Best Thermal Compound?

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|DFA| Havoc

Limp Gawd
Joined
Aug 4, 2014
Messages
203
So I tried switching to Arctic MX-4 recently and wasn't super impressed. I've since gone back to Arctic Silver 5, but I'm almost out and it'll be time to buy another tube soon.

Question is, should I just restock on AS5, or are there better options out there?
 
As a long time user of AS5, I've used PK-3 in my last two builds, and I'm never going back.
 
Diamond paste seems to be the current darling of o/c sites, I've had very good luck with Antec's Formula 7. Differences among top-end pastes aren't much (2-3C idle, maybe a few more at load).
 
I like ceramique 2, useful since it works well, comes in large quantities and is non-conductive. Working a lot in systems I got tired of watching out for the conductive pastes all the time. 1, max 2 degrees trade-off for the convenience.
 
For deliding the best in the market are coollaboratory Liquid stuff.. for another typical usage IMHO, Shin Etsu TIM. depending on the surface or materials it could be G751 or X23 series. there are other excellent of good TIMs, Like Noctua NT-H1, Gelid GC- Extreme, IC diamond, Indigo XS, Arctic Ceramique 2. just for example.

My Top TIMs without any specifically order are Prolimatech pro PK3, Indigo XS, Noctua TN-H1 and Shin Etsu X23-7921.
 
I really doubt that one compound is better then another by to much, as long as the surfaces are clean and flat and mate well together then thermal compound shouldn't be that much of an issue.
I say this because all the thermal compound does is fill in any spaces between the two surfaces. which is why you only need a very small amount maybe the size of a grain of rice ( depending on the CPU of course)
 
I used AS5 for a long time and recently switched to Gelid GC- Extreme and I like it, temps are lower and it is easier to apply. I have been using on cpus and gpus.
 
As long as you don't use cheese (proven in a test by [H]) you should be fine. Differences are only 1-2C, so unless you do extreme OC, it really doesn't matter much. You can always go for the Liquid Pro too
 
I personally switched from AS5 to AC MX-2. MX-2 is just as good with less cure time. Also can find a sale pretty often. It is also easy to apply and cleanup with something like a 8yr storage time.

IC Diamond 7 is honestly scary to use. Gotta warm it up in a cup a hot water to apply which isn't the bad part nor is the hard as hell getting it out of the tube or that it will scratch up the lid of the cpu with use/cleanup. Nope, the scary part was when trying to remove the heatsink and ripping the cpu out of it's socket (AMD AM2+) for me, luckily it didn't damage the cpu but scary!

Would say in reviews that NT-H1, Gelid GC-Extreme. PK series were good, Haven't used them.

Maybe when I'm done with like 7 more MX-2 tubes I got on the cheap I'll try those.
 
Ive used a few but AC5 is the one I guess would be my favorite. It works better than all the others that Ive tried. Granted I havent tried them all so I wont say its the best on the market but its gotta be in the top 1%.

Have heard a lot of good things about that PK-3 and am wanting to give it a try. May buy some and slap some on one day when Im bored and needing something to tinker with.
 
Most of the differences are in how well the cooler is seated. Good test is to mount and test over several days, then do it again. Do this 3 or 4 times and if you get less than 1-2c difference between each of the mountings you are doing it properly. Many (maybe most) of what is written on forums about what is best TIM is by users who have mounted maybe a grand total of 10 coolers in their life. Most of us who have mounts hundreds agree that the difference between the top 20 or so TIMs on the market (not including the scary CL) is less than 2c.
TIMcoolingdifference2_zps1ab81c45.jpg
 
Arctic Silver 5 ran around 3-4 degrees hotter than Noctua NT-H1 with a Noctua NH-D14 cooler, ran out and had to use MX-4, it gave me the exact same temps as the NT-H1. Never going back to using AS5 now. Heard Coollaboratory Liquid Pro was pretty decent, not for me though.
 
Could you define your usage parameters? Do you overclock? What processor are you using?
 
From my experience there is only a couple degrees difference between thermal pastes. Currently, I use AS5 but I have also used coolermaster, thermalright and a few others. I'd choose a moderately priced paste, apply it and don't worry about it.
 
I'm a fan of mx-2. Been using it for years. Its cheap, works great, and is easy to clean up.

I'll never understand why people still use as5.
 
Oh, if you pop the lid on your cpu you really have to use that cool labratory stuff on the die. I don't know why but temp start to rise over time with most normal pastes.
 
I probably mount and demount half a dozen coolers a day in the lab. For me, application and cleanup is easiest with AS5. I use it my home systems as well. But as Doyll pointed out, the difference in performance is minimal between most of the top brands.
 
Ease of application usually translates to how good the TIM seat / print is .. how good the TIM seat translates into how well the is able to perform / how cool the CPU runs. This and consistently being able to get the same good seat is what makes a TM good or bad .. and not the minimal difference in heat transfer.

Next is how easy it is to clean up when cooler is changed. :D

If using the same kind of TIM when re-installing there is no reason to clean with alcohol or other cleaners. I just wipe the CPU and cooler clean and apply new TIM. It;s called "timming" .. and is not to be confused with being lazy. :rolleyes: Many say this actually promotes a better flow of TIM between CPU & cooler .. the same way tinning metal surfaces before soldering them together does. I can't say it improves the heat transfer, but will attest that it doesn't harm it. ;)
 
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