Arctic MX-6 shelf life is just a couple months?

[:D:D]

I have some small tubs of GD900 that don't seem to be seperating at all and I've had then a few years.

Here's mine

I forget how many years ago it was like that. Was said to be manufactured almost 5 years ago and shelf life is stated as 2 years.

 

[LFaWolf]

Man, really? I just ordered Mx-6 2 days ago. Should I cancel it?

 

[Veseleil]

MX-4 is fine... My 4g tube from more than 5 years ago does have separation issues, but it still performs the same nonetheless. AIOs seems fine as well. After that LF II gunk fiasco and their fair and highly praised repair solution, LF III looks like a good deal. I have bunch of their TP-3 pads, they were good up to this point. No oil leaking and temps are great. Also I've used a lot of their fans, and apart from their annoying resonance (let's just say overall noise), they are solid mid range solution (not too expensive and not really cheap).
As the @cvaldes mentioned earlier, there's no simple solution to these MX-6 issues. Shipping new tubes to the customers as a replacement won't fix the bad reputation I'm afraid. Trust is like a friend, hard to obtain, easy to lose.

 

[Waldorf]

not excusing anything, but many ignore that issues arent always tied to companies not giving a crap.
e.g. the airbag issues in recent years had nothing to do with any of the brands, making the cars.

just for "statistics" i would love to see if all those brands with issues in the past 10y had actually
changed their formula and/or manufacturing process, or if they just changed where they get their supplies,
as i wouldnt be surprised if someone on the other side of the planet decided to provide sub par chemicals,
and with stuff made in big batches, would make for lots of messed up products.
my guess, the "oils" used as suspension..

ignoring for a moment that anytime anything has an issue, i still try contacting support,
as sometimes the company might not be aware, or the issue is to random/depending on certain hw etc.

i mean how are they to know, if no one gets in touch with them, and instead just tells others to stay away,
ignoring for a moment that just because one item is bad, doesnt mean all of their products are,
and as long as there is no proof this is done deliberately, mistakes can happen.

 

[Ruru]

Man, really? I just ordered Mx-6 2 days ago. Should I cancel it?

Personally I wouldn't, these claims of bad paste could just be from bad batch. I'd see myself what's coming.

 

[Waldorf]

@Keullo-e
except it will take 6-10 month before you would know it is bad/good.
i would rather cancel and go with MX4 or different brand, unless you dont mind "testing" around.

 

[lexluthermiester]

Man, really? I just ordered Mx-6 2 days ago. Should I cancel it?

No. MX6 is high quality. The chances of you having a problem are very low.

 

[BoggledBeagle]

I went through a half of 4g tube of MX6 recently and it seems OK, I am trying to tidy up the mess in the room and I cannot get to the tube now - do they have some batch numbers on them?

 

[maxfly]

Man, really? I just ordered Mx-6 2 days ago. Should I cancel it?

Nah. Don't be a victim of the hype. It's a blip on the radar that will pass like all of the other "I hate ____ company because-insert any of a myriad of reasons- posts. Nothing personal OP, I've been in your boots myself.

There's nothing wrong with MX-6 as a whole. The OP unfortunately has been snakebit in BAD way! I've got a tube of MX-6 that I bought shortly after it came out, 2022?. It still looks the same as it did the day I splooged a drop onto my wced rtx2070, (the first component it was used on) and temps haven't changed one iota since btw.

As an aside, I've also got a tube of MX-5 that I bought right after it released in 2021. It still looks just like it did the day I bought it, that nice purdy babyblue. The CPUs and GPUs I used it on don't show the slightest bit of temperature degradation either. Apparently I was one of the lucky bunch.

 

[mechtech]

My nephew just borrowed my unopened tube or mx6 about 6 months old to repaste his 6900xt

he said
“My gpu junction temp was only 90c, compared to 110c lol”
And
“And my gpu temp was 66c, not 93c”

 

[Veseleil]

Nah. Don't be a victim of the hype. It's a blip on the radar that will pass like all of the other "I hate ____ company because-insert any of a myriad of reasons- posts. Nothing personal OP, I've been in your boots myself.

