Thermal paste applied on your GPU / CPU, survey!

Devon68 · Apr 18, 2015

· Thermal paste used on your current video card,
· how long have you been using it,
· application method!
· Why that Compound?

Well here's my input on this:
· Factory thermal paste (no idea what brand MSI uses)
· I've been using it for 30 months more or less (I have the card since November 2012)
· No idea on the application method.

peche · Apr 18, 2015

Devon68 said:
Well here's my input on this:
· Factory thermal paste (no idea what brand MSI uses)
· I've been using it for 30 months more or less (I have the card since November 2012)
· No idea on the application method.

seems legit...

Frogger · Apr 18, 2015

GELID GC extreme on all GPU's, on air or water. Spread with the included spatula works the best.

Repaste every 6/8 months depending on temps
Cool laboratory Liquid Ultra or PRO on CPU's again either air or water.

GreiverBlade · Apr 18, 2015

FreedomEclipse said:
I honestly cant remember the last time i used AS5. It might of been around or pre socket 939 days. Im not sure if i was a user of ceramique I seem to faintly recall that i did use that for a short period of time before switching over to MX-1 and slowly working my way through AS's MX range to where i am today.

The MX range has always been such great value

just in case MX is not AS but AC (Arctic Cooling a Swiss brand) which is Arctic now but not related at all with Arctic Silver

brandonwh64 · Apr 18, 2015

I use arctic silver ceramique on everything I own, Never had an issue and cools just as good as MX2 did when I had a tube of that.

natr0n · Apr 18, 2015

GreiverBlade said:
luckily that TIM is sold with a spreader tool ... to avoid using a credit card

Indeed +/-1°, in the end its just a price/quantity ratio

Strange... my MX-4 is never runny, it's even a bit thicker than the Ceramique (tested it too just like the Silver 5 before ditching both ) ask for changing your tube if your is. unless it's on all tube, then it's climate and altitude related... maybe

also on application i shall precise a bit.

on my 290 with is a direct exposed die, no need for spread the rice grain is enough, the surface that you need to cover is so small (which contradict the fact that i tend to spread my TIM on vRAM chip ... and since all cooler use more than 4 screw only around GPU, so the pressure is kinda even, if you do it right ofc)

on my 8800Ultra, which has a huge IHS surface, i do spread the TIM.
View attachment 64177

i found a interesting(funny?) statement...

22.06.2011
"For the longest time, Arctic Silver 5 was known as the pinnacle of thermal paste and its sibling, Ceramique, was also highly regarded for being the best performing paste without any conductivity/capacitance qualities. Things changed a few years back, however; Arctic Cooling MX-2 came on the scene and exceeded Arctic Silver 5’s performance while also not being capacitive. "

oh the MX-2? well then .... the king has been lay down since long, why the price is kept up and the quantity under other's average? it amaze me ...
the MX-2 is a good TIM (a bit more viscous than the MX-4) and both MX-4 and GC-Extreme outperform it (not in price tho )

I live in florida so hot climate affects it im guessing. Maybe i could chill it in fridge before applying so wont shoot out so easily.

GreiverBlade · Apr 19, 2015

natr0n said:
I live in florida so hot climate affects it im guessing. Maybe i could chill it in fridge before applying so wont shoot out so easily.

might be a idea ... as i live at 1200m above sea level and the temps are way colder than Florida :roll:

RealNeil · Apr 19, 2015

I used to use arctic silver ceramic past on every CPU.
Then I had someone send me several tubes of IC Diamond, (for free) and I used it for almost a year.
I have not done any of my current GPUs. (just older models)

Now I have four tubes of GELID Solutions GC-Extreme, and I have been using it for about eight months. It's reputed to be one of the best, but all that I've tried were OK by me.
I have always used a spatula to apply a thin coating on my CPUs.

FreedomEclipse · Apr 19, 2015

RealNeil said:
Then I had someone send me several tubes of IC Diamond, (for free) and I used it for almost a year.

wasnt the IC Diamond CEO or whatever his name was that was trying to pedal his crap thermal paste to TPU members was it?

