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

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Probably not, that is why I was wondering if anyone had already tried.
 

Space Lynx

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does anyone know if liquid metal conductonaut is safe long term? i know it has to be copper heatsink only. i am thinking i am going to go balls out, watch videos, do it properly on cpu and gpu in fall 2022 when i go big on next gen build. its got to be what 3-4 celsius better than even TFX, which is like 7-8 celsius gain over mx-5. and if done right, conductonaut never needs to be replaced.

hmm... to be risky or not to be risky, that is the question...
 
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does anyone know if liquid metal conductonaut is safe long term? i know it has to be copper heatsink only. i am thinking i am going to go balls out, watch videos, do it properly on cpu and gpu in fall 2022 when i go big on next gen build.
On a GPU there can be solid benefits with out much risk as long as you go sparingly with the LM. On CPU's the benefit is minimal unless you sand and polish down the top of the IHS or go bare-die(IE delid, currently a very difficult and dangerous task).
next gen build. its got to be what 3-4 celsius better than even TFX, which is like 7-8 celsius gain over mx-5.
I'm not accepting that. TFX is handily beaten by NT-H1 and MX-5 does better than NT-H1. You already have the better performers, don't waste your money on something that will not perform as well.
 
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its got to be what 3-4 celsius better than even TFX, which is like 7-8 celsius gain over mx-5.

How on Earth does one get a 10°C drop across a paste?
 
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How on Earth does one get a 10°C drop across a paste?
It depends on the paste. As linked before, Tom's shows a 24c difference between the best and the worst they tested last month. If you take out the outliers(Liquid Metal TIMs & Alphacool Silver), the gap closes to 13C.

However, of the top 30 performers there is less than 9C between them. So for anyone to claim that TFX is 3-4C away from LM and better than ANY of the top 30 by 7-8C is mathematically impossible.

Put as simply as possible, TFX is not better than many of the TIMs being made, not better than NT-H2 or MX-5 and certainly not within 3-4C of LM. Anyone making that claim needs to prove up with testing that shows results.
 
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Probably not, that is why I was wondering if anyone had already tried.
We used that stuff in my comp hardware class years ago.

It works, technically, its better thent eh stock garbage that comes on machines. However, dont expect great performance out of high wattage chips. It'd work fine for a core i3 or locked i5. Also, it is a messy disaster to work with. Imagine trying to scoop soup up with that flat spatula, and that's about how easy it is to use.
 
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Version 1 or 2 of Ice Fusion?
 
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Version 1 or 2 of Ice Fusion?
Likely V1, although outside of branding I'd bet there is practically 0 difference between v1 and v2 other then the label.
 
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Big claimed difference in thermal conductivity
 

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On a GPU there can be solid benefits with out much risk as long as you go sparingly with the LM. On CPU's the benefit is minimal unless you sand and polish down the top of the IHS or go bare-die(IE delid, currently a very difficult and dangerous task).

I'm not accepting that. TFX is handily beaten by NT-H1 and MX-5 does better than NT-H1. You already have the better performers, don't waste your money on something that will not perform as well.

tfx performs better than conductonaut even on desktop platforms? i was not aware of this... hmm
 
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Big claimed difference in thermal conductivity
It's cheap bottom tier paste man. They can go from full suck to half suck and claim "big difference in suckage" and they're technically correct.

If you have a penny, and you get two more pennies, technically you've tripled your wealth! You're still broke as shit though. Same concept.
 
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does anyone know if liquid metal conductonaut is safe long term? i know it has to be copper heatsink only. i am thinking i am going to go balls out, watch videos, do it properly on cpu and gpu in fall 2022 when i go big on next gen build. its got to be what 3-4 celsius better than even TFX, which is like 7-8 celsius gain over mx-5. and if done right, conductonaut never needs to be replaced.

hmm... to be risky or not to be risky, that is the question...

Copper heatsink?
It's safe if you do some prep work.

