Realistic expectations from thermal compounds...

[r00tb33r]

I've used Arctic Silver 5 for the past 17 years or so...  Never had a problem.  The stuff is dark and stains everything, and that's not a problem for me, because I know IT WORKS.

 

Now...  I can't find my stuff after moving into the new house and need to buy some compound in a pinch, and I need the best stuff I can get for a new laptop.  I see a lot of mixed reviews for newer compounds like Arctic MX-4 and Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut.  "Reputable" reviews are all over the place in terms of results, and Amazon reviews are even worse, it seems a lot of it is counterfeit.  Sure, the original product may indeed be great, but how do I know I'm not getting a fake?  In case of AS5 I know it's exact properties that would be difficult to fake...  If I get a fake I'll know in case of AS5.

 

What to do...  What to do!!!

 

Should I try one of these newer compounds or just go with trusty old AS5...?  Where to get those so I won't be getting a fake (besides from the manufacturer's website, where shipping is gonna take long)?

[MrSimplicity]

I'll be honest, I've been using the innovation cooling graphite thermal pad and have never had an issue with it. it's on amazon and it's cheap enough being that it's also reusable and in your case does not make a mess. Now if you're one of those that is trying to keep your system temp as low as physically possible then I'd just stick with what you know. The thermal pad yields only about a 2-5 degree difference in most cases and is stupid simple especially if you upgrade or just take your system apart a lot.

[r00tb33r]

Just now, MrSimplicity said:

I'll be honest, I've been using the innovation cooling graphite thermal pad and have never had an issue with it. it's on amazon and it's cheap enough being that it's also reusable and in your case does not make a mess. Now if you're one of those that is trying to keep your system temp as low as physically possible then I'd just stick with what you know. The thermal pad yields only about a 2-5 degree difference in most cases and is stupid simple especially if you upgrade or just take your system apart a lot.

Thanks for the suggestion.  Graphite pads are cool and I'll use one some day.  This time this is for a laptop for my girlfriend and will never be taken apart again unless it breaks, as there is nothing upgradable besides the RAM and NVMe, and I'm already maxing the RAM and the NVMe is very good already.  Yeah, need max cooling performance this time.

 

Sticking with what I know does tend to work well. ;D

[DoctorNick]

Thermsal Grizzly Conductonaut or Kryonaut. If you use Conductonaut, make sure to apply some electrical tape around the area you want to apply it to. It's liquid metal and conductive as the name suggests. Use less than this guy though. You should also spread liquid metal on the cooler surface where the die touch the heatsink. You can apply about this much and spread on both cooler and die (about one drop in total for best thermal perfomance. As thin a layer as possible) Youll get a special q-tip when buying conductonaut.

Like so: 

[r00tb33r]

9 minutes ago, DoctorNick said:

Thermsal Grizzly Conductonaut or Kryonaut.

Not going with Liquid Metal if pad material is raw copper and not nickel plated.  Sure, Kryonaut, but where to buy so I won't get a counterfeit besides mfg website?  Amazon stock has already been compromised.  That was the question of my thread, actually.

[DoctorNick]

13 minutes ago, r00tb33r said:

Not going with Liquid Metal if pad material is raw copper and not nickel plated.  Sure, Kryonaut, but where to buy so I won't get a counterfeit besides mfg website?  Amazon stock has already been compromised.  That was the question of my thread, actually.

Your location would be useful

[r00tb33r]

4 minutes ago, DoctorNick said:

Your location would be useful

Updated the profile.  Reading reviews makes me not want to risk with the Amazon stuff.  Never seen thermal compound I applied fail after months.  In the current situation I can't risk it because the machine will be out of my reach to do the repair should the stuff turn out to be fake and fail.  I just might end up leaving the OEM stuff undisturbed, at least I know it won't fail as miserably.

Some of the Amazon reviews:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R23H5WCBGA9ARN/ref=cm_cr_getr_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B00ZJS8Q6S

https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R2AVWLR940HYAL/ref=cm_cr_getr_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B00ZJS8Q6S

 

Same story with Arctic MX-4, AS5, even.  At least with AS5 I know exactly how the stuff should look like and feel.

[DoctorNick]

3 minutes ago, r00tb33r said:

Updated the profile.  Reading reviews makes me not want to risk with the Amazon stuff.  Never seen thermal compound I applied fail after months.  In the current situation I can't risk it because the machine will be out of my reach to do the repair should the stuff turn out to be fake and fail.  I just might end up leaving the OEM stuff undisturbed, at least I know it won't fail as miserably.

Some of the Amazon reviews:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R23H5WCBGA9ARN/ref=cm_cr_getr_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B00ZJS8Q6S

https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R2AVWLR940HYAL/ref=cm_cr_getr_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B00ZJS8Q6S

 

Same story with Arctic MX-4, AS5, even.  At least with AS5 I know exactly how the stuff should look like and feel.

Idk, Micro center? I see that they got both MX-4 and kryonaut. You could also try to get Noctua NT-H1/H2, great stuff. On par with kryonaut. MX-4 compund works great for long term. Haven't tested kryonaut/noctua long term

[r00tb33r]

Seems I found the official Arctic Inc. account on Amazon and the business address matches.  Posting product links is useless as Amazon substitutes sellers at will under the same product ID.  Amazon also sneakily combines reviews from all sellers without showing who sold the item for a particular review, so you'd be able to tell who peddles the fakes.

 

Merchant account:

https://www.amazon.com/sp?_encoding=UTF8&asin=&isAmazonFulfilled=1&isCBA=&marketplaceID=ATVPDKIKX0DER&orderID=&protocol=current&seller=A2T6N244WTLWGU&sshmPath=

 

I'm gonna take a stab at this and benchmark it in another machine before I use it in the intended project.

[freeagent]

Thermalright TFX is awesome stuff. A little expensive, but perfect for what you want it for. AS5 is still ok regardless of what the pros say, it’s just not the best. I would pass on LM.