R-T-B · Apr 19, 2015

FreedomEclipse said:
wasnt the IC Diamond CEO or whatever his name was that was trying to pedal his crap thermal paste to TPU members was it?

Their website doesn't look so great:

http://www.innovationcooling.com/

Looks like a cheap blog. Any idea if the stuff is actually even worth using in a "freebie" situation?

manofthem · Apr 19, 2015

FreedomEclipse said:
wasnt the IC Diamond CEO or whatever his name was that was trying to pedal his crap thermal paste to TPU members was it?

R-T-B said:
Their website doesn't look so great:

http://www.innovationcooling.com/

Looks like a cheap blog. Any idea if the stuff is actually even worth using in a "freebie" situation?

HAHA IC Diamond. I remember that scandal from a while back. A bunch of forum members tested that paste and got some terrible results, damaged the face of the coolers. And it was ridiculous how the IC Diamond guy handled everything; he even "lost" @sneekypeet's cooler :shadedshu:

R-T-B · Apr 19, 2015

Is diamond-matter even a good conductor or is that a ball of fabricated shit as well? I think I remember reading somewhere in chemistry that carbon (what diamonds are made of) is more of an insulator...

sneekypeet · Apr 19, 2015

manofthem said:
HAHA IC Diamond. I remember that scandal from a while back. A bunch of forum members tested that paste and got some terrible results, damaged the face of the coolers. And it was ridiculous how the IC Diamond guy handled everything; he even "lost" @sneekypeet's cooler

Shhhhhh..... brings chills just reading that post :roll:

R-T-B · Apr 19, 2015

sneekypeet said:
Shhhhhh..... brings chills just reading that post

At least it chills something.

sneekypeet · Apr 19, 2015

R-T-B said:
At least it chills something.

Literally lol'd a bit uncontrollably when I read that!

natr0n · Apr 19, 2015

That diamond paste had good temps for me, but ate/etched metal. It was scary stuff every time you go to clean and wipe it off would be like a metal abrasive polish.

The only way I would use it is on an old junky ass computer with absurd temps.

R-T-B · Apr 19, 2015

natr0n said:
The only way I would use it is on an old junky ass computer with absurd temps.

Pentium 4 / Apple G5 would love that stuff more likely than not.

Unfortunately junky old computers and even sucky diamond based paste don't find themselves in the same room. Simple matter of economics.

micropage7 · Apr 19, 2015

natr0n said:
That diamond paste had good temps for me, but ate/etched metal. It was scary stuff every time you go to clean and wipe it off would be like a metal abrasive polish.

The only way I would use it is on an old junky ass computer with absurd temps.

i prefer taking higher temp than something that affecting the hardware, its ok if i get 2 degrees higher than the paste eats my hsf

bubbleawsome · Apr 19, 2015

I don't change the TIM on my GPU, but my CPU will always have either MX-4 or the stock NZXT stuff on it. I apply with the rice method but a smaller dot. I keep it applied until I remove the HSF or temps go up.

NC37 · Apr 19, 2015

I had a tube from Arctic's competitor years ago. Good size, lasted me a long time. Worked good too. Trouble was, it finally ran out and I had to buy new but the company went out of business or something. So I bought a tube of AS5. Expensive and even more to ship it but it's good right? Ehhhh...what I got was a little dinky tube. Same size CM ships with their coolers. Barely lasted long at all.

So...last time buying AS5 for me. Just using the stock stuff CM gave me which I have a bunch of. Not paying a lot of money for barely anything. Total ripoff compared to what I got years ago.

R-T-B · Apr 19, 2015

NC37 said:
I had a tube from Arctic's competitor years ago. Good size, lasted me a long time. Worked good too. Trouble was, it finally ran out and I had to buy new but the company went out of business or something. So I bought a tube of AS5. Expensive and even more to ship it but it's good right? Ehhhh...what I got was a little dinky tube. Same size CM ships with their coolers. Barely lasted long at all.

So...last time buying AS5 for me. Just using the stock stuff CM gave me which I have a bunch of. Not paying a lot of money for barely anything. Total ripoff compared to what I got years ago.