First if you're applying it on a delidded IHS that will be re-lidded:
1) apply LM on the IHS, both above (if you are applying LM onto the heatsink), and under IHS (the part that will contact the die), normal procedure for any delid+relid so far.
2) Put the IHS in an oven (DO NOT PUT A CPU IN THE OVEN).
3) bake the IHS at 100C (212F) for about 2 hours.
4) Remove IHS, let it cool, wipe the LM off the IHS with a lint free wiper or coffee filter. Do not apply excessive pressure, just gently wipe the LM off but leave the silver stain behind.
You don't want "strange tiny particles" to come off the metal in the form of grit, those tiny particles will interfere with full contact.
5) Apply a new layer of LM both above and under the IHS, on top of the old silver stain layer. This will give very long term durability of LM on your IHS.
Set the IHS aside somewhere while you now work on the heatsink or block.

For heatsink/heat block surface, you need to do more work.
First get some 1500 grit sandpaper.
Then carefully wipe the entire heatsink/heatblock surface with the sandpaper. You are not trying to flatten or fix any curvature imperfections (if you want to do that you're on your own with proper sanding methods). You're only just roughening up the surface to give the LM something to adhere to under pressure.
Once you buff the surface with 1500 grit, clean it fully with a lint free cloth or coffee filter.
Then apply your LM to the surface.
If you aren't using an IHS, you can skip this obviously.

Now, the long boring part.

Take about 15 minutes and carefully wipe gently, the LM around with a lint free swab. Lint free lip gloss applicators are perfect for this.
It's very important NOT to apply any downwards pressure. You again don't want tiny particles of metal grit getting scooped from the little micro-crevices you created with the sandpaper, and as you know, copper is a rather soft metal, as far as metals go. Just let gravity do the work.
After about 10 minutes of wiping and spreading the LM all around repeatedly, you're going to start noticing the LM getting much less runny and starting to feel 'thicker', almost like an extremely runny thermal paste. That's exactly what you want. Because it means some of the gallium is starting to get absorbed into the micro-crevices you made with the sandpaper.
So spend about 15 minutes wiping it like this. Make sure the surface does not feel gritty when wiping with the applicator. If it feels gritty, you need to start over. Not only does doing all of this work help start immediate absorption of some of the gallium part of the LM into the copper (or nickel plating), but it also helps keep the LM from shifting around under pressure. LM really likes rough surfaces. You'll notice that if you take a ball of LM and try to 'spread' it on a mirror finish copper or nickel plating, it won't want to spread at all. It just wants to stick to itself. That's because the mirror surface is giving extremely poor grip and adhesion to the LM. These surfaces also tend to have the most degradation of LM quickly as well. Now if you do the same on a 1500 grit buffed surface, you will see the LM spreads almost instantly. That's because of the grip from the micro-crevices which helps give the LM something to stick to. This becomes very important when you compress the surfaces together during IHS/heatsink mounting.

After about 15 minutes, now apply a new layer of LM on top of the old layer (don't remove the old layer). A drop or two will do (but make sure you apply the new fresh layer on top).
Then spread it normally without another long spread, like you're used to doing, then apply LM to the CPU (or GPU) core, attach the IHS (if applicable), then apply the heatsink or block on top.

This will give very long durability over time.
 

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Hi all, first post. Came across you guys while looking into GD007 and GD900-1. I work in industry but also build/repair on the side, swearing by GD900 for some time now due to its price; no-brainer for the amount I go through.

Really enjoyed this thread, some fantastic knowledge and results.

First off, you guys are correct, thermal conductivity ratings are in no way an accurate indication of performance. Real world test are the way to go. Which is why we are running trials at work to negate various compounds.

There are many GD fakes across the whole range, and this shows in the varied results everywhere, including my own experiences. The only sellers i now trust, are those posted on the manufacture's site:

Halfway down (MSNancy's Thermal Grease Store)

As for longevity I've used many HY and GD compounds, and although most are awful (All HY are), GD900 is special, making note of 3 year reapplies in towers, tops and machinery (inverters, amps, etc...) it has, in worse case developed a firm area wherever the air touches, but it stays 'wet' inside (<150C). Like the universal stuff they use at work, Dow Corning 340, awful stuff but stays 'wet'.

Once I receive everything ordered, I'll be running tests on my i7 and some equipment that runs around 150C. Extreme, but we are running trials at work, and it won't hurt sharing these and my private results with you guys.
 
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Hi all, first post. Came across you guys while looking into GD007 and GD900-1. I work in industry but also build/repair on the side, swearing by GD900 for some time now due to its price; no-brainer for the amount I go through.

