Current best thermal paste?

[GreiverBlade]

but I bet you go through the GC-E quicker I can get 25 applications from 3.5g AS5 on AMD cpu's

so i get more of a GC-E 4g if you get 25 from 3.5g... i bought that tube quite a while ago and still over 2g left (roughly)

 

[FreedomEclipse]

Honestly though @Athlonite - If i bought a tube of paste and it turned out lumpy or some shit like that - Something it shouldnt of been then i would have sent it back to a shop and got it replaced with another just to make sure if they were all the same before i passed judgement.

Then you can go ask for a refund or have the product switched out for another brand.

 

[Aquinus]

I really don't know why people are so worked up about this. AS5 works fine for me, as has MX-4, and a bunch of others. I just happen to have AS5 right now. I really (personally,) don't care if changes temps by 2 degrees. I'm more interested in how long the paste will last. For example, the AS5 on my 3820 was applied when I first made this machine several years ago and still works fine. Considering how my cooler mounts to skt2011, I'm very thankful that I don't have to take it off often.

 

[FreedomEclipse]

I really don't know why people are so worked up about this. AS5 works fine for me, as has MX-4, and a bunch of others. I just happen to have AS5 right now. I really (personally,) don't care if changes temps by 2 degrees. I'm more interested in how long the paste will last. For example, the AS5 on my 3820 was applied when I first made this machine several years ago and still works fine. Considering how my cooler mounts to skt2011, I'm very thankful that I don't have to take it off often.

Its old, and there are pastes out there that are slightly better e.g. non conductive while performing the same if not better. Though if arent one of those people that constantly change CPUs so have to remove the heatsink then the contact/seal between the CPU and heatsink will always remain intact and the only real problem is if the paste dries out.

I used CoolerMaster Nano Fusion for a week and it came out all powdery when i removed the cooler just to see if it was still good.


Though with the whole 'non-conductive' argument, Ive been with the enthusiast community since the dawn of the skt 939 days (and a long time follower since before that but i could never afford my own hardware as i was pretty young and didnt have a job) i have never heard of any thermal paste shorting out a CPU or GPU - It all seems a bit of a myth.

 

[jboydgolfer]

^^^ I too have NEVER seen this conductivity in action in REAL life, during My fairly long time with PC's ,and PC components.

As an example, when EVER I buy a new GPU, I make a point of replacing the thermal paste put on during manufacturing, since I am certainly as capable as the person/machine who did it in the factory, except I have the luxury of taking My time, and doing it as right as it can be done, and the Most recent time I did it, was with My 7870Ghz from Diamond ,(normally I find the white type of TIM, but this time it was silver/Grey, and I would have guessed it was AS5 if I had to hazard a guess.) When I removed the shroud, the die was COMPLETELY covered with TIM.

.and the card functioned fine, there was even TIM outside of the square chip area,on the bare PCB(and even lines of it running inches across the board in hair like lines). I wouldn't say it was a myth personally, but I wouldn't lose any sleep over it either. If it was a common occurrence, I would have come across it by now. and as far as TIM brand quality, AS5 has ALWAYS treated Me VERY well, and I have had MANY more opportunities than the average enthusiast to put it to the test.My 7870 idles @ 28C with a reference blower cooler, and peaks @ around 65C(after I replaced the TIM). MY 2500k is MUCH lower, since it is on an H-70 AIO loop.mid to low 20's idle, and peaking @ around 60'ish.

like this

 

[GreiverBlade]

^^^ I too have NEVER seen this conductivity in action in REAL life, during My fairly long time with PC's ,and PC components.

As an example, when EVER I buy a new GPU, I make a point of replacing the thermal paste put on during manufacturing, since I am certainly as capable as the person/machine who did it in the factory, except I have the luxury of taking My time, and doing it as right as it can be done, and the Most recent time I did it, was with My 7870Ghz from Diamond ,(normally I find the white type of TIM, but this time it was silver/Grey, and I would have guessed it was AS5 if I had to hazard a guess.) When I removed the shroud, the die was COMPLETELY covered with TIM.

.and the card functioned fine, there was even TIM outside of the square chip area,on the bare PCB(and even lines of it running inches across the board in hair like lines). I wouldn't say it was a myth personally, but I wouldn't lose any sleep over it either. If it was a common occurrence, I would have come across it by now. and as far as TIM brand quality, AS5 has ALWAYS treated Me VERY well, and I have had MANY more opportunities than the average enthusiast to put it to the test.My 7870 idles @ 28C with a reference blower cooler, and peaks @ around 65C(after I replaced the TIM). MY 2500k is MUCH lower, since it is on an H-70 AIO loop.mid to low 20's idle, and peaking @ around 60'ish.

like this

well then it was not AS5 because i remember a user here (i can't remember clearly the name tho .... i have to seek) who got a AS5 application who went as badly as the one you show and the GPU didn't survived

 

[Bad Bad Bear]

For a desktop i've rarely cared about thermal paste other than to make sure its a decent brand that wont decay after a few months, but now i've got a fussy laptop that loves to crank the fan up and down while doing light load, and figure a regrease with something newer than 5 year old arctic silver ceramique might be in order.


probably buying from PCCG - so whats your recommendations for the best thermal transfer, knowing that its gotta last a few years in a laptop environment?

http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=163&vk_sort=1

I recommend using organic marmalade made in deepest darkest Peru. When your CPU heats up it smells like marmalade toast and keeps the room smelling fresh. My friend Paddington can hook you up cheap.