I take it you had a tube of something like this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186040

Decent paste, and a great size for the money. Not sure where you are located though.

MrGenius · Apr 19, 2015

R-T-B said:
Is diamond-matter even a good conductor or is that a ball of fabricated shit as well? I think I remember reading somewhere in chemistry that carbon (what diamonds are made of) is more of an insulator...

Thermal Conductivity
Diamond = ~2300 W/m*K
Carbon(graphite) = ~170 W/m*K
Copper = ~400 W/m*K

micropage7 · Apr 19, 2015

bubbleawsome said:
I don't change the TIM on my GPU, but my CPU will always have either MX-4 or the stock NZXT stuff on it. I apply with the rice method but a smaller dot. I keep it applied until I remove the HSF or temps go up.

i replace stock paste, from processor, the chipset, the vga card
stock paste sometimes poorly applied like too thick, too much, dry so i better repaste it to get better temp

buildzoid · Apr 19, 2015

MrGenius said:
Thermal Conductivity
Diamond = ~2300 W/m*K
Carbon(graphite) = ~170 W/m*K
Copper = ~400 W/m*K

Yeah but that's solid diamond not a paste. Say a water block made of solid diamond would work great but a paste is iffy at best because you'd need to make a really fine powder out of the diamond and theirs the bonding material that actually makes it a paste.

I use MX-2 I also have some CLU but I think the heat pipes in the cooler on my R9 290X are not able to keep up with the heat output because I didn't see a difference between the CLU and MX2. I plan to test the CLU properly later but for now I stick to MX-2.

Liquid Cool · Apr 19, 2015

I'm with the MX-2 crowd...I've been using it for so long I have lots of it lying around. Although...I did get a free tube of the IC diamond paste and used it a few times, but only on cpu's(grain of rice approach).

Best,

LC

System Name	Ryzen 2023
Processor	AMD Ryzen 7 7700
Motherboard	Asrock B650E Steel Legend Wifi
Cooling	Noctua NH-D15
Memory	G Skill Flare X5 2x16gb cl32@6000 MHz
Video Card(s)	Sapphire Radeon RX 6950 XT Nitro + gaming Oc
Storage	WESTERN DIGITAL 1TB 64MB 7k SATA600 Blue WD10EZEX, WD Black SN850X 1Tb nvme
Display(s)	LG 27GP850P-B
Case	Corsair 5000D airflow tempered glass
Power Supply	Seasonic Prime GX-850W
Mouse	A4Tech V7M bloody
Keyboard	Genius KB-G255
Software	Windows 10 64bit

System Name	Athenna
Processor	intel i7 3770 Dellided
Motherboard	GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 Rev. 1.1
Cooling	Thermaltake Water 3.0 Pro + Tt Riing12 x2 / Tt ThunderBlade / Gelid Slim 120UV fans
Memory	16GB DRR3 Kingoston with Custom Tt spreaders + HyperX Fan
Video Card(s)	GeForce GTX 980 4GB Nvidia Sample
Storage	Crucial M4 SSD 64GB's / Seagate Barracuda 2TB / Seagate Barracuda 320GB's
Display(s)	22" LG FLATRON 1920 x 1280p
Case	Thermaltake Commander G42 Window
Audio Device(s)	On-board Dolby 5.1+ Kingston HyperX Cloud 1
Power Supply	Themaltake TR2 700W 80plus bronce & APC Pro backup 1000Va
Mouse	Tt eSports Level 10M Rev 1.0 Diamond Black & Tt Conkor "L" mouse pad
Keyboard	Tt eSports KNUCKER
Software	windows 10x64Pro
Benchmark Scores	well I've fried a 775' P4 12 years ago, that counts?

