its been my goto for the hot ass Vega and RX480 cards. Also my 5.2ghz OC 7700K loves this stuff..


----------



## freeagent (Oct 4, 2019)

FordGT90Concept said:


> You're not following the train of thought so...have a video demonstrating the differences:
> 
> What I was saying about popping...the only way to work that bubble out in the first picture is to apply thousands of pounds of force--an industrial press which would cause an explosive pop as it escapes.  You'll destroy something if you try that with a processor.  Don't.  Just apply the TIM in a dot, line, X, asterisk, or any other pattern that works from the center out to vacate all of the air as pressure is being applied.  Do NOT pre-spread.  Air is an insulator.  Doesn't matter what TIM you use, air pockets will prohibit it from functioning.
> 
> So yeah, his (the Aussie's) test is invalid because his method is conducive to producing air pockets and results will be completely inconsistent across different TIMs.  His graph shows this too: normally it's an 8% spread between best and worst, his is much wider.



That was a well thought out post, thanks for taking the time.

I just put a dot in the center.. I usually do a few mounts when I first get a new cpu to see if I am getting good coverage. If my temps are good, or not, I will usually pull the cooler anyways just to check the spread and see how she flows.. I start small and work my way up until I am satisfied with temps. If I put a little too much on, Ill wipe it and use a little less. Its really one of the few things I am OCD about lol.. I blame AS5 for that. Anyways, I will run something hot at a speed and voltage that wont hurt anything, usually at or around max vid, which on this chip is 1.215. As for something hot, well that would be linpack extreme. And I let it cycle a couple of times, build some heat then let it cool. It can be a bit time consuming, But once I get to know a cpu it doesn't take long. I usually do it when the kids are in bed on a Friday or Saturday night because I am a party animal.


----------



## potato580+ (Oct 4, 2019)

thermal pad with rgb maybe


----------



## Vayra86 (Oct 4, 2019)

freeagent said:


> What PCB cracks when you tighten your cooler down? MSI lol? I kid I kid.. never owned one. Well, I have never had that problem because my coolers are tight, and I guess I know how to apply TIM thankfully.



Overtightened heatsinks are definitely a major issue for DIY builders. Especially if you're new to the game, the tendency is to screw things down a bit too tight 'to be sure'. You can crush traces on the board doing that and kill it, and yes, you can crack a PCB as well. A screw can apply significant force.

Just because you didn't, never underestimate humanity 



jayjr1105 said:


> I'm sorry, was the title of this thread "What's the most mediocre thermal paste in 2019 with a few drawbacks" or "What's the best thermal paste in 2019"???
> 
> If you want to get super technical and pick apart my posts with a fine tooth comb, then AS5 isn't even in the ballpark of discussion and shouldn't even have been mentioned in this thread.  The thread starter clearly asked about the *best* thermal paste in *2019.*  Simple as that.  And AS5 isn't in this discussion anymore because it simply doesn't perform as well as a dozen more modern pastes, not to mention it's difficult to clean up compared to carbon based TIM's, has a 200 hour break in period, and gives you no incentive to buy it from a price perspective.
> 
> ...



You need to get it through your thick skull, apparently, but 80% of that chart falls right within margin of error territory. And AS5 is in it.

Bottom line, relevance of this testing is just about zero. The best result is for Conductonaut shaving off a notably larger bit of temperature than most others. But it is also much more expensive. 'Best' can be 'best' in many ways. 'Best perf/dollar'. 'Best thermal performance'. 'Best availability in stores'. 'Best application to avoid air pockets'. You name it. Your definition of best is top of a chart..? Pretty narrow if you ask me.


----------



## Bones (Oct 4, 2019)

Possible to cause issues with sockets like Intel has from too much pressure used. 
Screws used makes it all too easy to overdo the mounting pressure with those.
Done it before and it did cause a pin or two to get moved out of place, luckily the fix was easy enough. 

If using screws and in doubt, the rule is to "Snug it", not torque it down and it will be fine. 
The TIM will still spread out like it should if it has to, just double-check the mounting pressure after a few hours of runtime to make sure it didn't change due to the TIM spreading out further after it gets warm.


----------



## P4-630 (Oct 4, 2019)

killster1 said:


> yea same here but i recently found out that its only good for 4 years or less?



Ok they do not mention how many years but I think it should last more than 4 years.
Where did you read that?













						Thermal Grizzly High Performance Cooling Solutions - Kryonaut
					

Hochwertige Wärmeleitlösungen für Computerchips




					www.thermal-grizzly.com


----------



## Woomack (Oct 4, 2019)

I can recommend Noctua NT-H2 as it's spreading better than anything else and is slightly better than other TIMs in performance. I had a bad experience with the Kryonaut. One tube was weirdly dry and was spreading really bad. No issues like that with some other tubes from them but the price is in general too high for my needs. I can get it for competitive benchmarking but not for daily tests when I sometimes switch coolers more often.
If I switch coolers more often then I'm using cheaper stuff like MX4 which is still really good, even though has some years. There are also other options on the market so it's easy to find something good and not really overpriced.

In tests some TIMs are +/- 1°C when applying the TIM can be next 1-2°C difference. I don't know if 1°C difference for an 80°C+ CPU is really worth to make another 'what TIM is the best' thread


----------



## oobymach (Oct 4, 2019)

Best bang for your buck, Arctic MX-4.

ebay mx-4

You can buy 4 gram syringes for $6.23 and it's one of the best performing pastes on the market.

A great alternative to pastes is the liquid metal pad, or thermal grizzly conductonaut, which is also fairly cheap and performs very well.

Best thermal paste 2019 from another site. MX-4 still the winner.

I just tested NT-H1 vs theMX-4 I had on my cpu and no difference whatsoever. Both increased to the same temperature during testing and subsequently dropped at the same rate in temperature when the test was over. Good paste is good paste I guess.


----------



## gamefoo21 (Oct 4, 2019)

Wow, I totally shot the AS5 hornets nest with the MX4 shotgun... lol

Even back in the day it was a bit of a joke that Ceramique performed better than AS5.

Burn-in does apply to AS5, because you need to get it hot several times before it 'sets'.

AS5 isn't very conductive but it is capacitive. That's the electrical truth.

My measure of a superior paste isn't one that cools 1'C better for twice the cost.

A superior paste is one that outperforms another paste by 1'C and costs half as much.

MX4 around here is $10, AS5 is $15. MX4 consistently outperforms AS5.

In summary...

AS5 is an ok paste, but there are better performing options for the dollar. It's an old formula that's been surpassed by newer and better technology and formulations.

Edit:

Just got some EK Ectotherm. Does anyone know who supplies this TIM. It looks super familiar.

Just put CLU Extreme on a friends VII... that is going to live under an EK full cover block. I will say that Aquacomputer and Watercooling both have much nicer machining on their full cover blocks. Byski too from the pictures... Never been a big fan of EK, but the options were limited. The only German block, Phanteks isn't available here and import is $$$.


----------



## phanbuey (Oct 4, 2019)

i mean if you're running a computer shop and pasting stuff every day then yes cost is a factor and double the cost for 1C isnt worth it... but if you're talking about a enthusiast builder who maybe pastes something every 6 months and has had the same tube of thermal paste laying around for the last 2 years then the extra $10 for 1-2C better performance on a tube that will last you is completely worth it IMO.

I average about a build every 2 months and have tried gelid, phanteks, and Thermalright - and I always get very good results with the Kryonaut so I like to just stick to that if possible.


