BEST THERMAL COMPOUND?!

[shadowharren]

Hey all,

   I was having a debate with myself over if I should switch thermal paste. I usually use Arctic Silver 5, but I'm currently out of it and need to buy more for a new build. Would anybody recommend something different or should I stick with Arctic? If I should switch, would you tell me why? I see other thermal pastes out there, but I don't wanna buy all of them and benchmark them. I don't have that kind of time. 

Thank you in advance for your time.

[GoldenLag]

Is this a thermal compound comparison or is this thermal paste.

 

 

Very important distinction

[shadowharren]

I honestly didn't know there was a difference. I know that Arctic Silver 5 is a paste if that helps.

[StarsMars]

From what I’ve read most reputable stuff performs within 1c of each other. 

 

I got a tube of the Noctua stuff. Seems to do well

[jiyeon]

I like using Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut, but the stuff is expensive.

 

In my experience, between using Arctic Silver 5, Arctic MX-4, Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut, and the compound provided with the Hyper 212 EVO, the Kryonaut is worth the expenses.

Compared to Arctic MX-4 which I used to use before Kryonaut, my Kryonaut performed within 3° to 5°C delta.

 

Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut is also non-conductive which means it's safe if it ever spills over your IHS for example.

[NineEyeRon]

If your just using it occasionally then £6 for a gram is not a big issue, as your unlikely to use it often enough for more to be cost effective. 

 

Ive got a gram of thermal grizz and once it’s gone I will buy more, probably costing less than £3 a year which isn’t an issue.

 

If you need to buy more than a gram as you expect to use more than a gram a year then definitely look at more cost effective options as the amount spend will get expensive quickly!

[shadowharren]

Thank you for all the replies everyone. I will take this into consideration when building the computer. I might end up just liquid metal and water cooling it.