Really enjoyed this thread, some fantastic knowledge and results.

First off, you guys are correct, thermal conductivity ratings are in no way an accurate indication of performance. Real world test are the way to go. Which is why we are running trials at work to negate various compounds.

There are many GD fakes across the whole range, and this shows in the varied results everywhere, including my own experiences. The only sellers i now trust, are those posted on the manufacture's site:

Halfway down (MSNancy's Thermal Grease Store)

As for longevity I've used many HY and GD compounds, and although most are awful (All HY are), GD900 is special, making note of 3 year reapplies in towers, tops and machinery (inverters, amps, etc...) it has, in worse case developed a firm area wherever the air touches, but it stays 'wet' inside (<150C). Like the universal stuff they use at work, Dow Corning 340, awful stuff but stays 'wet'.

Once I receive everything ordered, I'll be running tests on my i7 and some equipment that runs around 150C. Extreme, but we are running trials at work, and it won't hurt sharing these and my private results with you guys.
Welcome to TPU! We invite the testing you intend to do. However, to stay on topic I recommend getting some MX-5 to include in your testing as this is a thread surrounding that TIM. I would love to see 150C testing on MX-5. Potentially very interesting!
 
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I was going to get the MX-5 for my new Alder Lake setup, but decided to try out the new Zezzio 14.8 W/mK Thermal Paste on my i5 12600KF with Asus TUF AIO. Idle temps around 25-26C with fans at less than 800 rpm, can get down to 23 C when ambient temps are cooler. Playing Halo Infinite I get mid 30s with fans never exceeding 1300 rpm. Max temp around 47C but rarely stays there when gaming. I have a very hot 3070 Ti in a poorly ventilated case with front mounted AIO, so you could be getting better temps with other better airflow case. I got 66C max on Cinebench test but that was right after I built the system, I've got a significant temp drop since then after the thermal grease settled in and fans optimized.

I did the line method when applying thermal paste and used LGA 1200 mounts on a Asus Z690 motherboard. With LGA1700 mounts you could be getting much better mounting pressure and surface contact on your Alder Lake cpu.
 

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After all, I have to say that MX5 was disappointing. I prefer MX4 more than this.
 
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Dear Gurus,

A Question,

My laptop:
ASUS G513QY ADVANTAGE EDITION
RYZEN 5900HX
RX6800M GPU

Currently I use Gelid GC Extreme, CPU maxing 97c and GPU hotspot maxing 99c. With LM (Both stock LM and my own LM), GPU hotspot was going up to 103c. So interestingly, paste better than LM on GPU hotspot.

Here one reddit guy made lab test and explains why its possible that paste works better than LM on this laptop:
https://www.reddit.com/r/GamingLaptops/comments/p59zbl
1. I bought SYY and it will arrive to me in 2-3 weeks, I want change from Gelid GC Extreme to SYY. Can I expect better CPU/GPU temps from SYY?
2. Can you suggest your GPU hotspot temps and CPU temps before/after SYY? (those who use SYY)

3. European benchmark website shows SYY almost in par with TFX and even beats krynount and beats by far Gelid GC Extreme:
https://albestech.com/migliore-pasta-termica-2021/
what is your say on this?

4. CPU Die smaller than GPU die, any suggestions for better paste applying technique for each? Here how motherboard looks (source ROG forum):

Some other sources mentioned also SYY par with TFX....
Few comments online suggesting SYY does great on laptops....

Same time i think i saw TomsHardware SYY benchmark was less good than krynount and some others... maybe TomsHardware had some issue with SYY application or got defective/lower quality batch.....

Thank you!
 
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I was going to get the MX-5 for my new Alder Lake setup, but decided to try out the new Zezzio 14.8 W/mK Thermal Paste on my i5 12600KF with Asus TUF AIO. Idle temps around 25-26C with fans at less than 800 rpm, can get down to 23 C when ambient temps are cooler. Playing Halo Infinite I get mid 30s with fans never exceeding 1300 rpm. Max temp around 47C but rarely stays there when gaming. I have a very hot 3070 Ti in a poorly ventilated case with front mounted AIO, so you could be getting better temps with other better airflow case. I got 66C max on Cinebench test but that was right after I built the system, I've got a significant temp drop since then after the thermal grease settled in and fans optimized.