System Name	MONEY PIT
Processor	i7-3770K @ 4800 1.20v batch #3231B415 Delided
Motherboard	ASrock Z77 OC Formula w onboard waterblocks
Cooling	Apogee HD, MCP655,rad MCR320-XP,Micro Rev2 res
Memory	G,skill Trident X F3-2400C10D-16GTX
Video Card(s)	EVGA GTX 980 Ti Classified with EK nickel/acetal waterblock installed
Storage	2x120gig Wildfire raid0 2x120gig VERTEX3 raid0
Display(s)	3/ Samsung2343bwx + 65in LG 4K
Case	NZXT Phantom White w/red
Audio Device(s)	ReCon3d fatal1ty pro, Logitech z906 THX
Power Supply	corsair AX860i
Mouse	Rat7
Software	64bit ++++ win 10

System Name	main/SFFHTPCARGH!(tm)/Xiaomi Mi TV Stick/Samsung Galaxy S23/Ally
Processor	Ryzen 7 5800X3D/i7-3770/S905X/Snapdragon 8 Gen 2/Ryzen Z1 Extreme
Motherboard	MSI MAG B550 Tomahawk/HP SFF Q77 Express/uh?/uh?/Asus
Cooling	Enermax ETS-T50 Axe aRGB /basic HP HSF /errr.../oh! liqui..wait, no:sizable vapor chamber/a nice one
Memory	64gb DDR4 3600/8gb DDR3 1600/2gbLPDDR3/8gbLPDDR5x/16gb(10 sys)LPDDR5 6400
Video Card(s)	Hellhound Spectral White RX 7900 XTX 24gb/GT 730/Mali 450MP5/Adreno 740/Radeon 780M 6gb LPDDR5
Storage	250gb870EVO/500gb860EVO/2tbSandisk/NVMe2tb+1tb/4tbextreme V2/1TB Arion/500gb/8gb/256gb/4tb SN850X
Display(s)	X58222 32" 2880x1620/32"FHDTV/273E3LHSB 27" 1920x1080/6.67"/AMOLED 2X panel FHD+120hz/7" FHD 120hz
Case	Cougar Panzer Max/Elite 8300 SFF/None/Gorilla Glass Victus 2/front-stock back-JSAUX RGB transparent
Audio Device(s)	Logi Z333/SB Audigy RX/HDMI/HDMI/Dolby Atmos/KZ x HBB PR2/Moondrop Chu II + TRN BT20S
Power Supply	Chieftec Proton BDF-1000C /HP 240w/12v 1.5A/USAMS GAN PD 33w/USAMS GAN 100w
Mouse	Speedlink Sovos Vertical-Asus ROG Spatha-Logi Ergo M575/Xiaomi XMRM-006/touch/touch
Keyboard	Endorfy Thock 75%/Lofree Edge/none/touch/virtual
VR HMD	Medion Erazer
Software	Win10 64/Win8.1 64/Android TV 8.1/Android 14/Win11 64
Benchmark Scores	bench...mark? i do leave mark on bench sometime, to remember which one is the most comfortable. :o

System Name	natr0n-PC
Processor	Ryzen 5950x-5600x \| 9600k
Motherboard	B450 AORUS M \| Z390 UD
Cooling	EK AIO 360 - 6 fan action \| AIO
Memory	Patriot - Viper Steel DDR4 (B-Die)(4x8GB) \| Samsung DDR4 (4x8GB)
Video Card(s)	EVGA 3070ti FTW
Storage	Various
Display(s)	Pixio PX279 Prime
Case	Thermaltake Level 20 VT \| Black bench
Audio Device(s)	LOXJIE D10 + Kinter Amp + 6 Bookshelf Speakers Sony+JVC+Sony
Power Supply	Super Flower Leadex III ARGB 80+ Gold 650W \| EVGA 700 Gold
Software	XP/7/8.1/10
Benchmark Scores	http://valid.x86.fr/79kuh6

Thermal paste applied on your GPU / CPU, survey!

Did you always use the same TIM on your hardware?

Yes I do use the same one…Always!

No I don’t have any preferred or "trusted brand"

If I could I would! not always have stock of the same products!

Devon68

peche

Thermaltake fanboy

Frogger

GreiverBlade

brandonwh64

Addicted to Bacon and StarCrunches!!!

natr0n

GreiverBlade

RealNeil

FreedomEclipse

~Technological Technocrat~

R-T-B

manofthem

WCG-TPU Team All-Star!