There's nothing wrong with MX-6 as a whole. The OP unfortunately has been snakebit in BAD way! I've got a tube of MX-6 that I bought shortly after it came out, 2022?. It still looks the same as it did the day I splooged a drop onto my wced rtx2070, (the first component it was used on) and temps haven't changed one iota since btw.

As an aside, I've also got a tube of MX-5 that I bought right after it released in 2021. It still looks just like it did the day I bought it, that nice purdy babyblue. The CPUs and GPUs I used it on don't show the slightest bit of temperature degradation either. Apparently I was one of the lucky bunch.

So you're effectively saying that me and bunch of other people on this very forum are lying? We're victims of the hype, and there's nothing wrong with a paste that performs like it's a lottery. Good for you, you really are one of the lucky ones, so keep recommending garbage products to people.

 

[lexluthermiester]

So you're effectively saying that me and bunch of other people on this very forum are lying?

That's not the message being stated. What being stated is not to blow things out of proportion. What ever problem you're having is not serious enough to be worthy of the reckless hate you seem to be promoting.

Good for you, you really are one of the lucky ones, so keep recommending garbage products to people.

Way to keep things classy there.

 

[mechtech]

My nephew just borrowed my unopened tube of mx6 about 6 months old to repaste his 6900xt

he said (running 3D mark)
“My gpu junction temp was only 90c, compared to 110c lol”
And
“And my gpu temp was 66c, not 93c”

 

[Veseleil]

That's not the message being stated. What being stated is not to blow things out of proportion. What ever problem you're having is not serious enough to be worthy of the reckless hate you seem to be promoting.

Dude, you're being ignored, and the only reason I'm replying is because I saw that you love his comment, and laugh at mine, so I knew what to expect under "show ignore content". And I reply to you just for the benefit of the community. Nothing else, believe it or not.
Now to reply to that, I know to read FFS, and I'm always keen to read between the lines as well. The only thing that is hyped around here is that the MX-6 is actually good! Yeah, everything is good until proven otherwise. And that mentality "I didn't have any problems, so anyone else shouldn't" is mind boggling. Hate? On this same page I mentioned almost all of Arctic products lineup, and the only hate is on the MX-6 for a reason. And when someone sell you one defective product after dozen of non defective ones, do you still trust that the next one will be good as well? I don't, and I'll do my best to let everybody know about it. You know why? Because I hate scammers, and hate to see people being scammed. I'm just raising an awareness of this issue, that's all. And be sure I'll use every opportunity to do so, because I'm not in a mood to make a proper "hate" thread myself.

Way to keep things classy there.

MX-6 is a garbage product. And that's because it's inconsistent. So let's properly name the thing. Bye.

 

[cvaldes]

Man, really? I just ordered Mx-6 2 days ago. Should I cancel it?

Your money, your call.

Some people here say to cancel your order, some people say it'll be fine. Whom should you trust?

The biggest takeaway here is that Arctic is squandering goodwill (again) of people who use their thermal pastes. There were people here at TPU who were completely butthurt when Arctic discontinued MX-5 because they never experienced any issues. However big or small the MX-5 problem was, it was enough to get the manufacturer to quit marketing it.

There are plenty of other fine thermal pastes at competitive price points.

The longer Arctic remains silent about the issue, the more trust they will lose.

If you buy MX-6 and it's fine, you can laugh off the whole matter unless there's a problem later on. If there is a problem with your MX-6 purchase, well, it's up to you to decide whether or not to get Arctic (or the retailer) to replace the defective product. Is it worth it to you? And even if the defective paste is replaced with another brand new tube of MX-6, what sort of confidence level will you have the next time you look at the tube?

Do as you please. It's your wallet.