----------



## jayjr1105 (Oct 4, 2019)

We go through a lot at work.  We buy the 30-40g syringe for less than a $1 per gram in MX2 and MX4 flavors.


----------



## eidairaman1 (Oct 4, 2019)

FordGT90Concept said:


> You're not following the train of thought so...have a video demonstrating the differences:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I use the spread method and then set the sink down twist and press a few times and secure the hsf. No problems with my cpu from 2015.


----------



## freeagent (Oct 4, 2019)

The titty twister is a must!


----------



## gamefoo21 (Oct 4, 2019)

phanbuey said:


> i mean if you're running a computer shop and pasting stuff every day then yes cost is a factor and double the cost for 1C isnt worth it... but if you're talking about a enthusiast builder who maybe pastes something every 6 months and has had the same tube of thermal paste laying around for the last 2 years then the extra $10 for 1-2C better performance on a tube that will last you is completely worth it IMO.
> 
> I average about a build every 2 months and have tried gelid, phanteks, and Thermalright - and I always get very good results with the Kryonaut so I like to just stick to that if possible.



While I post about using Liquid Metal... Actually Kryonaut is kinda expensive since it's about par for price to the Coolaboratory products per gram.


----------



## phanbuey (Oct 4, 2019)

gamefoo21 said:


> While I post about using Liquid Metal... Actually Kryonaut is kinda expensive since it's about par for price to the Coolaboratory products per gram.



For sure it is - but when you use 10 G every 2 years it doesn't matter all too much.

Liquid metal can eat into heatsinks and makes it harder to resell the chip after you're done with it, so its best to use that for delidding.


----------



## kapone32 (Oct 4, 2019)

Noctua NT-H2 all the way. It is about 3 degrees cooler than the NT_H1 which was my favourite before that.


----------



## Liquid Cool (Oct 4, 2019)

I'm not sure what the best thermal paste is nowadays, I'm still using MX2 in 2019.  I love the stuff and don't see any reason to change.  Considering I have about 14g sitting on my bench...I'm stuck with it for quite some time.    .

I enjoyed Ford's post in #152.  I personally use the grain of rice method.  For me, it gives the most uniform pattern without air pockets.  Although...on GPU's I spread a thin layer across the whole of the processor.  The reason is...I don't think the clamping pressure of the coolers on these is as high as a regular normal desktop processor cooler and I've run into overheating problems when using the rice method on GPU's.  Now...admittedly, I haven't tested this theory in probably over a decade...so "things" could have changed since then.  Either way...its been working for me and I'll probably continue to do it that way until it doesn't.

Another small observation though...

Having taken apart many many many OEM computers over the last 4 decades...the most air bubbles &/or pockets that I have witnessed came from factory oem computers where the thermal paste was applied over the whole processor before assembly.  Just as in Ford's photos.  Hence my comment. 

What I find strange is that this behavior doesn't repeat itself when I pull off my GPU coolers years later.  Despite using what I consider to be the "inferior method"...I never see air pockets?  All of these years, I chalked it up to clamping pressure as mentioned.

Although...the truth is...I don't know.

Best,

Liquid Cool


----------



## INSTG8R (Oct 4, 2019)

MX-4 for ease of use and performance and I have a big syringe of it...


----------



## gamefoo21 (Oct 4, 2019)

phanbuey said:


> For sure it is - but when you use 10 G every 2 years it doesn't matter all too much.
> 
> Liquid metal can eat into heatsinks and makes it harder to resell the chip after you're done with it, so its best to use that for delidding.



I've seen it diffuse into copper and it or it's removal take the writing off the top of IHSs. I've never seen LM eat into a die before.

Actually it's why I suggest LM only on nickel plated copper. It does slow the process considerably. Polishing the copper first may also work as it helps to close off the pores of the copper.

Also why I have 3 classes for TIM, bang the buck, high performance, and thermals are everything.

I run LM when I delid, it's worth it. Lapping the IHS is also very worthwhile but screws resale and warranty too.


----------



## Bill_Bright (Oct 4, 2019)

Vario said:


> The thin stuff like Noctua NTH1 pumped out in my experience.


This is entirely possible - but note it is the "excess" TIM that gets pumped out - not the TIM that is deposited in the microscopic pits and valleys. So the TIM that's left behind is still occupying those pits and valleys, preventing insulating air from getting in there. In other words, that TIM is still doing its job! 


jayjr1105 said:


> It's a 20 year old formula.


I find that comment ludicrous. Again, look at the Tom's Hardware link oobymach posted (actually first posted by dirtyferret way back in post # 35 and check out his Hardware Secrets chart in post #40). In the TH chart AS5 hit 37.2°C while Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut was less than 3 degrees better at 34.8°C. 

And to your 20 year nonsense, note there are literally dozens of TIMs produced by big names in the industry (Be Quiet, Corsair, Delid, Akasa, Xilence, Enermax, Cooler Master, OCZ, Zalman, Inter-Tech, Evercool, Silverstone, Koening - to name but a few) with TIMs that came out long after AS5 that scored worse than AS5. How could that be if the fact AS5 uses a 20 year old formula mattered, as your claim implies?

Look at your own Guru3D chart and again, if you remove the liquid-metal contenders, AS5 comes in within 5 - 6 degrees of the top rated and that is giving it time to fully cure!

I say once again, if you NEED those few degrees between AS5 and the top contenders and if you NEED those few degree you get from curing, YOU HAVE FAILED to set up your case cooling properly or YOU HAVE FAILED to properly apply the TIM. Or your vanity puts too much emphasis on bragging rights! 


jayjr1105 said:


> Is the tile of this thread, "Thermal paste that works"? or "Best Thermal Paste 2019"?


The title is not, "Is AS5 any good?" Yet, starting with your 2nd post in this thread, it seems you have been on a campaign to discredit AS5.  

Frankly, your comment you would not use AS5 because it has silver, a metal, in it makes it clear, you really don't understand AS5 or TIMs in general. FTR, AS5 is more than 99% silver - and that's a very good thing! 


gamefoo21 said:


> Burn-in does apply to AS5, because you need to get it hot several times before it 'sets'.


Again, so what? And for the record, you do NOT have to get it "hot". All you have to do is use the computer normally for a few sessions - which includes letting the computer go to sleep for a few minutes to cool, then wake it up again. This is why maximum curing can occur in as little as 50 hours. 200 hours is the extreme example and in any event, curing results in just a few degrees improvement. No big deal!

This really is a no brainer, folks. With properly configured case cooling, and a proper application of TIM, your processor temps should be comfortably within the normal operating range at first power up. If not, you already failed to setup proper case cooling or you failed to apply the TIM properly. 

If the temps start out comfortably within the normal operating range, then if you use a TIM that has a curing period (as many do), then you know you will be rewarded with even a few degrees better cooling in a couple days - even though those degrees should not be needed.

I note, as anyone who's been around electronics for awhile knows, even your most basic silicone TIM with simple zinc-oxide filler works great and is more than adequate for most CPU and GPU applications - in a properly cooled case, of course. Many even meet rigorous Mil-Spec requirements.  All these other TIMs are pretty much the invention of marketing weenies to appease the overclocking enthusiast seeking to eek out the lowest temps possible - again for bragging rights, not because those few degrees are "needed". 

Yes, there are exceptions, but exceptions don't make the rule for the vast majority of users.