R-T-B

sneekypeet

not-so supermod

R-T-B

sneekypeet

not-so supermod

natr0n

R-T-B

micropage7

bubbleawsome

NC37

R-T-B

MrGenius

micropage7

buildzoid

Liquid Cool

System Name	Home Brewed
Processor	i9-7900X and i7-8700K
Motherboard	ASUS ROG Rampage VI Extreme & ASUS Prime Z-370 A
Cooling	Corsair 280mm AIO & Thermaltake Water 3.0
Memory	64GB DDR4-3000 GSKill RipJaws-V & 32GB DDR4-3466 GEIL Potenza
Video Card(s)	2X-GTX-1080 SLI & 2 GTX-1070Ti 8GB G1 Gaming in SLI
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Audio Device(s)	onboard
Power Supply	Corsair RM1000 & Corsair RM850
Mouse	Generic
Keyboard	Razer Blackwidow Tournament & Corsair K90
Software	Win-10 Professional
Benchmark Scores	yes

System Name	WorkInProgress
Processor	AMD 7800X3D
Motherboard	MSI X670E GAMING PLUS
Cooling	Thermalright AM5 Contact Frame + Phantom Spirit 120SE
Memory	2x32GB G.Skill Trident Z5 NEO DDR5 6000 CL32
Video Card(s)	Asus Dual Radeon™ RX 6700 XT OC Edition
Storage	WD SN770 1TB (Boot)\|1x WD SN850X 8TB (Gaming)\| 2x2TB WD SN770\| 2x2TB+2x4TB Crucial BX500
Display(s)	LG GP850-B
Case	Corsair 760T (White) {1xCorsair ML120 Pro\|5xML140 Pro}
Audio Device(s)	Yamaha RX-V573\|Speakers: JBL Control One\|Auna 300-CN\|Wharfedale Diamond SW150
Power Supply	Seasonic Focus GX-850 80+ GOLD
Mouse	Logitech G502 X
Keyboard	Duckyshine Dead LED(s) III
Software	Windows 11 Home
Benchmark Scores	ლ(ಠ益ಠ)ლ

System Name	Pioneer
Processor	Ryzen R9 9950X
Motherboard	GIGABYTE Aorus Elite X670 AX
Cooling	Noctua NH-D15 + A whole lotta Sunon and Corsair Maglev blower fans...
Memory	64GB (2x 32GB) G.Skill Flare X5 @ DDR5-6000 CL30
Video Card(s)	XFX RX 7900 XTX Speedster Merc 310
Storage	Intel 5800X Optane 800GB boot, +2x Crucial P5 Plus 2TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSDs
Display(s)	55" LG 55" B9 OLED 4K Display
Case	Thermaltake Core X31
Audio Device(s)	TOSLINK->Schiit Modi MB->Asgard 2 DAC Amp->AKG Pro K712 Headphones or HDMI->B9 OLED
Power Supply	FSP Hydro Ti Pro 850W
Mouse	Logitech G305 Lightspeed Wireless
Keyboard	WASD Code v3 with Cherry Green keyswitches + PBT DS keycaps
Software	Gentoo Linux x64 / Windows 11 Enterprise IoT 2024

Processor	3900X @ 4.0
Motherboard	Asus ROG Strix X570-E
Cooling	DeepCool Castle 360EX
Memory	G Skill Trident Z Neo 32GB 3600
Video Card(s)	RX 5700 XT Pulse
Storage	Sabrent Rocket Q 1TB
Display(s)	LG 34UC88
Case	Thermaltake P3
Power Supply	Super Flower Leadex III 750w
Mouse	Logitech G900
Keyboard	G Skill KM570 MX Silver
Software	Windows 10 Pro

System Name	EVA-01
Processor	Intel i7 13700K
Motherboard	Asus ROG Maximus Z690 HERO EVA Edition
Cooling	ASUS ROG Ryujin III 360 with Noctua Industrial Fans
Memory	PAtriot Viper Elite RGB 96GB @ 6000MHz.
Video Card(s)	Asus ROG Strix GeForce RTX 3090 24GB OC EVA Edition
Storage	Addlink S95 M.2 PCIe GEN 4x4 2TB
Display(s)	Asus ROG SWIFT OLED PG42UQ
Case	Thermaltake Core P3 TG
Audio Device(s)	Realtek on board > Sony Receiver > Cerwin Vegas
Power Supply	be quiet DARK POWER PRO 12 1500W
Mouse	ROG STRIX Impact Electro Punk
Keyboard	ROG STRIX Scope TKL Electro Punk
Software	Windows 11

