What thermal putty do you guys recommend for the VRMs?

[khazad]

I've seen the LTT video from over a year ago where Alex uses K5 Pro Viscous Thermal Paste and it's just $12 for a 20g container, but some people say that it leaks silicone oil after some time and others say that it doesn't leak anything and works perfect. Could the oil affect other components or it's just hard to clean afterwards? I noticed a bit of oil that was coming off from one of the backplate screws on my GPU after around 3 years of use and I've read that this is normal and it's from the thermal pads, I don't know if the oil from the putty is the same thing.

 

There's also the T-Global TG-PP10 which everyone says it's the best but the brand doesn't make this anymore but someone is selling it on ebay at least, there's also the new one TG-A7000-55CC but it cost $90.

[Helpful Tech Witch]

Just use thermal pads, there’s no real reason for thermal putty, it’s not worth the pain of removal for the usefulness

[Dedayog]

3 minutes ago, Helpful Tech Witch said:

Just use thermal pads, there’s no real reason for thermal putty, it’s not worth the pain of removal for the usefulness

People change thermal pads?

 

Have never, will never.

[YoungBlade]

If you aren't having issues with the card, it's generally not recommended to replace the thermal pads. Usually, if the card was kept in good condition, the pads will stay in-tact during disassembly and you can just continue to use them. The reason thermal pads are used for components like VRAM and VRMs is that they generally don't need more than that in regular use.

 

Unless you're doing XOC, or your thermal pads have failed and you can't find replacements, I don't see a reason to use thermal putty instead.

[manikyath]

1: dont bother taking it appart if you have no need to.

2: thermal putty is a big ol' mess. i recommend using what the manufacturer of the card specified it to use.

[Helpful Tech Witch]

51 minutes ago, Dedayog said:

People change thermal pads?

 

Have never, will never.

It’s worth it sometimes, if you take apart a gpu you probably need to because those damn things rip so easily

[khazad]

1 hour ago, manikyath said:

1: dont bother taking it appart if you have no need to.

2: thermal putty is a big ol' mess. i recommend using what the manufacturer of the card specified it to use.

My GPU is a 1080 and one of the fans died so I need to remove the heatsink to replace the fan and by doing that the pads will  probably rip apart since I have never opened my GPU.

[manikyath]

29 minutes ago, khazad said:

My GPU is a 1080 and one of the fans died so I need to remove the heatsink to replace the fan and by doing that the pads will  probably rip apart since I have never opened my GPU.

buy new pads.

[Snarks Domain]

PLEASE don't use K5 Pro. You will regret it.

 

Solution?: You could do the normal thing and buy new pads.....but that's so boring, and so outdated....and often underperforming.

 

My adivce? Try a top tier Thermal Putty and see if you like it. If not you can always change back to pads.

 

Currently the best operforming putty that I know of is Upsiren UX Pro followed by Upsiren U6 Pro and EVGA Putty. UX Pro is the best performing, and easiest to clean up since it's a "clay like" putty. U6 Pro is similar to TG-PP10 in consistency, but outperforms TG-PP10 significantly.

 

I've attached a chart showing my testing results of different TIM combinations. I'll be retesting on my updated testbench soon and will post those updated results once I have them.