 

[GerKNG]

i personally don't hate arctic or their products (there is a reason why i use their stuff since i've built my first computer)
what bothers me is the extreme drop in Quality and QC (recalls of Pastes, AIOs) absolute crap Fans that are nowhere near compareable to what they were 10 years ago. (i have several arctic F12 in an old PC and they are as quiet and good as on the day i purchased them over a decade ago)

I bought over 100g of MX4 and it was almost always perfect.
Older Arcitc "F" Fans are fantastic.
I have a Freezer 34 E-Sport Duo which is pretty decent.
3x Liquid Freezer II AIOs which are incredible and i love the one cable solution.
the PST on their Fans is amazing.

but:
every P12 i have has massive PWM whining in low RPM ranges.
almost all of my P14s are either out of the box or started ticking at low RPM and get really loud at 1200+ after a couple hundred hours at that speed and they like to spill Oil when close to max RPM for a while.
i had the white BioniX Fans where almost all of them made grinding and ticking noises in a ~20% PWM Range and one touched the inner frame while spinning.
Arctic Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2 (just the heatsink and fan without any mounting kit in the box)
One by the recall affected liquid freezer 420.
And i buy all of the Arctic stuff directly from Arctic in Germany through their Amazon shop. (Seller is always Arctic itself)


i wish they would make the Fans 1€ more expensive to make them better and check their MX-6 manufacturer.
But as long as there is no significant change i'll stay away from this company.

 

[LFaWolf]

Well, part of my order has already arrived so Amazon said I can no longer cancel items in the order. I have used Mx-2 and Mx-4 in the past and I always have great results. My current Mx-4 tube is at least 5 years old or maybe even longer, since my current computer is 5 years old. I am building 3 or maybe 4 computers for this summer, so I want to get a new tube. I got on Amazon and saw there is Mx-6. I checked reviews and they are all good. I figure their stock of Mx-4 could be old stock too, so I bought the Mx-6. If this was posted 3 days ago I wouldn’t have gotten it. I know about the Mx-5 debacle but I thought they have learned the lesson.
I am building with nh-d15 and lga1700. I don’t want to remove the cooler and reapply the paste 3 months later. If I have to remove the backplate then I would rather get a Mx-4. $7 is no big deal but my time worth much more than that.

 

[GerKNG]

i would still try it.
if you get a good one it's fantastic.
check your temps before and after. i have two tubes which are 10°C apart with the exact same load.

 

[QckSilver]

Well, damn i wished i read this thread before buying mine 2 months ago, got a 4g tube to "long term usage"

I used it on a ancient GTX 680 2 months ago and it still works very fine.

I wasn't planning on applying on my CPU and GPU which i got a year ago, but maybe i should give it a shot before it turns bad.
Hopefully it was just a bad batch, because everywhere i read the MX-6 was the GOAT TIM

 

[Waldorf]

its the same way with everything else, everyone knows one brand they will never buy/use/recommend again,
yet millions of ppl are using the same brand without trouble (Seagate/Gigabyte).

but unless we know some numbers, we wont be able to tell.
there is a big difference if 10 out of 100 fail, or 10 out of 100.000 units sold.
so until i see "facts" showing this to be above 10% failure rate,...

mine is now +9 month old (4G), has been in use on 5950x, temps are equal to the 5800x i had before.
so i wouldnt say its a garbage product, or mine would have to be bad by now, and for many others too.

ignoring for a moment that i have wasted more money on messed up food orders take out/delivery,
that i wont be aiming for an aneurysm, because something worth a "cup of expensive coffee"
isnt working.
so far, all problems i had with their products, were fixed "for free".
write an email, and ask for refund, or a syringe of MX4..

