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What thermal paste?

CJPowell27
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I just built my computer and I am going to upgrade my case to a corsair vengeance c70.  However, I know that I want to change the thermal paste.  Is there a type of thermal paste that is better at heat absorption? I want to spend less than $20.

i5 4670k| Asrock H81M-ITX| EVGA Nex 650g| WD Black 500Gb| H100 with SP120s| ASUS Matrix 7970 Platinum (just sold)| Patriot Venom 1600Mhz 8Gb| Bitfenix Prodigy. Build log in progress 

Build Log here: http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/119926-yin-yang-prodigy-update-2-26-14/

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I just build my computer and I am going to upgrade my case to a corsair vengeance c70.  However, I know that I want to change the thermal paste.  Is there a type of thermal paste that is better at heat absorption? I want to spend less than $20.

What paste do you have now?

CPU: Intel Core i7 4790K @ 4.4GHz (cooled by Corsair H110) | Motherboard: ASUS Maximus VI Formula | RAM: 16GB DDR3 1600MHz CL9 | GPU: ASUS GTX780TI-DC2OC-3GD5 | Case: NZXT Phantom 630 | Storage: Samsung 840 Pro 128GB + 3 x WD Black 500GB  + WD Black 1TB + WD Black 2TB + Kingston V300 120GB | PSU: SeaSonic Platinum 660W | Monitors: 3 x Iiyama ProLite XU2390HS-1 | Keyboard: Logitech G910 Orion Spark | Mouse: Logitech G502 Protheus Spectrum | Mousemat: Steelseries QcK Heavy (40x45) | Headset: Kingston HyperX Cloud II | Speakers: Logitech Z906

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Most thermal pastes perform very close to each other. 

 

My personal favorite is Arctic Silver 5 followed by MX-4.

Feel free to PM for any water-cooling questions. Check out my profile for more ways to contact me.

 

Add me to your circles on Google+ here or you can follow me on twitter @deadfire19.

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What paste do you have now?

I have Artic mx-5

i5 4670k| Asrock H81M-ITX| EVGA Nex 650g| WD Black 500Gb| H100 with SP120s| ASUS Matrix 7970 Platinum (just sold)| Patriot Venom 1600Mhz 8Gb| Bitfenix Prodigy. Build log in progress 

Build Log here: http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/119926-yin-yang-prodigy-update-2-26-14/

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I have Artic mx-5

You either have AS5 or MX-4. You can't just mix the two together to form MX-5.

Feel free to PM for any water-cooling questions. Check out my profile for more ways to contact me.

 

Add me to your circles on Google+ here or you can follow me on twitter @deadfire19.

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You either have AS5 or MX-4. You can't just mix the two together to form MX-5.

Whoops sorry, AS5

i5 4670k| Asrock H81M-ITX| EVGA Nex 650g| WD Black 500Gb| H100 with SP120s| ASUS Matrix 7970 Platinum (just sold)| Patriot Venom 1600Mhz 8Gb| Bitfenix Prodigy. Build log in progress 

Build Log here: http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/119926-yin-yang-prodigy-update-2-26-14/

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Whoops sorry, AS5

You have a very good thermal paste. :)

Feel free to PM for any water-cooling questions. Check out my profile for more ways to contact me.

 

Add me to your circles on Google+ here or you can follow me on twitter @deadfire19.

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I bought cheap stuff off of eBay that was about $2 for a pack of 5 for a media PC (Never do this by the way, just a story) But I used that and the temps went from 70 at idle to around 25-30 degrees celsius. This is to show that most thermal compound really is pretty close and has little difference to what you use, but if it really matters you will find that some of them will keep it a few degrees cooler than others.

Intel i5 3570k @ 4.0GHz | Gigabyte GA-Z77X-D3H | Sapphire Radeon HD 7870 2GB OC GHz Edition | Corsair Vengence 8GB DDR3 @ 1600MHz

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I bought cheap stuff off of eBay that was about $2 for a pack of 5 for a media PC (Never do this by the way, just a story) But I used that and the temps went from 70 at idle to around 25-30 degrees celsius. This is to show that most thermal compound really is pretty close and has little difference to what you use, but if it really matters you will find that some of them will keep it a few degrees cooler than others.

No this is not the difference. The difference is the thermal paste is made to last for a very long time without drying. I bet the stuff you used had stopped working properly after a few weeks.

Feel free to PM for any water-cooling questions. Check out my profile for more ways to contact me.

 

Add me to your circles on Google+ here or you can follow me on twitter @deadfire19.

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I personally am a big fan of the NT-H1. I have like 3 syringes with me. 

Can't you buy big ones?

Feel free to PM for any water-cooling questions. Check out my profile for more ways to contact me.

 

Add me to your circles on Google+ here or you can follow me on twitter @deadfire19.

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Used to use AS5 before I got a tube of IC diamond.

 

Long story short, NEVER going back, PERIOD. If I need cheap stuff in a pinch, I'll use AS ceramique (use it for subzero because AS5 cant). With ICD I can toss a heatsink on top without adding force and the temps will be within 5% or so if it was secured with force. Diamond is a better conductor of heat next to metallic interface materials (Coollaboratory Liquid Pro).

 

It's not cheap by any means though. It's about $15-20 for a ICD24, but it's been enough to do two motherboard heatsinks, a few CPU remounts, and all the computers in the house and I still have more than half of it left. And the best part is, it will never dry out. It's diamond dust with a medium that evaporates in 30 minutes of use and no cure time (AS5 takes about 200 hours to cure).

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and no cure time (AS5 takes about 200 hours to cure).

Why do people care about cure time. Unless you are bench marking and need it to sure fast it makes no difference.

Feel free to PM for any water-cooling questions. Check out my profile for more ways to contact me.

 

Add me to your circles on Google+ here or you can follow me on twitter @deadfire19.

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Why do people care about cure time. Unless you are bench marking and need it to sure fast it makes no difference.

If you have a hot chip or want to overclock ASAP, it's something to think about. I'm not going to run a 4.6-4.8GHz overclock right after I apply AS5, the temps are going to be out of hand. Even though AS5 is still up there, any review on it shows the cure time as a negative/drawback to most of the other TIM out right now.

 

AS5 is showing it's age. It's 9 years old and it's still the best they offer. They've had a good run, but now there are other alternatives that are just as good and have less waiting/better performance.

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