***

Because I am tired of repeating myself, I will say this once more, then step out of this thread. More important than the specific TIM is that you (1) use TIM and (2) apply it properly - and again, in a properly cooled case. 

Have a good day.


----------



## freeagent (Oct 4, 2019)

Every paste I’ve used seems to work a little better after some thermal cycles. That had been echoed a few times already in this thread. So the fact as5 takes some time to set is moot, they all do.


----------



## jayjr1105 (Oct 4, 2019)

freeagent said:


> Every paste I’ve used seems to work a little better after some thermal cycles. That had been echoed a few times already in this thread. So the fact as5 takes some time to set is moot, they all do.


Yeah no, Carbon based TIM's are ready as soon as they are applied and spread.  They perform optimally on day 1.


----------



## ShrimpBrime (Oct 4, 2019)

Bill_Bright said:


> This is entirely possible - but note it is the "excess" TIM that gets pumped out - not the TIM that is deposited in the microscopic pits and valleys. So the TIM that's left behind is still occupying those pits and valleys, preventing insulating air from getting in there. In other words, that TIM is still doing its job!
> I find that comment ludicrous. Again, look at the Tom's Hardware link oobymach posted (actually first posted by dirtyferret way back in post # 35 and check out his Hardware Secrets chart in post #40). In the TH chart AS5 hit 37.2°C while Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut was less than 3 degrees better at 34.8°C.
> 
> And to your 20 year nonsense, note there are literally dozens of TIMs produced by big names in the industry (Be Quiet, Corsair, Delid, Akasa, Xilence, Enermax, Cooler Master, OCZ, Zalman, Inter-Tech, Evercool, Silverstone, Koening - to name but a few) with TIMs that came out long after AS5 that scored worse than AS5. How could that be if the fact AS5 uses a 20 year old formula mattered, as your claim implies?
> ...



Sry. 200 hours is not an extreme example but the actual recommendation from Artic Silver application instruction pdf. You can find the link in one of my previous posts.

Sure, any one can use any thermal paste. 

But some people arent just any one or an average user.

The issue is that some people are more enthusiast and seek that 2c degree drop in temps and it may matter to them.

Specifics are too often left out of conversation. 

The thermal paste argument issue is just as old as AS5 and older lol.

Me, an enthusiast, care not to here that one TIM is just as good as another because Im no average user.

Much you say holds plenty of truth, but its not because Im knocking the AS5 paste, its because of testing on my own shows a decent difference between AS5 and the paste I prefer to actually use.

For average joe schmoe... Use mustard for all I care.


----------



## Raven Rampkin (Oct 4, 2019)

Love the sheer number of chairs flying in the audience  What a surprise (NOT).
Therefore,

*"What the best thermal paste in 2019?"*
Whatever makes your heart pound with joy 
Gotta catch try 'em all!


----------



## Bill_Bright (Oct 4, 2019)

I wanted to step out of this thread but since I was quoted directly...





ShrimpBrime said:


> Sry. 200 hours is not an extreme example but the actual recommendation from Artic Silver application instruction pdf. You can find the link in one of my previous posts.



Arctic Silver 5


			
				Arctic Silver said:
			
		

> Then the compound thickens slightly over the next 50 to 200 hours of use to its final consistency designed for long-term stability.


"_*Over* the next *50 to* 200 hours_". The application instruction you linked to that you even quoted says the drop will occur "_over the break-in period_". It does not say it will take the full 200 hours every time. 200 is the maximum, not standard amount of time. 

If someone tells you something will happen "over night", does that mean it won't happen until 1 minute before the sun rises? No. If they say "over the next 1 to 3 days", does that mean not until 71 hours and 59 minutes have passed?


ShrimpBrime said:


> The issue is that some people are more enthusiast and seek that 2c degree drop in temps and it may matter to them.


No, that's not the issue. That's not an issue at all. That's just an opinion, a "desire" based on preference, not fact. As noted in my signature, you are entitled to your opinion, but not your own facts.

You quoted me. Did you read what you quoted? 

I don't have a problem with someone wanting those 2°C. But wanting and "needing" are two different things you and others don't seem to understand. 

If you are competing in a contest to see who can achieve the lowest possible temps, then okay, you may "need" those extra 2°C. Otherwise, it is just about bragging rights, or to compensate for a failure to properly setup case cooling or a failure to apply the TIM properly in the first place.


----------



## Sithaer (Oct 4, 2019)

Me and my bro use MX 4 for years now since its cheap and good enough for our standard use,don't see the point in changing it.


----------



## Vayra86 (Oct 4, 2019)

Liquid Cool said:


> I'm not sure what the best thermal paste is nowadays, I'm still using MX2 in 2019.  I love the stuff and don't see any reason to change.  Considering I have about 14g sitting on my bench...I'm stuck with it for quite some time.    .
> 
> I enjoyed Ford's post in #152.  I personally use the grain of rice method.  For me, it gives the most uniform pattern without air pockets.  Although...on GPU's I spread a thin layer across the whole of the processor.  The reason is...I don't think the clamping pressure of the coolers on these is as high as a regular normal desktop processor cooler and I've run into overheating problems when using the rice method on GPU's.  Now...admittedly, I haven't tested this theory in probably over a decade...so "things" could have changed since then.  Either way...its been working for me and I'll probably continue to do it that way until it doesn't.
> 
> ...



Isn't GPU cooling done with different pastes altogether? That's the only explanation, really. More often than not the gunk is not even just on the die, but also over the ICs around it.



Bill_Bright said:


> I don't have a problem with someone wanting those 2°C. But wanting and "needing" are two different things you and others don't seem to understand.



Bill, you are a wise man.


----------



## Bones (Oct 4, 2019)

All I can add is the curing time stated as being 200 hrs for AS5 is a ballpark figure that's reasonable, it's true the time will vary between builds, no question of that but 200 is a good number related to when you can expect it to be fully cured, as in if it isn't by then it never will be.



Bill_Bright said:


> I don't have a problem with someone wanting those 2°C. But wanting and "needing" are two different things you and others don't seem to understand.
> 
> If you are competing in a contest to see who can achieve the lowest possible temps, then okay, you may "need" those extra 2°C. Otherwise, it is just about bragging rights, or to compensate for a failure to properly setup case cooling or a failure to apply the TIM properly in the first place.



Yes, 2c can make all the difference in the world running a comp - I know that firsthand. 

However alot of folks using different, more exotic TIM's isn't anything to do with bragging rights, it's they see others using it and "Because those guys are using it I should too".

"Monkey see, monkey do" mentality.

That being the mindset of some which isn't the smartest way to go and in some cases definitely NOT the way to go.

An example of that is the use of liquid metal TIM.
It does work, no question but it's also known over time it works on surrounding materials causing damage. While the shorter term benefits are good the longer term effects are destructive to just about everything it's in contact with.
However many don't worry about it since they upgrade components often, passing this issue along to the next guy to use the hardware - Just hope you're not one of those guys.
TBF if it's working for you be it liquid metal, AS5, Kryonaut or whatever else I don't see why you should change and bottom line is it's your money and hardware anyway, do as you please.
You've every right to.

As compensating for a poorly done install I doubt 2c would make enough difference to offset the screwup - In a few cases it just might do the trick but I woudn't hold my breath over it.


----------



## freeagent (Oct 4, 2019)

I can’t believe how much people dislike as5 lol. It’s like they shredded a box of kittens in front of you or something. I mean really, at best there is only a few c between them all, and most of it comes down to your application technique.


