Should I use my own thermal paste or use the preapplied paste that comes with the H45 AIO?

[MSMSMSM]

Just bought a Corsair H45 120MM Liquid Cooler and unlike the photos shown at my local store, this one does come with preapplied thermal paste. Unfortunately, I also ordered some Arctic MX-4. As much as I love spending as little money as possible, I also want my system to be as cool as possible (currently it's 50C idle, 110C full load at an ambient of 30C. Should I use the preapplied thermal paste and cancel my order for the MX-4 or should I get the MX-4, remove the preapplied pads and then use that directly on the copper.

 

(Also, should I mount it on the front or on the back, top isn't an option because I keep things on top of there and I cannot remove them, so that makes for bad ventilation)

[AndreiArgeanu]

The preapplied thermal paste should be good enough, with the Arctic MX-4 your cpu would run a few degrees Celsius, but I don't expect that to make a big difference.

[19_blackie_73]

Unfortunately, a 120mm aio wont bring ground breaking temps to you. Using the preapplied paste is fine, only 1 or 2 degrees max difference

[Aereldor]

12 minutes ago, SpicyMustard said:

110C full load

wtf

[SavageNeo]

13 minutes ago, SpicyMustard said:

Just bought a Corsair H45 120MM Liquid Cooler and unlike the photos shown at my local store, this one does come with preapplied thermal paste. Unfortunately, I also ordered some Arctic MX-4. As much as I love spending as little money as possible, I also want my system to be as cool as possible (currently it's 50C idle, 110C full load at an ambient of 30C. Should I use the preapplied thermal paste and cancel my order for the MX-4 or should I get the MX-4, remove the preapplied pads and then use that directly on the copper.

 

(Also, should I mount it on the front or on the back, top isn't an option because I keep things on top of there and I cannot remove them, so that makes for bad ventilation)

first of all. 120mm aios are not good.

second that particular 120mm aio is not good.

The temps are not goos, so you probably mouinted it wrong

[MSMSMSM]

1 minute ago, SavageNeo said:

second that particular 120mm aio is not good.

Tight Budget and didn't have many options. The next offering was for $150.

1 minute ago, SavageNeo said:

The temps are not good, so you probably mouinted it wrong

Seems like it.

9 minutes ago, 19_blackie_73 said:

a 120mm aio wont bring ground breaking temps to you

If it's under 80C, I'm a happy clam!

 

4 minutes ago, Aereldor said:

wtf

Surprised my chip isn't dead yet tbh

[19_blackie_73]

To be frank, even a decent 30-35$ air cooler probably would do the same job as good, and a air cooler priced the same would probably outperform it. And less points of failure.

What chip are you trying not to kill?

[MSMSMSM]

22 hours ago, 19_blackie_73 said:

What chip are you trying not to kill?

Ryzen 1800X (seemed to have shit luck on the silicon lottery because i can't OC it over 3.8GHz)

22 hours ago, 19_blackie_73 said:

even a decent 30-35$ air cooler probably would do the same job as good, and a air cooler priced the same would probably outperform it

I believed the same thing but I had a Noctua Air Cooler that looked something like this (I forgot the name and I don't have the box anymore so bear with me). At 3.6GHz, it would reach 100-110C on full load (Prime95, 16 threads, mixed). Now, I got 3.8GHz and it reaches 82-85C on full load (same stress test as before). Maybe the theory that it was improperly installed seems to have some merit so I haven't thrown it away but honestly, I might reuse the Noctua for another build and (hopefully) install it correctly.