Thermal Paste shopping

[Nick Ger]

Is choosing the right thermal paste important if you want to cool an i9 9900k?

 

And does spreading out your thermal paste before you add the cooler on top matter temperature wise?

 

 

[ChaoticChaosx]

I always go with a brand I know is good from personal experience. I recommend Arctic Silver 5 or Arctic MX-4. Silver 5 is more like warm peanut butter consistency. 

I used them both and with an overclocked i7 7700K with 1.33V (which is also a quite hot chip to begin with) both kept the same around temps 30c-38c underload the hottest I seen is 65c-70c this is with a strong stress test. You could delid and get even better.

 

I never spread so i can't really comment on that.

[Stormseeker9]

I use the noctua one, but any mentioned above will do.

 

just apply a pea size dot of thermal paste in the middle of the cpu

[Kc7vwc]

I use MX-4 & haven't had any issues. Most pastes will only vary by a few degrees at most. 

 

As for spread, I once say a guy use clear microscope slides to look at paste patterns from various install methods. Pre-spreading did have a chance to introduce air pockets into the paste. Normally a cooler that is properly tightened down with the right pressure should negate this though.

[WoodenMarker]

The type of thermal paste can make a difference in cooling but it's usually not a big one when comparing decent pastes to better ones. Most coolers come with decent paste. 

The application can also make a difference but it's also usually small.