What Thermal Paste best for GPU?

[Illywilly]

Ceramique 2 has worked great for me.

[vong]

Sorry to highjack but I just ordered some Gelid GC- Extreme, is it any good? I'm currently using XSPC's thermal paste that came with the waterblocks.

[SuperKoopaTrooper]

So, I am going to a store called Micro Center. These are their options there. http://www.microcenter.com/search/search_results.aspx?N=4294966910

Also go ahead and suggest stuff that isn't on their that you really like.

 

I swear by IC Diamond, its the bees knees man lol. I built a system for my buddy with a 650ti and the dam thing was running 80-90c when worked up. So i removed the old thermal paste and applied IC Diamond and it never passes 55c. Obviously the thermal paste was a botched job out the gate but still. its incredible! on average you can expect a 3-7c drop with load temps on a gpu.

[SuperKoopaTrooper]

Sorry to highjack but I just ordered some Gelid GC- Extreme, is it any good? I'm currently using XSPC's thermal paste that came with the waterblocks.

 

I have some it came with a gelid gpu cooler I ordered. Its really easy to work with but its really no better then AS5. IC Diamond is the way to go unless you want some of the liquid metal thermal paste. From what I understand though, they tend to be a little harder to remove.

[SuperKoopaTrooper]

Did I get a bad one or is it suppose to really thick?

 

No, it is really thick stuff. Its bad if you intend to manually spread the paste all over the chip but that would be bad to begin with. Most people now just let the heatsink do the work.

 

Would not recommend the ICD7 for the GPU die. The diamonds can scratch the die.

 

I wouldnt call it scratching, I'd call it polishing. It turned my copper block and cpu into mirrors over time.

[SuperKoopaTrooper]

Just to give you a heads up. Before use boil a kettle and place the whole tube (closed obv) into a cup of warm water for a few mins. This will heat the temp of the paste up and it will be more like Arctic Silver and will spread easily.

Please consider placing it in a ziplock bag before hand because water can/will get in the tube. A benefit would make it easier to work with but how much of that is because its watered down and how would water effect the performance?

[Altecice]

Please consider placing it in a ziplock bag before hand because water can/will get in the tube. A benefit would make it easier to work with but how much of that is because its watered down and how would water effect the performance?

 

I assumed people would have the common sense to not plunge the full tube into the water (where it could seep in from the top). The caps on the IC Diamond are water tight so no issues at the other side

[Henry]

Did I get a bad one or is it suppose to really thick?

I hear it's supposed to be thick. But don't worry, once you apply it (with the pea method or w.e method u want, I prefer the X method), and put the heatsink on, it should spread out just fine

[Henry]

IC Diamond 7. It's the best stuff.

[Sharp_3yE]

Is it suppose to be as thick as clay?

DON'T try to change it. YES it is that thick. I just used it. It is that thick so that it doesn't have to cure and this stuff does spread real nicely if you use the right amount. So, keep it just as it is and use it.