Which thermal Paste to use

[amolven]

I want to re-paste the CPU and GPU on my computer and my brother's computer. I need thermal paste that is good quality, has all the required tools, and has enough to be used 5 times. Does anyone have any recommendations?

 

Thanks in advance.

[SorryBella]

2 minutes ago, amolven said:

has all the required tools

But all the tools youll need is any sort of solvent (Alcohol, Distilled Water, Nail Polish, etc) and a paper towel. I doubt you can find a lot of those in the market with those as included tools.

 

For my thermal paste recommendation, its hodge podge between:
1. Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut

2. Arctic Cooling MX-4

3. Noctua NT-H1

4. Deepcool Z7

5. IC-Diamond

[amolven]

Which one would be better?

https://www.amazon.ca/MX-4-Compound-Performance-Heatsink-Interface/dp/B0795DP124

OR

https://www.amazon.ca/NT-H2-3-5g-Pro-Grade-Compound-Cleaning/dp/B07MZ45X9G/ref=rtpb_1?pd_rd_w=yDffo&pf_rd_p=164a4ce0-05d6-485d-91f8-34f2925e3c30&pf_rd_r=V34810HDZAN9FDCM3188&pd_rd_r=4e1a0cde-339e-492d-9ace-e5135db63911&pd_rd_wg=Pzd3s&pd_rd_i=B07MZ45X9G&psc=1

 

Sometimes, the GPU hits >90 degrees. Although I highly doubt that will happen after re-pasting, I would like a type of thermal paste that can withstand high temperatures.

[aisle9]

Literally anything as long as:

 

1. It doesn't come in a jar

2. It's not gold

3. It doesn't come in bulk from China (i.e., no massive tubes of unlabeled goo)

4. It's not capacitive or electronically conductive except in the case of liquid metal, which you don't need (this means no AS-5, sadly)

 

The difference between the best thermal pastes and the most mediocre, again excluding liquid metal, is 3C or so. Once you get into the liquidy, gooey Chinese stuff, that changes, but for the most part if it's on the shelf in your local computer store, it's probably good enough. If you want specific pastes, if I'm not using packets or tubes of stuff that came with various CPU coolers over the years, I typically use Arctic MX-4. Inexpensive, non-capacitive, easy to clean off and it does the job well.

[svmlegacy]

11 minutes ago, amolven said:

has all the required tools

I suggest Arctic MX-4, but keep in mind no thermal paste comes as a kit with tools. As @SorryClairepointed out, you'll need Isopropyl Alcohol (preferrably 99%), paper towels, and a screwdriver kit with bits for both the coolers.

[SorryBella]

Just now, aisle9 said:

1. It doesn't come in a jar

2. It's not gold

3. It doesn't come in bulk from China (i.e., no massive tubes of unlabeled goo)

4. It's not capacitive or electronically conductive except in the case of liquid metal, which you don't need (this means no AS-5, sadly)

Nice reference to this scuffed AF video.

 

 

[amolven]

Can someone give me an Amazon link to isopropyl alcohol? Also, what type of paper towels should I use? Would the normal ones be OK or are there a special kind?

[freeagent]

I really like Thermalright TFX, but its expensive. TF8 would be runner up for me there. But I am using TF7 right now because it came with my cooler, and I am out of everything else, except AS5.

 

Which is not as bad as some of you have made out..

 

You can get iso from your pharmacy. You can use your socks, boxers, anything that wont leave lint behind.

[aisle9]

1 minute ago, svmlegacy said:

Isopropyl Alcohol (preferrably 99%)

Not really necessary imo. 99% is hard as hell to find in some places (and I highly recommend not attempting to have highly flammable liquids shipped in large-ish quantities). I use those little injection prep pads that cost about $4 for a box of 200 or whatever. Nice little individually packaged wipes of 70% alcohol, and they've always done the job.

 

Again, if you're going for something like a delid or a liquid metal job, that changes, but for just replacing the paste on a typical CPU, 70% is good enough.

[aisle9]

3 minutes ago, amolven said:

Can someone give me an Amazon link to isopropyl alcohol? Also, what type of paper towels should I use? Would the normal ones be OK or are there a special kind?

It's also known as rubbing alcohol and is definitely at your local grocery store, supercenter, pharmacy, etc.

[freeagent]

You want the higher content so it doesn't leave a residue behind.

[SorryBella]

2 minutes ago, amolven said:

Can someone give me an Amazon link to isopropyl alcohol? Also, what type of paper towels should I use? Would the normal ones be OK or are there a special kind?

Itll be easier for you to buy isopropyl alcohol at local pharmacy, thanks to covid hoarders. and yes, any paper towels should be fine as long as its not the cheap kinds thatll flake out lint so easily.

[amolven]

Thanks for the help.

[svmlegacy]

1 minute ago, aisle9 said:

Not really necessary imo. 99% is hard as hell to find in some places (and I highly recommend not attempting to have highly flammable liquids shipped in large-ish quantities). I use those little injection prep pads that cost about $4 for a box of 200 or whatever. Nice little individually packaged wipes of 70% alcohol, and they've always done the job.

