CPU TIM

[Najuno]

So just for curiosity,

 

which thermal compound do you use and did you get decend results for OCing you CPU with it?

 

I have been using Artic Silver 5 for a long time (yes I know it´s a bit more conductive than IC Diamond7), and had never issues. It works good as well on X99 the 5930K and the 5960X I have.

[worldwin]

CLU.

[thekeemo]

stock 212 evo paste got me to 4.8

[Najuno]

stock 212 evo paste got me to 4.8

4.8GHz on a pre applied paste with an air cooler is a strong result! That´s amazing.

[Leonard]

IC Diamond or Indigo Extreme. I would choose Indigo Extreme over IC Diamond if my ambient is lower than 20C but be warned, the installation process is not for people who have or is eligible for heart attacks. 

[Oshino Shinobu]

I use MX4. It's cheap and applies well. 

 

I can get my 3770K past 5GHz with it if I play with the voltage, but tend not to. At stock voltage I keep it at 4.5GHz. 

[Najuno]

IC Diamond or Indigo Extreme. I would choose Indigo Extreme over IC Diamond if my ambient is lower than 20C but be warned, the installation process is not for people who have or is eligible for heart attacks. 

Well I used IC Diamond before but not on a regular base because I work in my job a lot with diamond containing paste and it has a grinding effect if you are not careful applying it. Bad part for me though is, that I use most of the time the spreading method. On a CPU it´s probably not that problematic but on the polished surface of a GPU...

[Leonard]

Well I used IC Diamond before but not on a regular base because I work in my job a lot with diamond containing paste and it has a grinding effect if you are not careful applying it. Bad part for me though is, that I use most of the time the spreading method. On a CPU it´s probably not that problematic but on the polished surface of a GPU...

I never use the spread method unless specified by the maker when it comes to TIM, as in the case with Liquid Ultra and Gelid Extreme GC, i have found that the results are not uniform. I use the pea method and use the mounting pressure of the cooler to spread the TIM and in the case with IC Diamond i have some scraping on the CPU IHS but it is minimal and it is the same with my GPU. The grinding effect is just the diamonds being crushed.

 

On my last GPU, a 660ti, i did not have any damage to the GPU while i used IC Diamond.  

[GTX]

Gelid GC Extreme I have had no problems with, Easy to use and cheap (ish). 

 

CLU - I have not used this but it's a metal liquid which is the best as shown on OCN and LTT with a small exception to CLP ( harder to apply, remove and is only a few degrees lower )

 

CLU= Cool lab. liquid ultra

CLP= Cool lab. liquid pro

 

 

Best=CLU

[CM7]

I am planning on opening up my hp g61 note book and replacing the thermal paste for the CPU. Have any recommendations on a good brand. I do plan on replacing the thermal paste in my desktop too later on. Another question I have is How long does thermal paste last in the tube. If I store it for a long time would it dry out or lose its effectiveness over a long period of time?

[Enderman]

MX-4 or NT-H1

[QueenDemetria]

Arctic MX-4 or Nutella(actually don't).

[harrynowl]

MX-4 for direct die application like notebook CPUs. Something like AS5 will scratch the die (rip).

[UltraNeonGaming]

MX-4 is what I use, my noctua heatsink came with NT-H1 but I still used the MX-4 since it's slightly better

[CM7]

Thanks guys, I am planning on going for Arctic MX-4 thermal paste.   

[grimmjow660]

Antec Formula 7. I hear Gelid Solutions is some of the best, and Arctic Mx4 also.

[JustCallMeVlad]

TX-4

[NumLock21]

What is thermal paste?

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/thermal-paste-heat-sink-heat-spreader,3600.html

39 thermal pasted tested

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/thermal-paste-performance-benchmark,3616.html

[Bussinateur]

Any well-known brand with a sale

[Random1234567]

+ what temperature difference would you expect from stock thermal paste?

[Joshua Ondangan]

It depends on the place.

 

at least in my area using a stock intel cooler + stock paste on load was 60c-67c +/- and when I reapplied the thermal paste it easily went down to 45c-50c under load (gaming load wise).

 

pretty much idle temp were similar.

[QueenDemetria]

Assuming the stock thermal paste isn't complete crap: not much. If you have a good cooler but you are seeing bad temperatures then I would change thermalpaste, but if your temps are fine then I would leave it.

[SeanBond]

Mx-4 is the best thermal paste if you are not going with conductive liquid metal type pastes.

[lani100]

The highend stuff is almost the same but I prefer arctic silver 5, I personally use silver thermalpaste that I bought in bulk on Ebay I have a container of 100g and it has the same temps as arctic.

[dadasmithywinkle]

+ what temperature difference would you expect from stock thermal paste?

They're all about the same. Arctic Silver 5 will only be ~5 degrees cooler than toothpaste.