Processor	5900x
Motherboard	MSI MEG UNIFY
Cooling	Arctic Liquid Freezer 2 360mm
Memory	4x8GB 3600c16 Ballistix
Video Card(s)	EVGA 3080 FTW3 Ultra
Storage	1TB SX8200 Pro, 2TB SanDisk Ultra 3D, 6TB WD Red Pro
Display(s)	Acer XV272U
Case	Fractal Design Meshify 2
Power Supply	Corsair RM850x
Mouse	Logitech G502 Hero
Keyboard	Ducky One 2

System Name	Lailalo
Processor	Ryzen 9 5900X Boosts to 4.95Ghz
Motherboard	Asus TUF Gaming X570-Plus (WIFI
Cooling	Noctua
Memory	32GB DDR4 3200 Corsair Vengeance
Video Card(s)	XFX 7900XT 20GB
Storage	Samsung 970 Pro Plus 1TB, Crucial 1TB MX500 SSD, Segate 3TB
Display(s)	LG Ultrawide 29in @ 2560x1080
Case	Coolermaster Storm Sniper
Power Supply	XPG 1000W
Mouse	G602
Keyboard	G510s
Software	Windows 10 Pro / Windows 10 Home

System Name	TITAN Slayer / CPUCannon / MassFX
Processor	i7 5960X @ 4.6Ghz / i7 3960x @5.0Ghz / FX6350 @ 4.?Ghz
Motherboard	Rampage V Extreme / Rampage IV Extreme / MSI 970 Gaming
Cooling	Phanteks PHTC14PE 2.5K 145mm TRs / Custom waterloop / Phanteks PHTC14PE + 3K 140mm Noctuas
Memory	Crucial 2666 11-13-13-25 1.45V / G.skill RipjawsX 2400 10-12-12-34 1.7V / Crucial 2133 9-9-9-27 1.7V
Video Card(s)	3 Fury X in CF / R9 Fury 3840 cores 1145/570 1.3V / Nothing ATM
Storage	500GB Crucial SSD and 3TB WD Black / WD 1TB Black(OS) + WD 3TB Green / WD 1TB Blue
Display(s)	LG 29UM67 80Hz/Asus mx299q 2560x1080 @ 84Hz / Asus VX239 1920x1080 @60hz
Case	Dismatech easy v3.0 / Xigmatek Alfar (Open side panel)
Audio Device(s)	M-audio M-track / realtek ALC 1150
Power Supply	EVGA G2 1600W / CoolerMaster V1000 / Seasonic 620 M12-II
Mouse	Mouse in review process/Razer Naga Epic 2011/Razer Naga 2014
Keyboard	Keyboard in review process / Razer Blackwidow Ultimate 2014/Razer Blackwidow Ultimate 2011
Software	Windows 7 Ultimate / Windows 7 ultimate / Windows 7 ultimate
Benchmark Scores	cinebench 15.41 3960x @ 5.3ghz Wprime32m 3.352 3960x @ 5.25ghz Super PI 32m: 6m 42s 472ms @5.25ghz

System Name	Graphics Card Free...
Processor	Ryzen 5 5600G
Motherboard	MSI B450 Gaming Plus MAX Wifi
Cooling	Cryorig M9a w/ BeQuiet! PureWings 2 ~ 92mm
Memory	Corsair Dominator Platinum DDR4 3200 ~ 16GB(2x8GB)
Storage	Samsung EVO 870 SSD - 1TB
Display(s)	AOC 24G2
Case	Cardboard...
Power Supply	eVGA SuperNova 550w G3
Mouse	Logitech t400 Zone Touch Mouse
Keyboard	IBM Model "M" Keyboard
Software	Manjaro ~ KDE Plasma
Benchmark Scores	She's a Runner!