----------



## ShrimpBrime (Oct 4, 2019)

Bill_Bright said:


> I wanted to step out of this thread but since I was quoted directly...
> 
> Arctic Silver 5 "_*Over* the next *50 to* 200 hours_". The application instruction you linked to that you even quoted says the drop will occur "_over the break-in period_". It does not say it will take the full 200 hours every time. 200 is the maximum, not standard amount of time.
> 
> ...



Wanting and needing are one in the same when comes to competition. Not following this as 2 seperate things. I want and need cooler temps simultaneously. 

A guy spending 500$ on a custom loop and using a sub par paste is just defeating the idea of cooler temps.

A guy going from air cooling to AIO also using sub par paste is defeating the purpose of the seek for better temps.

So the quality of paste should be just as important as a want or need as buying an after market air cooler which may only deliver 2c drop in temps with a good paste an additional 2c drop in temps, 4c drop total may net that extra 100mhz oc desired by the overclocked.

So in reality, everyone here is an enthusiast to some degree, or you may find them at the Dell forums instead.
Otherwise, none of us would be having this conversation.


----------



## Vayra86 (Oct 4, 2019)

ShrimpBrime said:


> Wanting and needing are one in the same when comes to competition. Not following this as 2 seperate things. I want and need cooler temps simultaneously.
> 
> A guy spending 500$ on a custom loop and using a sub par paste is just defeating the idea of cooler temps.
> 
> ...



Need to be an enthusiast to 2 degrees or you won't need the best paste 

Jokes aside, you're very right, but don't mistake enthusiast with knowledgeable... There is a staggering amount of people that buy thousands of bucks worth of half useful parts and assemble it like they play with Duplo. And when it comes to paste, that is a critical thing. Really the more relevant topic here is the finer details of applying it the right way. Now thát is a nice topic. I mean we can all link a bar chart and say the top entry is best.


----------



## ShrimpBrime (Oct 4, 2019)

The paste I use isnt on the charts in this thread... 

Application huh? Thats a different topic from top 2019 thermal paste. You could start a new thread?

AS5 is not a top paste. Thats all anyone really needs to say here. No ifs or ands or buts about it.


----------



## Vayra86 (Oct 4, 2019)

ShrimpBrime said:


> The paste I use isnt on the charts in this thread...
> 
> Application huh? Thats a different topic from top 2019 thermal paste. You could start a new thread?
> 
> AS5 is not a top paste. Thats all anyone really needs to say here. No ifs or ands or buts about it.



Did people say this, I don't think they did? I think the gist was 'its not relevant enough to switch to something else, and 'this is fine'. And that ties into the application method too. When you're used to the way the substance works, easier application also makes for better mounts. In some cases _up to and including a bigger gain than you could get from the best paste_.

Enthusiast or not, not everyone is prepared to mount a heatsink half a dozen times to see how to get the best results. But over time, you do gain experience you can use easily in a new build.

But if it satisfies you: I'll say it too. AS5 is not a top paste. Boom!

FYI right now I'm a happy Kryonaut user. And part of the reason is not chart topping performance, but easy application.


----------



## Bill_Bright (Oct 4, 2019)

Bones said:


> Yes, 2c can make all the difference in the world running a comp - I know that firsthand.


Not true! Not unless that 2°C takes you over the thermal thresholds into the "hot" zone that causes instability or throttling. And in that case, it means YOU failed to ensure adequate cooling in the first place. You should never be running where 2 degrees makes a difference. That clearly indicates inadequate case cooling, a bad TIM application, excessive ambient temperature, improper clocks or voltages, mismatched CPU cooler or some other factor due to user failure or incompetence.



ShrimpBrime said:


> Wanting and needing are one in the same when comes to competition.


I already said that. But that is an exception and again, exceptions don't make the rule. You don't "need" to compete.


ShrimpBrime said:


> AS5 is not a top paste. Thats all anyone really needs to say here. No ifs or ands or buts about it.


And nobody in this thread ever said it was! But what you keep ignoring is that it is still a very good TIM and more than adequate for the vast majority or users and TPU readers and members alike.

What you keep ignoring is it is YOUR responsibility to keep the CPU comfortably within its normal operating range, not the TIM's. And comfortably within is not 2°C below thresholds, or even 10°.


----------



## Vayra86 (Oct 4, 2019)

Bill_Bright said:


> Not true! Not unless that 2°C takes you over the thermal thresholds into the "hot" zone that causes instability or throttling.



There is a caveat to that one. The definition of throttling is being stretched with every new release. It is rapidly being rebadged as 'boost'. In that sense, every C does help, because it gives you performance, however minor it may be.


----------



## lexluthermiester (Oct 4, 2019)

@Bill_Bright 
Let it go man, they're just trying to get a rise out of you for giggles.


----------



## ShrimpBrime (Oct 4, 2019)

Hey like I said....

Use mustard for all I care lol.


----------



## INSTG8R (Oct 4, 2019)

Vayra86 said:


> FYI right now I'm a happy Kryonaut user. And part of the reason is not chart topping performance, but easy application.


? It’s terrible stuff to apply at least on a bare GPU die...


----------



## Vayra86 (Oct 4, 2019)

INSTG8R said:


> ? It’s terrible stuff to apply at least on a bare GPU die...



Isn't that conductonaut you are confusing it with?



ShrimpBrime said:


> Hey like I said....
> 
> Use mustard for all I care lol.



I reckon youtube has a video on that


----------



## Bones (Oct 4, 2019)

Understand Bill I mean this with respect, not to get your goat or with any other intent.



Bill_Bright said:


> Not true! Not unless that 2°C takes you over the thermal thresholds into the "hot" zone that causes instability or throttling.
> And in that case, it means YOU failed to ensure adequate cooling in the first place. You should never be running where 2 degrees makes a difference. That clearly indicates inadequate case cooling, a bad TIM application, excessive ambient temperature, improper clocks or voltages, mismatched CPU cooler or some other factor due to user failure or incompetence.



I WAS speaking of Extreme OC'ing, not standard desktop use with this which means _not _in a case with fans.  LN2 pots and all else in use of course.
Like this:


Yes that's one of my setups in action which is the reference to what I was getting at.
Sometimes it does make all the difference between a run that completes or crashes or in some cases will finish but it's bugged all to hell (Invalid result).



Bill_Bright said:


> I already said that. But that is an exception and again, exceptions don't make the rule. You don't "need" to compete.


This is true - Unless there's a gun pointed at your head there isn't a "Need" to compete - Do it if you want.
It's my stuff and I do.



Bill_Bright said:


> And nobody in this thread ever said it was! But what you keep ignoring is that it is still a very good TIM and more than adequate for the vast majority or users and TPU readers and members alike.


Show me where in this thread I said AS5 was bad TIM - _I never did_.



Bill_Bright said:


> What you keep ignoring is it is YOUR responsibility to keep the CPU comfortably within its normal operating range, not the TIM's. And comfortably within is not 2°C below thresholds, or even 10°.


I haven't ignored that and yes, I agree it is the owners responsibility to maintain the machine or at least get it looked at if a problem develops.


----------



## Bill_Bright (Oct 4, 2019)

Vayra86 said:


> There is a caveat to that one. The definition of throttling is being stretched with every new release. It is rapidly being rebadged as 'boost'. In that sense, every C does help, because it gives you performance, however minor it may be.


