Arctic to launch MX-6 to replace discontinued MX-5 thermal compound

[Spotty]

Summary

Arctic's MX-5 thermal compound has now been listed as End-of-Life on Arctics website and it appears the company is getting ready to release a new thermal paste, creatively called MX-6.

MX-5 thermal compound was recalled earlier this year after defects were found that caused issues with liquid separation and premature hardening.
This does not appear to affect Arctic MX-4 which is still currently available and has not had the same issues MX-5 had.

 

Quotes

Quote

Arctic's MX-5 thermal paste is no longer available and has been replaced by the MX-6. Although the latest version is not yet accessible on the manufacturer's website, it is now available on Amazon. The 4 grams version costs 28.75 euros including shipping. 
 

Arctic appears to be retiring the MX-5 line of thermal compounds due to consistency issues. At Arctic, the product is now labeled "End of Life." A successor is already in the works: the new MX-6  which is available on Amazon. The firm faced quality flaws in specific batches at the start of the year. Affected pastes should exhibit irregularities in consistency and durability, resulting in a greater deposit of the oil included and premature hardening. This could obstruct the application of thermal paste. In return for proof of purchase, Arctic offered impacted consumers a replacement. The 4 gram version is 28.75 euros plus shipping, near;y three times the original price.

 

My thoughts

Since Arctic is discontinuing the MX-5 product perhaps the issues they faced were more than just a bad batch, and not something the company was able to fix without changing to a new formula.

I was actually looking at buying some thermal compound a few days ago and MX-5 is one of the cheapest listed on Amazon (AU). I knew about the recall they had earlier in the year but I was hoping they might have fixed whatever issues they had with it. Given they've now discontinued the product I'm glad I held off buying it.
Hopefully the 28 Euro for 4g that is currently listed on Amazon Germany is just a placeholder price at the moment, because that is way too expensive for thermal compound and 3 times what the MX-5 and MX-4 cost. You could get 5.5g Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut for 18 Euro, less than half the cost per gram of the MX-6 compound.

 

Sources

https://www.guru3d.com/news-story/arctic-halts-troublesome-mx-5-thermal-paste-mx-6-successor-spotted-at-almost-three-times-the-price.html

[Poinkachu]

12 minutes ago, Spotty said:

My thoughts

 

Since Arctic is discontinuing the MX-5 product perhaps the issues they faced were more than just a bad batch, and not something the company was able to fix without changing to a new formula.

I was actually looking at buying some thermal compound a few days ago and MX-5 is one of the cheapest listed on Amazon (AU). I knew about the recall they had earlier in the year but I was hoping they might have fixed whatever issues they had with it. Given they've now discontinued the product I'm glad I held off buying it.
Hopefully the 28 Euro for 4g that is currently listed on Amazon Germany is just a placeholder price at the moment, because that is way too expensive for thermal compound and 3 times what the MX-5 and MX-4 cost. You could get 5.5g Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut for 18 Euro, less than half the cost per gram of the MX-6 compound.

They delisted it from their site's shopping page since some months ago.
I had the same thought as you (That they've fixed it), and was looking for one, went to their site and couldn't find MX-5.

But yeah, that listed price sure doesn't look like a usual arctic price.

 

From the pic of the packaging I assume the paste will have the same color as MX-5, Teal.

I'm gonna wait for reviews and reports before buying (if the price is actually cheaper than what you linked) I guess

[Spotty]

4 minutes ago, Poinkachu said:

They delisted it from their site's shopping page since some months ago.
I had the same thought as you (That they've fixed it), and was looking for one, went to their site and couldn't find MX-5.

Interesting. It's still listed for sale on Amazon Australia, but that might just be third parties clearing what stock they have left. Could explain why it's half the cost of other thermal compounds like the MX-4 and Noctua NT-H1.

[yolosnail]

I think I'll still with MX-2, supposedly not as good as MX-4, but has better longevity.