I did the line method when applying thermal paste and used LGA 1200 mounts on a Asus Z690 motherboard. With LGA1700 mounts you could be getting much better mounting pressure and surface contact on your Alder Lake cpu.

Getting a bit off topic, but....

I think you mean their "14.3 w/mk" paste, not 14.8 w/mk. Zezzio's thermal paste is the *exact* same paste as SYY-157. It either comes from the same factory or is another supplier of it. They are 100% identical (at least as much so as Thermalright TFX and Thermagic ZF-EX are). Tested them both side by side and did close fingerprint mash tests...it's the exact same stuff.

Now, as to Zezzio's 14.8 w/mk thermal pads...no idea what their OEM/supplier is for these. They are quite light in color. What is known is they have the same heat transfer as Gelid Extremes (a user on ocuk, I think koeiwang?) tested them side by side with Gelid Extremes on an Ampere video card), and they seem to be about the same or very slightly softer than Gelid Extremes. Unknown if they also turn 'gooey' with high heat like the Gelid Extreme (85mm * 45mm) pads are known to do. Note that the 120mm * 120mm Chinese only SKU of Gelid Extremes seem to be slightly different (color is darker) and unknown if they also turn gooey).

Dear Gurus,

A Question,

Not trying to armchair moderate here, but both here, Notebookreview and many other places, you've literally asked the EXACT SAME QUESTION in multiple points over and over.
If no one knows the answer to your question, what good is it to ask the same exact question four different times in one forum? In fact maybe buy the pastes yourself and post some results?
There have been a lot of feedback and temp posts about SYY, TFX and etc on notebookreview already, which you seem to have conveniently ignored....

SYY-157 and TFX is about the same on DESKTOP CPU's on top of IHS. You even posted a review yourself showing these exact results yet you still asked what's better. Why?
The TFX review on the notebookreview forums show slightly better performance on laptops.
I also prefer TFX on GPUs because TFX is better due to its high viscosity, on non flat GPU surfaces like RTX chips.
 
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Getting a bit off topic, but....

I think you mean their "14.3 w/mk" paste, not 14.8 w/mk. Zezzio's thermal paste is the *exact* same paste as SYY-157. It either comes from the same factory or is another supplier of it. They are 100% identical (at least as much so as Thermalright TFX and Thermagic ZF-EX are). Tested them both side by side and did close fingerprint mash tests...it's the exact same stuff.

Now, as to Zezzio's 14.8 w/mk thermal pads...no idea what their OEM/supplier is for these. They are quite light in color. What is known is they have the same heat transfer as Gelid Extremes (a user on ocuk, I think koeiwang?) tested them side by side with Gelid Extremes on an Ampere video card), and they seem to be about the same or very slightly softer than Gelid Extremes. Unknown if they also turn 'gooey' with high heat like the Gelid Extreme (85mm * 45mm) pads are known to do. Note that the 120mm * 120mm Chinese only SKU of Gelid Extremes seem to be slightly different (color is darker) and unknown if they also turn gooey).



Not trying to armchair moderate here, but both here, Notebookreview and many other places, you've literally asked the EXACT SAME QUESTION in multiple points over and over.
If no one knows the answer to your question, what good is it to ask the same exact question four different times in one forum? In fact maybe buy the pastes yourself and post some results?
There have been a lot of feedback and temp posts about SYY, TFX and etc on notebookreview already, which you seem to have conveniently ignored....

SYY-157 and TFX is about the same on DESKTOP CPU's on top of IHS. You even posted a review yourself showing these exact results yet you still asked what's better. Why?
The TFX review on the notebookreview forums show slightly better performance on laptops.
I also prefer TFX on GPUs because TFX is better due to its high viscosity, on non flat GPU surfaces like RTX chips.

I actually paid for both SYY and Iceberg thermal plus, both to arrive to me from US in 2-3 weeks, than I will change gelid gc extreme to SYY.

I bought iceberg thermal plus as backup option, as this paste had some goood vibes online.

So bottom line, you say on laptop ... I can expect SYY give similar results to TFX?
 
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