I agree they (marketing weenies) are redefining it to include your definition, but that has nothing to do with temperature and everything to do with the "utilization" demands on the processor. When idle, it throttles back to save energy (including battery runtime). Lowering temps is just a welcomed side effect. And when tasked, it throttles back up to full speeds to address the performance needs.


lexluthermiester said:


> Let it go man, they're just trying to get a rise out of you for giggles.


I wish that were true. But sadly, the comments clearly indicates a lack of understanding and inexperience. 

But your advice is still sound and I will, for real this time, step away. 

But before I go, for anyone with unopened tubes of AS5 they are going to throw away because it has silver in it   , or because it is a whole 5° less efficient that the top and much more expensive performer, please send them my way. I'll put it to good use.


----------



## freeagent (Oct 4, 2019)

You guys make me want to buy a tube of AS5 just to show you it’s not as bad as you make it out to be.


----------



## ShrimpBrime (Oct 4, 2019)

lexluthermiester said:


> @Bill_Bright
> Let it go man, they're just trying to get a rise out of you for giggles.



Actually not at all, but just because you say so... it must be!!

I will openly state that AS5 is not a top paste, but never once said it was bad, just like a couple of other fellas whom are only stating a factual point....

AS5 is just simply not a top end paste period end of story. 

Just because it "works" for "average" users, doesn't make it bad! 

Again. Simple as it can get. AS5 is not a top paste. Not in the top 5 and not in the top 10. 

IDC whom has to say what about AS5 being "good enough" that's not the point. It's simply not even arguable the fact it's NOT a top Thermal Interface Material.

@freeagent, really bro?? Nobody said bad paste. It's just not a top paste.


----------



## FordGT90Concept (Oct 4, 2019)

Again, I present this:





That's AS5 on a stock 6700K running at 100% like it has done almost every day for the last four years.  AS5, even fully sintered, may not be the most thermally conductive but it will have the best thermal performance of any TIM over a decade of use (even outperforms solder).  So maybe not the best on day 1, maybe pretty close on day 300, but on day 1500 it will still be performing better than the rest.

If you're constantly changing HSFs, don't use AS5.  It's expensive and it needs time to sinter.  If you put machines together with the intention of never taking them apart again until the motherboard starts on fire, then AS5 is an excellent choice.

All I do is long term computers so all I use is AS5.  I don't see a reason to use anything else.


Any test of AS5 needs to take in to account the time it takes to sinter or it doesn't show AS5 at maximum thermal conductivity.


----------



## Bones (Oct 4, 2019)

freeagent said:


> You guys make me want to buy a tube of AS5 just to show you it’s not as bad as you make it out to be.





No need to argue, AS5 _is_ good TIM, I've used it before and had no problems with it when I was using it but it's not the best vs others out on the market today.

I don't use it out of personal preference, not by any perceived notion it's dangerous.
Honestly Ceramique is my go-to for daily builds and such, it's cheap and works well enough I don't have any worries with it. For the extreme stuff Ceramique just won't cut it, that's reserved for stuff like Kryonaut and other TIMs designed to work at such extremes.


----------



## Raven Rampkin (Oct 4, 2019)

That's the thing with some products - overhype. Many products are severly hindered by the overhype.
How many times have you heard: "This video was sponsored by Thermal Grizzly"?
How many times have you heard: "We're using Kryonaut for this video, it is a highly recommended, extreme performance product which you can get with a special *insert Youtuber name here* promo code here yada yada"?
How many times have you heard: "Cooler Master has reached out to us with their new Mastergel"?

Both the Silver and the MX-4 seem to be moreless equally overhyped as well, but with two catches. First, they're overhyped by the community and not the PRO MLG PCMR GRADE REVIEWERZ. Second, the Silver is indeed an older formula AFAIK, and that rubs some people (not me honestly). Otherwise, one would think the Silver has more buzz around it than the MX-4 or vice-versa, but I dunno really. Some people have set the MX-4 as their default option, others have the Silver on default. Some people put "MX-4" at the end of every sentence, others do the same with "Silver 5". Many people ain't touchin' either of these two products.

How many times have you heard: "This video was sponsored by Gelid"?
Me, zero.
Or "We're using MX-2 here", for that matter.
Or "We're using Prolimatech here", for that matter.
Or "We're using NT-H1 here", for that matter, after the initial reviews wore off. Same applies to the NT-H2.
When people use these they're usually quite silent and 'lax about it.
Oh, and Ceramique too. Haven't heard that name too often (yet).

*EDIT:* Disclaimer, I have never tried the Silver and ain't planning to. Yet, I now see where people are coming from when mentioning that paste. It's actually not about the high or low rating or high or low asking price, IMHO. It's about the hype. Is the Silver, a pretty old formula that neverthless "just works" (c) for many chaps, worth arguing for, shilling for, or hating on, on every single forum board? Nah.
(MX-4, don't think you'll spare the punishment. You ain't far off xD)


----------



## ShrimpBrime (Oct 4, 2019)

FordGT90Concept said:


> Again, I present this:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Load says 24% at 50c in your pic. My 8700K is at 40c at 5.3ghz with 24% loads lol.

Any how, AS5 is still not a top paste in 2019.


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## Bill_Bright (Oct 4, 2019)

Bones said:


> I WAS speaking of Extreme OC'ing


Fine and with respect back, extreme OC'ing is an extreme exception - even among the regular users/posters on this site. And exceptions don't make the rule.
Most users don't overclock, or if they do, it is mild to moderate - perhaps just using the preset options provided by their motherboard BIOS. 



ShrimpBrime said:


> Again. Simple as it can get. AS5 is not a top paste. Not in the top 5 and not in the top 10.


 This is true. It scored a dismal  37.2°, a full 2.4° warmer than the top Thermal Grizzy Kryonaut's 34.8°C. The 10th down from the top came in at a mind boggling 35.8°C. Clearly more than enough to keep the CPU from totally melting.

The worst, Coolermaster tape, was only able to keep the processor a scorching hot 40.2°C.


ShrimpBrime said:


> Any how, AS5 is still not a top paste in 2019.


Yeah, you've said that over and over and over again - even though still, nobody has ever said otherwise.


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## ShrimpBrime (Oct 4, 2019)

Bill_Bright said:


> Fine and with respect back, extreme OC'ing is an extreme exception - even among the regular users/posters on this site. And exceptions don't make the rule.
> Most users don't overclock, or if they do, it is mild to moderate - perhaps just using the preset options provided by their motherboard BIOS.
> 
> This is true. It scored a dismal  37.2°, a full 2.4° warmer than the top Thermal Grizzy Kryonaut's 34.8°C. The 10th down from the top came in at a mind boggling 35.8°C. Clearly more than enough to keep the CPU from totally melting.
> ...



If nobody has said otherwise, what exactly is your true intent on discussion after the simple agreement that it's not a top paste. I'm only following the guidlines to stay on the topic of top pastes of 2019, but yet people keep throwing numbers on the table like it would matter in the end fact that it's still not a top paste in 2019. 
Not sure what you don't get.

I'd pit your AS5 against my Formula 7 and probably have you at 4c all day.... even after waiting 50-200 hours for yours to set up. And the cost of formula 7 is near identical to the AS5 paste, which makes it a no brainer not to purchase this paste. 