[SimplyChunk]

24 minutes ago, that_dude said:

Think Amazon (sold by amazon) used a placeholder price:

-snip

 

 

1. 29€ for 2g/4g is maniac.

2. Arctic isn't known for scalper prices. They úsally have a good price/performance ratio.

3. 2g and 4g are both 28,81€.

Was gonna say.  Not even thermal grizzly is THAT much XD

[BobVonBob]

I love this. Thanks Amazon. Everyone else assumes I want the cost per gram, but the cost per kilo is where it's at. The most useful unit of mass for comparison is obviously two and a half orders of magnitude away.

 

[Spotty]

29 minutes ago, that_dude said:

Think Amazon (sold by amazon) used a placeholder price:

Yeah, I expect so as well. Arctic hasn't officially launched it so no official price yet, that 28 Euro is just what the news articles have been reporting since that Amazon listing is the only page for it so far. Once Arctic officially announces it or there's an update in price somebody let me know and I'll update the post.

My guess is it will be somewhere around the same cost as the MX-4 and MX-5.

 

It'll be interesting to see if Arctic starts including the MX-6 paste with their existing or upcoming coolers, though I think they'll stick to what they currently use since the MX-5 wasn't included with coolers AFAIK.

[DoctorNick]

Cant trust out of stock prices. Will be priced the same as the old pastes.

[Dogzilla07]

MX-5 has been EOL for 6+ months. Nice to see they fixed the elasticity (like der8auer had to fix for his Kryonaut). this is hopefully it for "out-of-season" pump-out happening, and MX-6 and Kryonaut Extreme can go back to topping charts xD (And giving competition to MasterGel Pro V2 and Prolimatech PK-3).

[Doobeedoo]

Cool. Shame for MX-5 I still use MX-4 so far. By the time for a new build we'll see what tops the charts eventually.

[Senzelian]

I can only recommend anyone that isn't reliant on optimal cooling performance to get a thermal pad. Been using one since I got the 5800X and performance is still good.

In scenarios where I needed paste I've always used MX-5 or Noctua paste.

[tikker]

Looks like toothpaste packaging almost. I could've sworn MX-5 was just released, but it must have been the recent recalled batch that I misremembered. My paste of choice recently has been PK3 after using MX-4 for years.

[vetali]

I still have staining on my dark heros VRM and m.2 heatsink from MX-5 getting all over the place when removing my waterblock.

 

Sticking with KPX now. Its fine, and doesn't turn into silly string when removing components.

[noob0saur]

On 9/23/2022 at 8:32 AM, Spotty said:

Summary

Arctic's MX-5 thermal compound has now been listed as End-of-Life on Arctics website and it appears the company is getting ready to release a new thermal paste, creatively called MX-6.

MX-5 thermal compound was recalled earlier this year after defects were found that caused issues with liquid separation and premature hardening.
This does not appear to affect Arctic MX-4 which is still currently available and has not had the same issues MX-5 had.

 

Quotes

 

My thoughts

Since Arctic is discontinuing the MX-5 product perhaps the issues they faced were more than just a bad batch, and not something the company was able to fix without changing to a new formula.

I was actually looking at buying some thermal compound a few days ago and MX-5 is one of the cheapest listed on Amazon (AU). I knew about the recall they had earlier in the year but I was hoping they might have fixed whatever issues they had with it. Given they've now discontinued the product I'm glad I held off buying it.
Hopefully the 28 Euro for 4g that is currently listed on Amazon Germany is just a placeholder price at the moment, because that is way too expensive for thermal compound and 3 times what the MX-5 and MX-4 cost. You could get 5.5g Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut for 18 Euro, less than half the cost per gram of the MX-6 compound.

 

Sources

https://www.guru3d.com/news-story/arctic-halts-troublesome-mx-5-thermal-paste-mx-6-successor-spotted-at-almost-three-times-the-price.html

Bought a 20g MX-5 for 10.99 euros on Amazon France last month, works just fine