Best thermal compound

[pithball]

whats the best thermal compound available to consumers like me?

I am hearing stuff about MX-4, IC diamond, NT-H1 and Arctic Silver 5 and stuff and people always say that one is best and I can't decide which one to use. And please do suggest other thermal pastes. Thanks in advance.

[Superiority]

Thermal Grizzly Kyronaut.. for conventional paste, this is the best, anyone who says otherwise is wrong.

Liquid metal if you are using it under the heatspreader..

[pithball]

1 minute ago, Superiority said:

Thermal Grizzly Kyronaut.. for conventional paste, this is the best, anyone who says otherwise is wrong.

Liquid metal if you are using it under the heatspreader..

using it under this thing

and that was before I removed the thermal compound

[Hackentosher]

Grizzly is pretty damn good, but it's pretty expensive. For some cheaper stuff, go with IC Diamond, which is pretty good, or Arctic Silver 5, for the baseline. Realistically, thermal paste isn't going to make that big of a difference, probably within the margin of error.

[Superiority]

Just now, Hydraxiler32 said:

using it under this thing

and that was before I removed the thermal compound

 

hmm why are you buying more then? kyronaut is the best around

[Bajantechnician]

5 minutes ago, Hydraxiler32 said:

whats the best thermal compound available to consumers like me?

I am hearing stuff about MX-4, IC diamond, NT-H1 and Arctic Silver 5 and stuff and people always say that one is best and I can't decide which one to use. And please do suggest other thermal pastes. Thanks in advance.

Arctic mx-4

[pithball]

Just now, Superiority said:

hmm why are you buying more then? kyronaut is the best around

because i am getting a new CPU.

[Superiority]

Just now, Hydraxiler32 said:

because i am getting a new CPU.

use kryonaut again then.

[JebKerman]

Just now, Superiority said:

hmm why are you buying more then? kyronaut is the best around

that's the stock thermal paste of whatever that is, either that or he has an absurdly steady hand to get those perfect corners and identical thickness.

[Superiority]

Just now, JebKerman said:

that's the stock thermal paste of whatever that is, either that or he has an absurdly steady hand to get those perfect corners and identical thickness.

yeah, maybe if you read his post he said this was before removed the paste and put kryonaut on it.

[pithball]

On 2/24/2016 at 2:14 PM, Superiority said:

use kryonaut again then.

ok I get it lol

 

On 2/24/2016 at 2:14 PM, JebKerman said:

that's the stock thermal paste of whatever that is, either that or he has an absurdly steady hand to get those perfect corners and identical thickness.

^

 

On 2/24/2016 at 2:14 PM, Superiority said:

use kryonaut again then.

so kryonaut is damn expensive, its like $15 for a gram here in Canada, not including shipping, how much of the 1 gram am I realistically using in 1 time. Like how many times can I use it total.

(assume I have like 50 computers which all need new thermal compound)

[iAmLuke]

This article on Tom's Hardware should help a lot: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/thermal-paste-performance-benchmark,3616.html

(Page 18&19 have the result graphs)

 

Also, regarding Kryonaut and IC Diamond (the 24-carat specifically) - I would personally never spend that much on a thermal paste since it won't effect your temperatures that much compared to $10 thermal pastes. I got the NT-H1 and it's pretty good, no complaints - again, you don't need to go overboard with it

[Superiority]

Just now, Hydraxiler32 said:

so kryonaut is damn expensive, its like $15 for a gram here in Canada, not including shipping, how much of the 1 gram am I realistically using in 1 time. Like how many times can I use it total.

hmm if you want cheaper stuff look at the recommendations near the start of the thread.

[Deli]

3 hours ago, Hydraxiler32 said:

so kryonaut is damn expensive, its like $15 for a gram here in Canada, not including shipping, how much of the 1 gram am I realistically using in 1 time. Like how many times can I use it total.

(assume I have like 50 computers which all need new thermal compound)

I used to use Gelid GC Extreme. When Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut made so much hype. I decided to try it myself. The result? 0.2C better six core average on my 5820K.

 

Is it good? Yes. Is it worth the money? Judge it yourself.

[branden_lucero]

bought some NT-H1. then i returned it and got MX-4 instead. 

my only complaint with this paste is that once it squeezes out it really doesnt want to stop, so you have to pay attention.

[iAmLuke]

7 hours ago, branden_lucero said:

bought some NT-H1. then i returned it and got MX-4 instead. 

my only complaint with this paste is that once it squeezes out it really doesnt want to stop, so you have to pay attention.

Mind telling me why you prefer the MX-4?

[wildgg]

mx-4 has my vote. good price/performance imo

[SaladFingers]

The Gelid GC Extreme has scored better in several tests. Also Arctic MX-4 isn't Arctic's best compound, Arctic Silver 5 is better. 

 

In the end, don't stress it. Both are good brands and the differences between good brands are minimal at best. Just make sure you don't put too much/too little and both will work fine.

 

Edit: Sorry, I got things mixed up. MX-4 is better than Silver 5 and also the GC Extreme... Sorry for that. I need coffee.

[pithball]

Just now, SaladFingers said:

The Gelid GC Extreme has scored better in several tests. Also Arctic MX-4 isn't Arctic's best compound, Arctic Silver 5 is better. 

 

In the end, don't stress it. Both are good brands and the differences between good brands are minimal at best. just make sure you don't put too much/too few and both will work fine.

k, i'll just get the cheaper one then. 

[SaladFingers]

Just now, Hydraxiler32 said:

k, i'll just get the cheaper one then. 

Yeah, both are pretty good. But I corrected my post above because I was wrong.

[Bhav]

People need to stop using AS5. Non conductive pastes are much safer, and most are better too.

[SaladFingers]

Just now, Bhav said:

People need to stop using AS5. Non conductive pastes are much safer, and most are better too.

Well if you don't put a ton there isn't much of a risk anyway.

[TidaLWaveZ]

A dab will do.

[Bhav]

37 minutes ago, SaladFingers said:

Well if you don't put a ton there isn't much of a risk anyway.

Many people would say that, then you get people accidentally getting thermal paste into the socket or onto a PCB. 

[Coaxialgamer]

I personally  recommend nt h1 . It's very effective.