But yea, I mean drive down to Walmart and pick up some AS5 in a pinch, most certainly. I've done that a few times. Wound up with some ThermalTake paste which did transfer some heat, but much more poorly than a lot of other pastes I've tried. 

So again, even though we are kinda going in circles, I agree with you 100% on everything, I'm just trying to stay within the guidelines of forum rules to stay on topic.
In other words, we should be having this conversation about Grizzly or some other top end marketed paste. 

Me? I like diamond nano. It gets shunned for being abrasive and what not, which is true, but thermally, nothing transfers heat better than diamonds. However, I consider it a top paste. It's engineered for superior cooling and actually holds true. It can transfer a higher amount of BTU in the same time period as lower end pastes.

Nothing beats solder, I don't know why I ever de-lidded all those soldered IHS plates though. But I can tell you that AS5 was not cutting the mustard.


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## lexluthermiester (Oct 4, 2019)

Bill_Bright said:


> I wish that were true. But sadly, the comments clearly indicates a lack of understanding and inexperience.


Hold that thought...


ShrimpBrime said:


> Actually not at all, but just because you say so... it must be!!


...As I was saying...

This thread has become a circus of nonsense and disinformation. I'm out. @Bill_Bright There is Moss hiding in the shadows...


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## ShrimpBrime (Oct 4, 2019)

lexluthermiester said:


> Hold that thought...
> 
> ...As I was saying...
> 
> This thread has become a circus of nonsense and disinformation. I'm out. @Bill_Bright There is Moss hiding in the shadows...



Perhaps my experience is well shared enough for you to make such a conclusion.
However, from my own testing, AS5 and any information I've given is not misleading in any way.

The thread is good, the nonsense is you trying to call out something from your world, whatever your thoughts may be on the matter.... oh so far none useful in the past 2 pages.....

@Bill_Bright , I have nothing but top respect for people and their choices. I'm only stating facts based on my experience and knowledge (as it was mentioned backhanded I have none of...) and simply putting some simple facts on the table. 

The argument from me is simply, there are a lot of pastes that should be considered top paste. 

I have no argument that AS5 cools processors. It does, I fully agree here. 100%. Average users are not in concern.
However, people that make a thread with this title, best pastes of 2019, Well yea if the list is long enough, AS5 will make it on there!!!

I switched from AS5 while cooling an FX-55 processor, you know, when it cost an arm and leg cause it was fast and hot!!?? I learned say back in 07-09' that thermal pastes do make a difference with your cooling apparatus. 

After de-lidding soldered processors and trying a pretty large variety of pastes on naked hot and cool running chips, plated, not plated, air cooling (see sig) TEC, DICE, LN2, chilled..... daily HTPC gamer rigs, family rigs..... I haven't used AS5 in a decade for a reason. Not because I feel it's a low end paste, but strictly on my own numbers with vigorous testing.

So, AS5 is a thermal paste. It transfers some heat. It does a job. Fine. I get that. No issues with that at all.
_____
Yes, you fellas with 120.1 AIO, the thermal paste may not matter much, you need more rads.


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## INSTG8R (Oct 4, 2019)

Vayra86 said:


> Isn't that conductonaut you are confusing it with?


Nope I did my Vega twice with it testing vs MX-4


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## TheoneandonlyMrK (Oct 4, 2019)

I simply can't beat or fault conductonaught except it's a fearfull first go, I also think it's amazing the debates some things like Tim create, all because someone can't see past his use case.


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## freeagent (Oct 4, 2019)

Sorry, I wasn’t trying to argue, I’m on my phone and was at work trying to peel off a fast reply. After all that, I would still recommend TF8. It’s supposed to be a little better than hydronaut, which I have not tried.  I really like Thermalright coolers, and now I like their TIM. And it’s better than AS5 

Edit:

might not have gotten that Thermal Grizzly name right.. I’m not up on my Tim’s these days. But I could have sworn AS5 was better than MX2? Either way it doesn’t matter. AS5 is a bit antiquated these days, but it’s still good, and it was up there with the best at one time, but time goes on..


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## gamefoo21 (Oct 5, 2019)

LoL

BB, it's not my concern if you want to buy a paste that repeatedly tests worse, costs more and is harder to get.

Did AS5 beat you so long and so viciously, that its given you Stockholm syndrome? 

To sum up this entire thread...

Spend more, get worse performing paste. AS5 endorsed by BillBright

Spend less, get better performing paste. MX4, HT1/HT2...

Spend more, get best performing paste. TG Kryonaut, Gelid Extreme, etc.


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## FordGT90Concept (Oct 5, 2019)

ShrimpBrime said:


> Load says 24% at 50c in your pic. My 8700K is at 40c at 5.3ghz with 24% loads lol.


Software error.  Since I know you're not going to take my word for it:





It has a Sycthe Kotetsu 1000 on it and the fan barely spins.  It's silent.  It's also probably full of dust (hasn't been blown out in probably four years) so, the improvement AS5 gets with age is likely offsetting the efficiency lost from dust collecting.

It hasn't gone over the temps you're seeing there in over four years of use at 100% load ~16 hours a day.  AS5 works and it works for a very long time.


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## gamefoo21 (Oct 5, 2019)

freeagent said:


> Sorry, I wasn’t trying to argue, I’m on my phone and was at work trying to peel off a fast reply. After all that, I would still recommend TF8. It’s supposed to be a little better than hydronaut, which I have not tried.  I really like Thermalright coolers, and now I like their TIM. And it’s better than AS5
> 
> Edit:
> 
> might not have gotten that Thermal Grizzly name right.. I’m not up on my Tim’s these days. But I could have sworn AS5 was better than MX2? Either way it doesn’t matter. AS5 is a bit antiquated these days, but it’s still good, and it was up there with the best at one time, but time goes on..



MX4 > AS5 = MX2 > MX1


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## 64K (Oct 5, 2019)

People get so anally retentive about CPU paste. I don't understand the fuss. I use Arctic Cooling MX4 paste. It's not conductive so it doesn't matter if I use too much but I use a pea size blob on the middle of the heat spreader and attach the CPU cooler and.....done. It works fine. No air bubbles. No fuss.


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## danbert2000 (Oct 5, 2019)

Honestly, I have no idea why anyone would use any paste other than Noctua NT-H2. Good performance, lasts a long time, cheaper than some of the extreme pastes. Kryonaut comes out like a stiff putty. NT-H2 spreads well and there's enough in there that you can reapply if it doesn't work well the first time. Arctic Silver is just old stuff. No one should have to cure for hours and then still end up with higher temps than the instant ones.


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## Sithaer (Oct 5, 2019)

danbert2000 said:


> Honestly, I have no idea why anyone would use any paste other than Noctua NT-H2. Good performance, lasts a long time, cheaper than some of the extreme pastes. Kryonaut comes out like a stiff putty. NT-H2 spreads well and there's enough in there that you can reapply if it doesn't work well the first time. Arctic Silver is just old stuff. No one should have to cure for hours and then still end up with higher temps than the instant ones.



Costs ~2x as much as MX-4 where I live.
3.5g Noctua H2 vs 4g 2019 MX-4 at least and its also fairly harder to find in shops while MX is like everywhere._ 'Same story with H1 but thats a bit easier to find'_


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## danbert2000 (Oct 5, 2019)

Sithaer said:


> Costs ~2x as much as MX-4 where I live.
> 3.5g Noctua H2 vs 4g 2019 MX-4 at least and its also fairly harder to find in shops while MX is like everywhere._ 'Same story with H1 but thats a bit easier to find'_



Yes, the lesser paste is cheaper. I'm just saying that for most people, $12 for a 3.5 g tube is the right price for the high performance.









