Just wondering what the absolute best thermal compound is?

[SeanBond]

Is it mx-4 possibly?

[EarthboundHero]

From 2012, might need to be updated. http://www.maximumpc.com/article/features/geek_tested_17_thermal_pastes_face

[Shaqo_Wyn]

Type your question in the search bar on LTT and you'll get plenty of topics that are exactly the same and contain the answer to your question.

 

PRO TIP: it is indeed Arctic Cooling MX-4.

[connorpiper]

I personally use Antec Formula 7. Which is also high end.

I would put it in the absolute best category. 

[TheMcSame]

Last time I saw it was MX-4.

 

It's hard to test thermal paste as there's a lot of things that are hard to keep the same.

[MeltingPoint]

coollaboratory liquid ultra. For regular paste, I believe (and use) its GC-extreme, not the MX-4

[Majestic]

Coollabaratory Liquid Ultra, obviously. 38.4w/mk shreds the 8.5w/mk MX-4 has.
It's only a pain in the butt to install and remove.

[Guest]

I use mx-4 and its very good

[SeanBond]

@EarthboundHero I tried looking it up on google but all the trusted reviews are basically 2-5 years old. Right now I seem to have a weird issue. I have artic silver 5 and my temps were great with my new cpu the last 4 days...until today. Basically I am using 1.2v@4.5ghz instead of 1.22v@4.4ghz stock and my temps are higher today from the original settings 4 days ago. 3 days straight my temps were around 70c ish during a burn test and now today they are closer to 80c. What could possibly cause a temp change like that other than thermal paste? 

[bobhays]

Maybe the air is warmer? heater, not as cold today as before, etc.

[Majestic]

It's 80 deg at only 1.2V? Dang, i think it's time for a delid. : )

Changing the thermalpaste will have too much diminishing returns.

[SeanBond]

It spike's up to 80c not average, it's now averaging about 75-76. Which because it was hard pressed to break 70c at 1.22V So clearly it's not an issue with the cpu. The cpu runs fairly nice temp wise... at least before @Majestic 

[farhanorakzai]

i use artic silver 5. it's nice

[ManWithBeard1990]

The absolute best is Coollaboratory Liquid Ultra. It's a liquid metal alloy and all the ones that I know of are dangerous to work with. It's also conductive so you run the risk of short-circuit if you spill some.

 

For a more conventional paste Innovation Cooling Diamond is probably the best. It is made from a synthetic diamond particulate (It's more affordable than it sounds though but cheap it is not). Diamond is the best solid heat conductor known to man so using that as the bulk of your TIM, it seems to me, is probably going to perform very well.

 

You'll see many people recommending you Arctic Silver 5. It's a much older product that used to be king of the hill for the longest time, but other products have more than caught up with it over the past few years. It's a solid performer, but it's no longer the best and the fact that it uses real silver means it's still not cheap.

 

For a cheap option Arctic Cooling MX-4 is not bad.

 

In the end your heatsink will matter more than your thermal compound though, so don't go silly with it.

[Nup]

Mustard. 

[DJ_Deedahx]

For non-permanent usage, Arctic Cooling MX-4, which I would use in my part lists, is recommended.

I haven't checked on Antec Formula 7, but one question: is it permanent?

[worldwin]

The absolute best is Coollaboratory Liquid Ultra, but as far as I know it's permanent, non-removeable. It's a liquid metal alloy and all the ones that I know of are dangerous to work with. It's also conductive so you run the risk of short-circuit if you spill some.

 

For a more conventional paste Innovation Cooling Diamond is probably the best. It is made from a synthetic diamond particulate (It's more affordable than it sounds though but cheap it is not). Diamond is the best solid heat conductor known to man so using that as the bulk of your TIM, it seems to me, is probably going to perform very well.

 

You'll see many people recommending you Arctic Silver 5. It's a much older product that used to be king of the hill for the longest time, but other products have more than caught up with it over the past few years. It's a solid performer, but it's no longer the best and the fact that it uses real silver means it's still not cheap.

 

For a cheap option Arctic Cooling MX-4 is not bad.

 

In the end your heatsink will matter more than your thermal compound though, so don't go silly with it.

CLU isnt permanent. How do I know? I use it on my CPU and GPU die along with the heatspreader. It is pricey though since they do not sell everywhere.

[ManWithBeard1990]

CLU isnt permanent. How do I know? I use it on my CPU and GPU die along with the heatspreader. It is pricey though since they do not sell everywhere.

Oh really? Hang on, Liquid Pro was permanent though, right?

[worldwin]

Oh really? Hang on, Liquid Pro was permanent though, right?

Liquid pro had issues with removal being a pain. That is problem was corrected with CLU. In regards to it being permanent I think it was only when it was used with aluminum.

 

"The liquid metal behaves similar to mercury. Application of the thermal compound should be done with a small, lint-free brush to distribute the compound evenly across processor or heat sink. After installation the Liquid PRO will mature in 48 hours. It solidifies at that time and achieves its optimal cooling performance."

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/3784/thr-26/Coollaboratory_Liquid_PRO_Thermal_Interface_Material.html

 

I think it is only an issue with CLP rather than CLU as I can remove my parts with CLU easily.

[ManWithBeard1990]

Liquid pro had issues with removal being a pain. That is problem was corrected with CLU. In regards to it being permanent I think it was only when it was used with aluminum.

 

"The liquid metal behaves similar to mercury. Application of the thermal compound should be done with a small, lint-free brush to distribute the compound evenly across processor or heat sink. After installation the Liquid PRO will mature in 48 hours. It solidifies at that time and achieves its optimal cooling performance."

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/3784/thr-26/Coollaboratory_Liquid_PRO_Thermal_Interface_Material.html

 

I think it is only an issue with CLP rather than CLU as I can remove my parts with CLU easily.

Ah, so that's where the confusion must have come from. I thought the two were similar enough that that'd be the case with CLU as well. That's good to know though. I'll edit my first post real quick.

[Faceman]

-Source

 

I use Gelid-GC Extreme and I love it.  Dropped my CPU's temps by 2-3C depending on voltage being used and dropped my GPU's temps by 6C.  Arctic Silver 5 is not a good TIM.  It is very old, and you can get much better performing TIM for the same price.  It is also capacitive, not as bad as conductive, but not desirable at all.

[rentaspoon]

coollaboratory liquid ultra.

I'm sure there thermal pads do better by a few degrees

[Mush Brain]

MX-2 is a true weapon in the thermal compound front... used it on my laptop and dropped max temp from 95c to 72c.

[VulsaviiK]

I tried looking it up on google but all the trusted reviews are basically 2-5 years old. Right now I seem to have a weird issue. I have artic silver 5 and my temps were great with my new cpu the last 4 days...until today.

 

I recently re-did both GPUs with AS5, then swapped it again since I discovered it takes 200 hours for AS5 to set properly, which came up in a thread I made about a week ago

 

I went with IC Diamond. Linus has explained his reasons why. It's a little thick, both cards dropped 10-12 degrees though

[Recon97]

Kum.Best endless thermal paste.