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Ran out of thermal paste, is there a "best" on the market?

MooseParade
By MooseParade
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I ran out of the original TIM that came with my CM Hyper 212+ and was just wondering if there was one that was considered the "best" or what is most preferred. I used to use AS5 but heard that there's better stuff that doesn't need to cure.

"Energy drinks don't make my mouth taste like yak buttholes like coffee does, so I'll stick with them." - Yoinkerman

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IC Diamond is a great brand. Also, I've been using Zalman's ZM-STG2. Works great.

"It pays to keep an open mind, but not so open your brain falls out." - Carl Sagan.

"I can explain it to you, but I can't understand it for you" - Edward I. Koch

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I believe that "Indigo Xtreme" Is currently the best one (Not sure) and the most expensive thermal paste on the market right now. 

 

Also heard that IC Diamond is pretty good. 

 

The difference of most thermal paste now is only about a 1-4 degrees difference so I wouldn't worry too much which one you get. 

 

 

 

 

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The main difference between mid range and the super expensive stuff is about 2c under max load..

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The main difference between mid range and the super expensive stuff is about 2c under max load..

That's not the only differences. It could also mean that the paste has a better consistency for spreading and possibly longer lasting so it won't dry out as easily.

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This is true if you buy some from Ace hardware lol..Most TIMs wont do that nowadays..Unless it is the stock stuff intel puts under there CPU lids... :lol:

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GFA5vzT.png

Intel 3960X @ 4.6GHz | Corsair Dominator Platinum CMD64GX3M8A2133C9 64GB | ASUS Rampage IV Extreme | 2*ASUS PG279Q | EVGA GeForce GTX Titan X | 2*Corsair Force GT 256GB in R0 [OS Drive] | Samsung 850 Pro 1TB [secondary Drive] | Hitachi Deskstar 7K4000 Raid 6 [8*4TB — Media Array] | PAN-UJ-235A Blu-Ray Slot Load | PAN-UJ-875A DVD Slot Load | Corsair AX1200i | Corsair H100i | Lian-Li PC-V2120X | LSI 9271-8i w/ Intel RES2SV240 | Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit | Ducky Shine II [Cherry MX Brown / Blue LED]

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Its IC Diamond for me....loving this stuff. Warm it in a cup of hot water and your good to go.  Re-applied TIM on both my XFX 7950s and my 8350...stuff is good...little pricey but worth it IMO...

<p>CM HAF 922 (Akasa Apache 140s/120s for case cooling), ASUS Sabertooth Z77, Intel 3570K@4.0Ghz, 16GB Kingston Black @1600 (2x8), Xigmatek DK 2 with 2 xAkasa Apache 120mm, Sapphire 7950 OC CF, NZXT Sentry Mix 2 FC, 2TB Seagate Barracuda HDD x1, Kingston Hyper X 240GB SSD x1, Seasonic 1050w PSU, Cyborg V5 Keyboard with RAT 3 mouse, ASUS VG248QE 144mhz. monitor

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Well I use the Noctua NT-H1 and I never had any problems... It also comes in a nice big "tube" or whatever it's called, so you have for many CPU's.

My Gaming PC: i5 2500k @ 4.6 GHz, ASUS P8Z68-V/GEN3 Motherboard, Noctua NH-D14 CPU Cooler, Corsair XMS3 8 GB 1333MHz RAM (2x4), MSI R7870 Twin Frozr 2GD5 @ 1050-1100 MHz (Twin Frozr 3), Intel 330 Series SSD 120 GB, Seagate Barracuda 2 TB HDD, Corsair Carbide 500r Case, FSP Aurum Series Gold 700w PSU.

Keyboard: Corsair K90, Mouse: Corsair M60, Mousemat: Razer Vespula, Headset: SteelSeries 5Hv3, Monitor: ASUS VG248QE.

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Well I use the Noctua NT-H1 and I never had any problems... It also comes in a nice big "tube" or whatever it's called, so you have for many CPU's.

Yes. It's generally called "tube."

"It pays to keep an open mind, but not so open your brain falls out." - Carl Sagan.

"I can explain it to you, but I can't understand it for you" - Edward I. Koch

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I think I'll get the Arctic MX-4. 4G for $6.99 with free shipping from Amazon.

 

Thanks everyone.

"Energy drinks don't make my mouth taste like yak buttholes like coffee does, so I'll stick with them." - Yoinkerman

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I use MX-4 its pretty good for both CPU and GPU and is very easy to spread which is nice.

Temps are also very good as well.

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Arctic Silver 5 THE best ever! 

#KilledMyWife #MakeBombs #GetWreckt

 

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i'm a big fan of artic silver 5 but to be honest any of the major brands of thermal paste will have very slight temp differences so you can't really go wrong with any of them.

PC Builder, Engineer... BACON    Project Cobalt: http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/38058-project-cobalt-copper-piping-laser-etching-and-more/#entry489258

| NZXT Switch 810 | i5-3570k | gigabyte UD-5H | Corsair Vengeance 8gb ram | GTX 670 | 2x 60gb intel 330 series ssd's in raid 0 | 1tb seagate barracuda hdd | Corsair tx750m | XSPC razor GPU and CPU waterblocks | XSPC d5 vario pump | Thermochill Pa140.3 | phoyba 280mm radiator | Chromed Copper tubing |

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For short term, use mayonnaise. I'm not joking, it performs up there with NT-H1 and MX-4.

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/printpage/Thermal-Compound-Roundup-October-2011/1396

itx personal rig [juiced]: http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/13117-project-juiced-budget-modded-itx-build/

 

a nicer one for a friend [yellow grange]: http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/29799-yellow-grange-an-air-cooled-msi-build/

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This is true if you buy some from Ace hardware lol..Most TIMs wont do that nowadays..Unless it is the stock stuff intel puts under there CPU lids... :lol:

You forgot about the crap Microsoft puts on the 360.

Mein Führer... I CAN WALK !!

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For short term, use mayonnaise. I'm not joking, it performs up there with NT-H1 and MX-4.

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/printpage/Thermal-Compound-Roundup-October-2011/1396

Anyone test mustard before?

"It pays to keep an open mind, but not so open your brain falls out." - Carl Sagan.

"I can explain it to you, but I can't understand it for you" - Edward I. Koch

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I myself bought Arctic MX-4 4g too. Best for the price I guess. Can't use it on the GPU tho, damn warranty...would mean about 15C of drop I guess. I don't know what NVIDIA uses, but I'm sure it's not a high tech thing, and it's already 2.5 years old.

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From what I've seen, IC Diamond is the best. Arctic silver is good too

Folding for LTT since April 2016.

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IC diamond is good but really thick, MX4 is also a good choise and spreds better than IC diamond

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You forgot about the crap Microsoft puts on the 360.

I would never know about that since I don't have a console...
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I would never know about that since I don't have a console...

Nor do I I've just fixed plenty.

Mein Führer... I CAN WALK !!

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IC Diamond is about 3x the price for the same amount of MX-4 :angry: . The 24 Carat is the one to get right?

"Energy drinks don't make my mouth taste like yak buttholes like coffee does, so I'll stick with them." - Yoinkerman

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It has diamond dust in it, that's why it cost so much more.  I forget what one I bought.

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