						Noctua NT-H2 Review - Benchmarks  Thermal Results
					

The 10-years old Noctua NT-H1 still holds its own today, but how does it compare to the brand new NT-H2?...



					www.vortez.net


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## Sithaer (Oct 5, 2019)

danbert2000 said:


> Yes, the lesser paste is cheaper. I'm just saying that for most people, $12 for a 3.5 g tube is the right price for the high performance.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Thats maybe but I sure as hell aint paying 2x the price for ~1-1,5 celsius for average/standard use. _'Implying MX is bad performance right if H2  is High by your standard'_


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## ShrimpBrime (Oct 5, 2019)

FordGT90Concept said:


> Software error.  Since I know you're not going to take my word for it:
> View attachment 133352
> 
> It has a Sycthe Kotetsu 1000 on it and the fan barely spins.  It's silent.  It's also probably full of dust (hasn't been blown out in probably four years) so, the improvement AS5 gets with age is likely offsetting the efficiency lost from dust collecting.
> ...



That lol at the end of my sentence. Not serious, I believe you. Common, you have more class than that.

No way 4 years ago could I use AS5 with my FX-9590 setup. Not even at stock. IDC who's saying AS5 is awesome. Love ya man, but in reality, I know better. 

Overclocking and heat removal is a very big important thing. I cannot suggest AS5 as being a top thermal paste. I'm sorry, just can't muster it up to lie.


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## danbert2000 (Oct 5, 2019)

Sithaer said:


> Thats maybe but I sure as hell aint paying 2x the price for ~1-1,5 celsius for average/standard use. _'Implying MX is bad performance right if H2  is High by your standard'_



MX4 is fine. It's just not the best. Neither is NT-H2, but for $6 extra I'll take the lower temps. You also get some cleaning cloths in the box, not that they're worth much but they did clean my old paste off better than isopropyl alcohol and coffee filters.


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## FordGT90Concept (Oct 5, 2019)

ShrimpBrime said:


> That lol at the end of my sentence. Not serious, I believe you. Common, you have more class than that.


A sarcasm detector, I have not. 



ShrimpBrime said:


> No way 4 years ago could I use AS5 with my FX-9590 setup.


Why does that matter?  5w or 250w, it works the same.  Just make sure it has an adequate heatsink on it.


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## TheoneandonlyMrK (Oct 5, 2019)

I use silver ceramique arctic silver due to having loads on others but in general if it's someone else's, they get what's there.
Ill be using conductonaught on my own but have used A few, none were terribly bad really except the film cover once, it was terrible.


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## ShrimpBrime (Oct 5, 2019)

FordGT90Concept said:


> A sarcasm detector, I have not.
> 
> 
> Why does that matter?  5w or 250w, it works the same.  Just make sure it has an adequate heatsink on it.



It depends on whom of which you ask this question to. Obviously there's a good handful of people here, that 50 BTUhr slower transfer rate does not matter. (guessing figure not actual) 

Matters to me quite a bit though....


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## FordGT90Concept (Oct 5, 2019)

My understanding is that you're attacking AS5 because it was "hot" with an FX-55.  I had a 4000+ at the time, also with AS5, and had no problems with heat.  Three things:
1) did you have an HSF that was capable of dissipating 105w of heat?
2) did you properly apply thermal paste (not pre-spreading)?
3) did you apply enough thermal paste (should be an amount about the size of a large grain of rice placed in the center of the IHS)?

I'm positive you can't honestly say "yes" to all those questions and that's why you had a problem.  It wasn't the AS5 to blame or you wouldn't have people like me here saying it's a good product.  The best? I don't know and I don't care.  It's a good product.


My 4000+ never hit 60C under full load.  I later upgraded it to an Opteron 180 using AMD's provided HSF with heatpipes and it, too, never hit 60C under full load.  Both used AS5.  Almost every machine I put together used AS5 and not a one had thermal issues.  Not. One.  That's even after a decade of use.  It works exactly as advertised and works well.

My problem is you're harping on AS5 probably because of user error over a decade ago.  My suggestion is try it again (preferably on a system you're not going to frequently pull the HSF off) and apply it properly with an appropriate HSF and I doubt you'll have any problems with it.  Try not to judge it too harshly until it has had time to sinter.


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## ShrimpBrime (Oct 5, 2019)

Attacking AS5? who put that into your head? 

I cannot not try it again. One cannot wait hours for a TIM to "break in" while running de-lidded processors. 

The processor list I tested pastes on is as follows.

Ryzen 7 2700x 
Ryzen 3 1200  
FX-4300 
FX-6100 
FX-9590 
FX-8320 
B73 x3  
Athon 5000+ unlocker FX-5000 TLB errata @ 2750mhz
970T 
1090T 
965BE 
940BE 
9850BE 
9950BE 
6400+ 4ghz 
6400+ 

Each processor was used with thermal pastes that did not require a break in time. 
The reason for this is because each and every one of the cpus in the list above was a soldered IHS plate.
Then I removed the IHS plates and each cpu had cooling ranging from ambient liquid to LN2. 

So you see, I cannot actually even use AS5 at all. The BTU transfer is just simply too slow. 

I'm sure I could set up a testing station, but I'm busy benching other stuff.
Dang 8700K 5.3ghz at 67c load ain't no joke.


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## FordGT90Concept (Oct 5, 2019)

IHS or not doesn't really matter as far as TIM is concerned.  All TIMs do is fill in the pores maximizing surface area and promote thermal conductivity.

I used AS5 on an Athlon XP 3200+ (Barton), Athlon XP 2200+ (Thoroughbred), and Radeon 9800 Pro without problems (none have an IHS).


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## ShrimpBrime (Oct 5, 2019)

TIM transfers heat. it doesn't just fill in pores.. There's a layer of paste. That means IHS plate and Heat sink surfaces don't touch.
And that's why people lap. To get that layer as thin as possible. Ideally, you wouldn't want to use paste at all. 

But for naked chips, overclocking and BTU removal.... it matters. Doesn't make a difference how you want to look at it.

AS5 is ok paste. It's been used for many years by many users. I think that's great!! 
It's just a bummer, I remember when it was THE top paste. THE go to paste. Yes I do remember.


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## Vayra86 (Oct 5, 2019)

A new day..  lets see whats happening on TPU! 
.....
Still on about AS5


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## P4-630 (Oct 10, 2019)

Guru3D Thermal Paste Roundup 2019
					

Thermal paste is an often-overlooked part of most computer setups. You can simply use the pre-applied stuff, or the thermal paste that comes with your motherboard, and still get reasonable processor t... Air Cooling for i9 9900K@5.0 GHz 1.35V




					www.guru3d.com


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## ShrimpBrime (Oct 10, 2019)

Yep have some TM30. Its exactly where it should be on this list. At the bottom.
Thanks for sharing.


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## gamefoo21 (Oct 10, 2019)

P4-630 said:


> View attachment 133780
> 
> 
> 
> ...



AS5 = 91.1'C
MX4 = 88.7'C
HT2 = 87.3'C
TGK = 86.4'C
TGC = 84.1'C

Hmm... beaten by even MX2 at 89.3'C, like I said AS5 is old tech, that really needs to be updated.

