Ran out of thermal paste, is there a "best" on the market?

[Reconciliasion]

ive been using arctic silver 5 for the past 4 years, for my gaming rig, my xbox repair service and my laptop so id reccomend.

[mgsstar]

IC Diamond and MX4 are good choices for your thermal compound.

[codytappen]

Linus' recommendation: IC Diamond.

[bluepoodleguy]

Arctic Silver 5 is good stuff but it does have a cure time. From the Arctic Silver website "During the CPU's initial use, the compound thins out to enhance the filling of the microscopic valleys and ensure the best physical contact between the heatsink and the CPU core. Then the compound thickens slightly over the next 50 to 200 hours of use to its final consistency designed for long-term stability." It's good right out of the tube but best performance occurs some time after it is first applied.

[Art Vandelay]

Skinee Labs rated Phobya HeGrease as the best TIM. I've used both that and IC diamond, and both work pretty exceptionally. HeGrease gave me pretty decent temperatures even when I accidentally screwed up and the tim was spread entirely onto one half of the processor, and IC diamond just generally tends to be pretty consistent.

 

Cool laboratory Liquid ultra and Indigo Extreme are the best performing TIMs, but they are horrible to use.

[CwGoh]

I use NT-H1. It's great, spreads thinly and evenly, no curing time and non-conductive. Though mainly it's because It is $5 cheaper than AS5 and performs in my country.

[SirReallySam]

Arctic Silver 5 THE best ever!

A lot of people suggest this actually.

[PhegMan]

I dont think there is a huge difference, maybe 2-3 Celsius max, as long as you go with something that isn't the cheapest of the lot then you should be fine. I use Arctic silver 5 which has never failed me and its what Centrecom use in all of their systems

[lill-pumba]

A lot of people suggest this actually.

 it performs better then IC