 

Again, if you're going for something like a delid or a liquid metal job, that changes, but for just replacing the paste on a typical CPU, 70% is good enough.

Most solvents will work, but 99% Isopropyl Alcohol is ideal, which is why I mentioned it. Agreed on not holding to large format containers.

 

BTW, be very careful when suggesting nail polish, as that is fairly dilute acetone which will attack and destroy the substrate/PCB if not cleaned up properly.

[aisle9]

2 minutes ago, freeagent said:

I really like Thermalright TFX, but its expensive. TF8 would be runner up for me there. But I am using TF7 right now because it came with my cooler, and I am out of everything else, except AS5.

 

Which is not as bad as some of you have made out..

It's not bad at all. I'd still use it if I had a tube anymore. I just don't like recommending it to people in general because if you have a heavy hand and/or treat it like paint instead of paste and get it all over your mobo (been there, seen that), it can cause problems down the line.

 

1 minute ago, freeagent said:

You want the higher content so it doesn't leave a residue behind.

A $0.000002 paper towel fixes that and makes 70% more than usable if higher grades aren't in stock (thanks COVID) or you'd have to ship them--and shipping flammable liquids from Amazon is generally a bad idea for all kinds of reasons, mostly that sellers are cheap-ass idiots.

[aisle9]

1 minute ago, svmlegacy said:

Most solvents will work, but 99% Isopropyl Alcohol is ideal, which is why I mentioned it. Agreed on not holding to large format containers.

 

BTW, be very careful when suggesting nail polish, as that is fairly dilute acetone which will attack and destroy the substrate/PCB if not cleaned up properly.

I am very secure in my masculinity and would never suggest a man use nail polish for anything.

[freeagent]

I don't even waste a paper towel for that. I will take off my sock or grab a used pair of boxers

 

No lint

[svmlegacy]

1 minute ago, aisle9 said:

I am very secure in my masculinity and would never suggest a man use nail polish for anything.

Mixed up who I was replying to, haha. But don't get me wrong, I've used nail polish as a solvent before

Truely being secure in your masculinity is being able to own and reccomend it as a solvent without thinking it shows femininity.

[freeagent]

You mean you've tried nail polish remover right?

 

Because nail polish is good for sealing things your don't want moisture on..

[aisle9]

15 minutes ago, freeagent said:

I really like Thermalright TFX, but its expensive. TF8 would be runner up for me there. But I am using TF7 right now because it came with my cooler, and I am out of everything else, except AS5.

 

Which is not as bad as some of you have made out..

One last note on AS-5: dat burn-in time doe. IIRC, it's something like 250 hours for the paste to theoretically reach maximum performance. Something like MX-4 is going to perform just as well and be burned in the second you power the system on. AS-5 is still a perfectly usable paste if that's what you can get in the timeframe you need it by, it's just that there are better, newer alternatives out there. AS-5 dates back close to 15 years at this point, and it's time for the hobbyists to move on to newer stuff with fewer drawbacks.

[freeagent]

7 minutes ago, aisle9 said:

One last note on AS-5: dat burn-in time doe. IIRC, it's something like 250 hours for the paste to theoretically reach maximum performance. Something like MX-4 is going to perform just as well and be burned in the second you power the system on. AS-5 is still a perfectly usable paste if that's what you can get in the timeframe you need it by, it's just that there are better, newer alternatives out there. AS-5 dates back close to 15 years at this point, and it's time for the hobbyists to move on to newer stuff with fewer drawbacks.

No it wont. There is still some run in time even with MX4. You will see your temps change slightly over the course of a couple of days. As for AS5, its 200 hours. Not a big deal though. That is the time it takes to go from wet to sintered. Works great. Don't use a lot, should be common sense.. you aren't making a peanut butter sandwich. I know how old AS5 is, I have been using it for about that long.. Never made a mess once. Even on bare die.

[DeepCool zer0]

On 4/24/2021 at 7:04 AM, aisle9 said:

Literally anything as long as:

 

1. It doesn't come in a jar

2. It's not gold

3. It doesn't come in bulk from China (i.e., no massive tubes of unlabeled goo)

4. It's not capacitive or electronically conductive except in the case of liquid metal, which you don't need (this means no AS-5, sadly)

 

The difference between the best thermal pastes and the most mediocre, again excluding liquid metal, is 3C or so. Once you get into the liquidy, gooey Chinese stuff, that changes, but for the most part if it's on the shelf in your local computer store, it's probably good enough. If you want specific pastes, if I'm not using packets or tubes of stuff that came with various CPU coolers over the years, I typically use Arctic MX-4. Inexpensive, non-capacitive, easy to clean off and it does the job well.

A lot of truth in this response. There isn't huge differences in performance between most of the better known thermal pastes out there. I've used a good number of them, and the differences between all of them were not really noticeable. Grizzly, Artic MX4, CM MasterGel Pro, DeepCool's own G40; and they were all pretty close.

 

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