 

[Veseleil]

I said what I said. So now, as a person of principle, I'll stand behind my words and suffer the consequences. I'm not writing an email to complain about the least expensive part of the order, because this is not about money wasted on a silly paste, but the fact I don't want to deal with them anymore, nor any of their products being sent to me, even for free.
And calling me a liar and a hater because I share my terrible experience with a particular product to which many people gives thanks and praises, and that coming from a fellow forum members is just making me sad and angry at the same time. This thread already got too much of my attention, and with respect to OP, I'm unwatching this and moving on ('till the next "hate" thread appears Lex). Apart from a fair amount of a reasonable replies I've read, it felt like talking to a brick wall like always. Hopefully tomorrow my 5800X3D will get a better treatment (it definitely deserves) with a Kryonaut (Hydronaut afterwards if Kryo fails with durability), and both MX-4 and MX-6 syringes along with other ancient tubes are going to the trash bin where they belong. Cheers.

 

[maxfly]

So you're effectively saying that me and bunch of other people on this very forum are lying? We're victims of the hype, and there's nothing wrong with a paste that performs like it's a lottery. Good for you, you really are one of the lucky ones, so keep recommending garbage products to people.

Liars? Victims of the hype? Wow, just wow.

Seriously, going off the deepend and twisting my words into that^^^^?.....Is just friggin creepy.

This, will go down in the annals of TPU as the Veseleil thermal paste meltdown.

TY, TYVM.

 

[AleXXX666]

i have three 8g tubes of MX-6 and they all deteriorate into silicone oil and gunk within a couple months (they are stored in an airtight bag). The first tube from February 2023 got very liquidy and seperates directly out of the tube and i have to push out 3-4cm of paste before it gets somewhat normal again. but it performs like toothpaste...
the second one which is from August was used on a 7800XT last week and it is no longer thick and dry while it spreads like warm butter.
and now the third one which was delivered last saturday. normal consistency and performs as expected or better said as good as the other ones when they were new.
i repasted the GPU three times and the results in the same test with fixed fan speed:
Edge/Hotspot
February 2023: 73°C/96°C
August 2023: 65°C/87°C
Last Friday: 61°C/70°C

Did anyone else observe similar issues?
The Paste (when fresh) is fantastic. but i can't buy a new tube every two months and throw 6g away because it deteriorates faster than a 14900KS.


View attachment 345589

well, MX-6 is way better performer than MX-4, so I think that's the answer for your issue. I have one MX-6 I think 4g syringe, have used it few times on some chips, and it's about a year I think after it's purchase. Tempting to repaste my new laptop cuz i5-10300H with it's dynosaur 14nm process is fkin hot, but time and laziness issue, lol, you know... will try, but during this time usage on other chips, all was as expected, and yes, it's a lil "liquid". Stored in original carton box in a drawer, "dry and cool place".

well this thread has convinced me I need to stop being a cheap ass and just buy a Frostsheet or TG Kryosheet and be done with paste forever.

comparing Arctic with "GD900" from Alx, I don't consider myself as "cheap". You cut put all ya "pads" or LM to some "cheap" dual-cores, if you want tho...

 

[BoggledBeagle]

...
i had the white BioniX Fans where almost all of them made grinding and ticking noises in a ~20% PWM Range and one touched the inner frame while spinning.

I had bad experience with this fan too because it has a soft frame, numerous times this frame got deformed so much on a Freezer 34 cooler (only exhaust position), that the blades started grinding the frame and I had to try to re-position the fan on the cooler so that it deforms in a better way to stop the grinding.

 

[Waldorf]

@Veseleil
to sound like the CS "reading the script" reply:

i understand you are frustrated...

its fine ditching arctic, but then you are willing to "accept" failure on a different brand (using hydro after kryo) and try more than one,
seems to me a little bit inconsistent, as in the end, if it fails, its still a "crappy" product, no matter "why" it failed (to perform as expected).

@BoggledBeagle
was it F or P version?
would be surprised if it was a P (for cooler/rad use), and maybe try the (P) CO version,
as it has ball bearings/designed for continuous use, and should work better on a hot heatsink..