What thermal paste to get? (good value, performance, long-lasting)

PianoPlayer88Key · November 25, 2016

Hi guys...

TL;DR: I'm leaning toward Noctua NT-H1 from Newegg ($7.59), or Cooler Master MasterGel Maker Nano ($10.74), but should I get something local like Antec Formula 7 ($15 @ Fry's) or something else?

so I got a 6700K ($259 @ Fry's, they price matched Micro Center) that I'm planning to install in my laptop (replacing an i3-6100 - yes, it has an LGA1151 socket - it's a Clevo P750DM-G, similar to the Sager NP9758), and I'm thinking I should get new TIM. I still have a little left from my 212 Evo, but I'm thinking I should order new paste anyway. (I'll also need to repaste the GTX 970M, as its heatsink & the CPU heatsink assembly is all one piece.)

I'm considering...

Arctic MX-2 (4g, $6.44 @ Newegg)
Arctic MX-4 (4g, $7.35 @ Newegg)
Cooler Master MasterGel Maker Nano (4g, $10.74 @ Newegg)
Gelid GC-Extreme (3.5g, $13.96 @ Newegg)
Noctua NT-H1 (3.5g, $7.59 @ Newegg)

Above prices include tax & shipping, below don't.

For now I've removed Arctic Silver 5 (3.5g, $9 @ Fry's) and Antec Formula 7 ($15 @ Fry's), as well as IC Diamond 7 from my shortlist. I don't want a capacitive or abrasive paste. Others I might consider are Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut, or a Cryorig paste.

I've heard Gelid & Grizzly are two of the absolute best if I'm willing to pay the premium. Would some of the mid-priced ones, like Arctic MX-4, Noctua NT-H1, etc, be a much better value for the money, and maybe only a C or 2 difference in temps?

And which paste would likely last the longest per application? I think I might take after my dad in that, and in motherboard upgrade frequency. He's still using a Dell D830 laptop with a Core 2 Duo T7250 that he bought in August 2008, and has never removed the CPU heatsink to my knowledge. Or, come to think of it, he may have removed it if it was necessary to clean the dust out, but he's never replaced the TIM. (Maybe we should use some of my paste on it?) I anticipate keeping my new laptop CPU until ~2022-2025, and my desktop board+CPU until ~2020-2023 or so, likely without ever removing the heatsink again (unless I can't clean dust without removing it).

I don't ever plan on delidding, though, unless I get someone else to do it for me, also extremely unlikely.

As things are now, I'm getting temps into the mid 80s °C on the i3-6100 when running cinebench, and about 70°C on the GTX 970M in Heaven, with the back of the laptop raised about 3-4 cm on a book. I used a single rice grain / line on the CPU, and double line on the GPU. I'm considering trying the X method on both when I install the new CPU, or is there a better way? (I think I have about half or a little less of the CM paste left, I can't exactly tell but maybe you can from the pic?)

Also my desktop's i7-4790K, with the 212 Evo, gets about mid 60s under normal loads at stock, or 100 in P95 28.7 small FFT at 3.7 GHz if the computer's dusty or 91 at 4.2 if it's clean. Older P95 gets more like the 80s or so I think, I forget though as I haven't tried it in a while. Someone recently got me Aida64 Extreme, and that gets me to about 68-71 C on the hottest core in the stress test (cpu, fpu & cache being tested), with anywhere from a 5-10 C difference in core temps.

Which would make a bigger difference in dropping my temps, doing a better job with paste application, or getting a better paste, or are both a significant factor?

Ambient temps here can get a bit high in summer - 38-42 C isn't uncommon outdoors, and 27-30C is often seen indoors too. I remember a hot summer 15-20 years ago, when it got to like 47 C outside, and probably 38-40 C inside! It gets a bit cooler in winter, though - can drop into the single digits (C) at night, while indoor can drop to like about 15-18 C or so. I live kind-of near a desert area - if you look at Google maps satellite view, near San Diego, CA, I'm close to the edge (maybe a km or two I guess) of where it starts getting really rural, east (and slightly north) from downtown San Diego - near the suburban/rural transition. We sometimes get the hot dry winds from the desert east of us - this can cause it to be 33-38 C and < 10% humidity even a couple times in winter, and we almost always have upper 30s C a few days in September and/or October.

If possible, I'd like to buy locally so I can get the new CPU installed today or tomorrow, but Fry's doesn't have any of the pastes I'd really like (EC Cruise Missile, Masscool G751, Fanner-420, Stars-700, Thermaltake TG-4 & TG-3), and Micro Center is almost 100 miles from here (they have MX-4, NT-H1, IC Diamond & a couple others).

I'm thinking I'd be better off ordering from Newegg, though. Things usually get shipped pretty fast to me, even with free shipping - I ordered something last Wednesday night a week ago, it shipped out Thursday sometime, and I got it Friday around noon. If I order earlier in the day, it ships out that day and I get it the next day. So, I think if I order today before it's too late, then if they do Saturday delivery (they sometimes use FedEx, sometimes USPS in my experience), I might get it tomorrow. (Or would it be better to order, drive the 120 miles each way & pick it up at their hybrid center in City of Industry, CA?)

I'd also consider Amazon, but I ordered something the same day that I ordered something from Newegg, and haven't gotten it yet. It's actually several things - one shipment is in transit and should be here later today I hope. (I did the group into as few shipments as possible, free shipping option.)

Also I'd like to know if I can get a better OC on my desktop CPU by getting a better cooler, or am I hitting a voltage wall. In brief, using FireStrike physics test as a stresser, I get 4.7 GHz @ 1.25V or 4.8 GHz @ 1.35 V, and 0.1 GHz higher gives me whea uncorrectable error bsod after 30 seconds. I haven't tried with Aida 64 yet though as I just got it and I'm not ready to make my computer BSOD yet. I'll probably eventually make another thread on the OC, though, or reply to this later. (I'd love to get the same %-over-stock OCs that some i7-9xx, i5/i7-2xxx, Qxxx, Exxx CPUs have gotten on air.)

Oshino Shinobu · November 25, 2016

I think you're putting way too much thought into this. The difference between the best and the worst TIM (excluding the liquid metal stuff) is tiny. If you want it quickly, just get whatever is available locally at a decent price.