Really impressed with the result of the CoolerMaster goop.

Now if only they could have included Coolaboratory Ultra and Extreme, and some AS Ceramique for comparison.


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## Susquehannock (Oct 10, 2019)

Re: post #225 ...

TGK at number 4. Looks good. Has been my go to for a couple years now.


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## Bill_Bright (Oct 10, 2019)

gamefoo21 said:


> Hmm... beaten by even MX2 at 89.3'C


Oh no! A full 1.8°C higher! That is catastrophic. Whatever shall we do?


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## ShrimpBrime (Oct 10, 2019)

Welp the pastes Ive used are not listed.
Mustard
Never seize
Tooth paste (whitening)
Axle grease
Super glue
Silicon (various)
Water (under dice pot)
Graphite (dry lubricant) 
A few others.
All within 20c of each other!!


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## phanbuey (Oct 10, 2019)

Garlic infused olive oil - for delicious smelling gaming sessions.


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## gamefoo21 (Oct 11, 2019)

Bill_Bright said:


> Oh no! A full 1.8°C higher! That is catastrophic. Whatever shall we do?



By a paste that costs a 33% as much!

But we get it BB, you have to justify spending more to get less. Remember AS5 lost to far more pastes than it beat, and those it beat were the cheapest ones around.

Actually it's sad because Arctic Silver would probably improve that trash can paste, if it wasn't for all the old timers clinging to it.


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## phanbuey (Oct 11, 2019)

I love how we have 10 pages of comments over whether or not to spend the extra $4.99 on a tube of thermal paste by a bunch of guys sitting on $1K+ rigs.  This is exactly my kind of thread.


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## R-T-B (Oct 12, 2019)

phanbuey said:


> I love how we have 10 pages of comments over whether or not to spend the extra $4.99 on a tube of thermal paste by a bunch of guys sitting on $1K+ rigs.  This is exactly my kind of thread.



Now we just need to all burst into some kind of song and dance routine titled "The Paste makes it go faster."

It'd please Walt Disney, at the very least.


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## gamefoo21 (Oct 12, 2019)

phanbuey said:


> I love how we have 10 pages of comments over whether or not to spend the extra $4.99 on a tube of thermal paste by a bunch of guys sitting on $1K+ rigs.  This is exactly my kind of thread.



I honestly want AS to release an AS7 or AS5v2, but why will they when they still make bank selling the old stuff. Switch to Ceramique, still support the company but if AS5 sales really died off, you'd see them suddenly innovate.

I still buy Arctic Clean and use it... I have a brand new tube of Ceramique... I still have memories of pushing 5ghz out of a P4 on air, with AS5. I still remember thrashing Athlon 64s with heavily pushed Pentium Ms, that had AS5 applied, but time and tech marches on.

Man I still shudder at the sound that P4 made, that Delta scream... noobs will never know the pain... -_-



R-T-B said:


> Now we just need to all burst into some kind of song and dance routine titled "The Paste makes it go faster."
> 
> It'd please Walt Disney, at the very least.



But my well applied LM does make it go faster!

Coollab Ultra/Extreme stuff can be considered a paste!


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## Candor (Oct 12, 2019)

I'm using GD900. Super cheap but performance on par with MX-4.

Tech Yes City made a video about this.


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## R-T-B (Oct 12, 2019)

gamefoo21 said:


> Man I still shudder at the sound that P4 made, that Delta scream... noobs will never know the pain... -_-



My machine would kill you.


----------



## Hellfire (Oct 12, 2019)

Firstly, not read the 235+ replies, so my bad if already mentioned and yes I've seen the Linus video.

Has anyone on here tried the graphite thermal pads from innovation coolings and have first had experience with it.

Currently I'm using either MX4 or TG Kryonaut.


----------



## gamefoo21 (Oct 12, 2019)

R-T-B said:


> My machine would kill you.



Oooo interesting... details sir, I want details!


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## Bill_Bright (Oct 12, 2019)

gamefoo21 said:


> But we get it BB, you have to justify spending more to get less.


What? You got a mouse in your pocket?

Fact is, you don't get it at all. In fact, you are clueless because no where, not once in the 10 pages of this thread did I ever say I buy or I recommend anyone buy AS5. The closest I came to any type of endorsement was me saying, 





> I like AS5 and MX4 but frankly, not too picky.



And I have repeatedly stated over and over again, AS5 is not the best. But here you are again - clearly obsessed - trying to disprove something that NO ONE, including me, has claimed.  

So you can say "we" if it makes you feel less lonely. But as anyone can clearly see, you don't speak for others, especially when you make stuff up and misrepresent what others have said in some puerile attempt to prove some misguided point. That is sad.


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## freeagent (Oct 12, 2019)

Another plug for TF8.. 13.8 W/m.k of carbon goop goodness. 

Gives AS5, Ceramique, ICD7, NTH1, CF3, and a few others a good spank.


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## R-T-B (Oct 12, 2019)

gamefoo21 said:


> Oooo interesting... details sir, I want details!



Look at system specs.  Some of those fans spin at 3000+ RPMs


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## oobymach (Oct 12, 2019)

gamefoo21 said:


> Man I still shudder at the sound that P4 made, that Delta scream... noobs will never know the pain... -_-
> 
> But my well applied LM does make it go faster!
> 
> Coollab Ultra/Extreme stuff can be considered a paste!


Had a dell with deltas, one got stuck on full blast one day, why they made a fan so damn fast idk, forever burned into my memory, no pc should make that noise.

Liquid metal is the best cpu paste, if you can call it paste. Been hesitant to try it with it being super electrically conductive.


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## Bill_Bright (Oct 12, 2019)

oobymach said:


> Been hesitant to try it with it being super electrically conductive.


I don't understand this. I've applied TIM, without exaggeration, easily over a 1000 times on various components since the early 70s and never spilled it, dropped it or had it ooze out onto other components or circuit traces. Worse case is getting it on my fingers - which is bad enough. 

I am NOT bragging. I am simply saying it is not hard to keep from making a mess. 

My best advice is to apply it with the motherboard out of the case because you can then come in from the side and not have your own hands in the way of your vision. Beyond that, good lighting and a steady hand. And it is easy to steady the hand (and mine are pushing 68 years old, so I know about this too) by planting your pinky on a nearby cap or VRM, or resting your arm on the edge of the case or something similar. Just remember to touch bare metal of the case interior before reaching in. If applying with the motherboard outside the case, touch the solder on a corner mounting screw hole, or the PSU case if connected.

By far, the most common mistake the inexperienced make is applying too much TIM. It is much easier to add more than to remove excess. 

Don't be hesitant - just careful.


----------



## Roddey (Oct 12, 2019)

R-T-B said:


> Look at system specs.  Some of those fans spin at 3000+ RPMs


So rounds per minute?


----------



## R-T-B (Oct 12, 2019)

Roddey said:


> So rounds per minute?



They turn around, yes.


----------



## Solaris17 (Oct 12, 2019)

R-T-B said:


> They turn around, yes.



did you just counter turn a phrase? Oh your clever aren't you.


But for the rest, just play nice.


----------



## Roddey (Oct 12, 2019)

Ya I remember the Kalashnikov fans back in the day.

Kids just don't know, I had to watch a safety video even to buy one. But they were great for fps games.


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## sneekypeet (Oct 12, 2019)

Pretty sure this thread has run its course. Since we are now off topic and arguing mostly,  I'm closing up shop.


----------