 

[R-T-B]

well then it was not AS5 because i remember a user here (i can't remember clearly the name tho .... i have to seek) who got a AS5 application who went as badly as the one you show and the GPU didn't survived

That may have been me. It happened to one of my miner cards (a then expensive AMD 7970).

I may / may not have posted about it. It's still dead on my shelf, completely died and became unresponsive after a pretty conservative AS5 application and showed signs of electrical damage around the main chip.

It is real.

 

[FreedomEclipse]

It is real.

pics pls

 

[R-T-B]

pics pls

It looks like it got thrown away, as a quick search of my shelf in my old room did not turn it up just now. Curse my parents throwing away my useless electronics....

Anyhow, it was real. Now I just think it was real... without proof. Sorry.

 

[Athlonite]

^^^ I too have NEVER seen this conductivity in action in REAL life, during My fairly long time with PC's ,and PC components.

As an example, when EVER I buy a new GPU, I make a point of replacing the thermal paste put on during manufacturing, since I am certainly as capable as the person/machine who did it in the factory, except I have the luxury of taking My time, and doing it as right as it can be done, and the Most recent time I did it, was with My 7870Ghz from Diamond ,(normally I find the white type of TIM, but this time it was silver/Grey, and I would have guessed it was AS5 if I had to hazard a guess.) When I removed the shroud, the die was COMPLETELY covered with TIM.

.and the card functioned fine, there was even TIM outside of the square chip area,on the bare PCB(and even lines of it running inches across the board in hair like lines). I wouldn't say it was a myth personally, but I wouldn't lose any sleep over it either. If it was a common occurrence, I would have come across it by now. and as far as TIM brand quality, AS5 has ALWAYS treated Me VERY well, and I have had MANY more opportunities than the average enthusiast to put it to the test.My 7870 idles @ 28C with a reference blower cooler, and peaks @ around 65C(after I replaced the TIM). MY 2500k is MUCH lower, since it is on an H-70 AIO loop.mid to low 20's idle, and peaking @ around 60'ish.

like this

It's probably Shin-etsu or something similar as it's non-conductive looks alot like AS5 but it's not

And I do the same as you replace every TIM I can with AS5

 

[Dr_b_]

Which thermal paste to use looks like a religious debate, as is how to apply it correctly. Except there is no proof to any religion, and with thermal paste we can figure out which one works best by looking at the temps.

Based on all the reviews, Gelid and the MX-2/4 are beating AS5. Can't ignore facts, unless all the reviewers are lying in some sort of conspiracy or paid off by a thermal paste manufacturer, as well as the majority of the commenters, which could be the case but the tubes of the goop arrive in the mail soon so we will soon know for sure who is telling the truth.

AS5 isn't broken or defective, but why keep using it when there are demonstrably better alternatives in both price and performance.

 

[MrGenius]

If the TIM is conductive or capacitive and the manufacturer states such, you should take note of that. And exercise due caution when using it. To ignore such warnings is foolish.

I've had one experience after applying TIM on my GPU die, quite recently, that proved to me that I should be more careful with a certain TIM that is even claimed to be electrically non-conductive. But is also described, in the fine print(always read it), as "not conductive in bulk" but potentially conductive as individual particles. Which is a logical conclusion to draw considering the fact that it contains 40-60% zinc oxide, 20-30% aluminum powder, and 2-6% silver powder according to the MSDS.

Thankfully no damage was done. And my card returned to normal operation when I thoroughly cleaned the resistors surrounding the GPU die of all trace particles of TIM. It didn't take much of it in the wrong place to cause my card to become severely unstable either. And I'm very glad I knew ahead of time to keep in mind all potentialities while using it. I didn't mess around trying to figure out what else might be causing it. I took action to resolve it immediately. Which likely saved my ass.

BTW, the color of the TIM does not necessarily indicate its electrical properties.

 

[peche]

well, hard to say but I have to say it, endless topic, Thermalpaste, I know that the place is full of enthusiasts that are always, reviewing, testing, taking seriously computer stuffs, but thermalpaste is a pretty complicated topic, also when we are looking for the "better" one,

I always stick on my "trusted", why? because they have never disappointed me, I also recognize a hot point in this discussion, Arctic Silver 5 and its large fame, arctic cooling MX series, for the win and also Coollaboratory liquid series that cannot be beaten…

 

[R-T-B]

well, hard to say but I have to say it, endless topic, Thermalpaste, I know that the place is full of enthusiasts that are always, reviewing, testing, taking seriously computer stuffs, but thermalpaste is a pretty complicated topic, also when we are looking for the "better" one,

I always stick on my "trusted", why? because they have never disappointed me, I also recognize a hot point in this discussion, Arctic Silver 5 and its large fame, arctic cooling MX series, for the win and also Coollaboratory liquid series that cannot be beaten…

Precisely right, and how I feel as well. Pick one, stick with it, and quit worrying about it!