Which is the best thermal grease?

minerva330

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Dec 27, 2013
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Not true it is highly dependent on the application...http://archive.benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?Itemid=62&id=150&option=com_content&task=view

The one nocturna provides is good but there are better ones
 

minerva330

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Your right in the fact that difference is not dramatic, about 5C dif from the best to the worst.

Low viscosity (thin) materials are best suited for flat, smooth, well-prepared surfaces.
High viscosity (thick) materials are best suited for rough, uneven, heavily-pitted surfaces

The Nocturna is best suited for a low viscosity thermal compound. That being the case, Artic is an excellent choice

 


I said that you will be hardpressed to find a thermal compound that works noticeably better, not that it couldn't be done. In the link you provided, which is five-years old now, it shows Arctic Silver 5 operating just over 1C better than Noctua NT-H1. That is within the margin of error, and may be counted as negligible.

Here is Tom's Hardware's round-up, which they did near the end of last year:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/thermal-paste-performance-benchmark,3616-19.html
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/thermal-paste-performance-benchmark,3616-18.html

You'll note that in this round-up Noctua's solution fared better in each example listed, by just over half and just over a full degree Celsius. Noctua fared better in the GPU and Water-cooled tests as well. I think the extreme range between Arctic Silver 5 and Noctua NT-H1 is 1.5C, which is still within the margin of error - you will probably experience more variation when installing your cooler.

If he's buying a new Noctua NH-D14, which comes with a tube of NT-H1, it will not be worth it to invest in another tube of thermal compound.
 

minerva330

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Dec 27, 2013
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Fair enough, I guess I am just splitting hairs.

My main point is that he might be better off with a lower viscosity paste vs. the stock nocturna but your right the performance gain is not justifiable for an extra $10.

Carry-on
 

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