Thermal paste compound

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Nikitas K

Nikitas K

Commendable
Jan 26, 2017
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1,510
Hey everyone that is reading this thread :) ,this is my second thread im creating hoping i will solve my questions,im stuck on a dilemma to buy a Thermal paste between 4 Thermal pastes and those are:Arctic silver 5 that costs 7.56$,Arctic MX-2 that costs 6.99$,Arctic MX-4 that costs 7.99$ and Noctua Nt-h1 that costs 9.37$,i heard a lot of good comments about all these thermal pastes exept silver 5 that needs time to show its true temperatures.Tell me from your experience which of these pastes will make my current intel core i5 760(thats an 2010 model intel core i5)have the coolest possible temperatures(current idle temperature 36-38 idle,and 65-70 degrees celcius max when gaming)i want to buy a new thermal paste cause i have years to change the one i use and i want my cpu to last as long as possible cause im on a really tight budget and i cant upgrade anything on my pc rig,also i dont care what thermal paste is the cheaper i want the best performance and the lowest possible temperatures for my cpu Thanks in advance :)
 
Solution
13thmonkey
The HIGH temps that you are WORRIED about, will as a result of contact pressure, cooler design and quality of manufacture, fan speed and general airflow and temp inside the case, the difference between the worst and the best compounds will be 1-4 C, between the best in that group 1-2C.

Therefore you must identify and solve the other problems, as picking the most perfect compound will not solve your problem.
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A

aquielisunari

Judicious
Mar 31, 2011
6,499
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The thermal compound used MIGHT make a 1C difference. As long as it isn't old I'd use what comes with my CPU cooler. I don't use stock coolers or their pre-applied paste. I prefer Arctic Silver 5. It's been a go to paste for at least a decade.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arctic_Silver#Arctic_Silver_5_.28AS-5.29 along with a grain of salt.
 
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USAFRet

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator
Mar 16, 2013
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The brain power you have expended in this paste choice has raised your room temperature more than the potential temp difference between those paste choices.

Close your eyes, pick one, and move on. Seriously.
 
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LeKeiser

LeKeiser

Reputable
Mar 1, 2015
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4,810
MERGED QUESTION
Question from Nikitas K : "Thermal paste compound"



hello :)
Second time I'm using the Noctua NT-H1 and well, I think it's a great thermal paste. I haven't had any temperature problems with it and my former CPU 8370, and I still don't have any with my new RyZen 1700x.
I applied a little pea on the die, I fixed my Noctua NH-D15s on top, and been happy and drinking coffee ever since :)
 
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Nikitas K

Nikitas K

Commendable
Jan 26, 2017
8
0
1,510

Thank you for your reply and thank you for spending some time to help a fellow pc owner :) , im sorry but i dont understand what do you mean 1C difference?i dont really care about changing my idle temperatures,those are 36-38 im perfectly fine about that,if i can lower them i would be really happy tho,because lower temperatures means more lifespan for the CPU itself,but what im consern about is the MAXIMUM temperatures that i want to LOWER as MUCH as possible.What i wanted to know is which of these thermal compounds ( Arctic MX-2 , Arctic MX-4 , Noctua Nt-h1 ,Arctic Silver 5 ) would make my MAX temperatures go lower than they already are(current max temps are 65-70 when playing mostly heavy videogames)and the worst thing is that before i even play for half an hour these temperatures go that high.Hopefully you or someone else got some experience about those 4 thermal pastes i mentioned on my comment(i dont mean to offend your knowledge or something dont get it that way sir :) )Because i dont have the money or the available free time to try and check ALL of the 4 known thermal compounds i just want to know which one of these will bring at least -5 degrees celcius lower my max temperature of my CPU or even lower,because probably my CPU has a very cheap thermal paste on it for couple of years,Thanks in Advance and Thank you for your time!
 
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Nikitas K

Nikitas K

Commendable
Jan 26, 2017
8
0
1,510


I know and i totally agree with you,but if u just knew how much my wallet can spend right now for my pc :/ ,i just want to lower as much as possible my max temperatures of my cpu so it can last as many years as possible cause i dont have any money to even buy a 50$ motherboard,for now at least.i just want the best out of these 4 thermal compounds to get the lowest maximum temperature possible for my CPU(current max temperatures 65-70 degrees celcius) and what WORRIES me the most is that my CPU gets these HIGH temperatures before i even start to play 10 minutes of a demanding videogame.Thank you for your reply and time you putted to read my thread,much apprieciated and hopefully u sir know which one of these(Arctic MX-2 ,Arctic MX-4 ,Noctua Nt-h1 ,Arctic Silver 5 ) will just be the best even for 1C difference,im just not in the LUXURY to buy anything for my pc or even to upgrade it,even if it sounds ridiculous and just spending most of my money elsewhere.
 
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Nikitas K

Nikitas K

Commendable
Jan 26, 2017
8
0
1,510


People said that Arctic Silver 5 takes a lot of time ive read somewhere that i takes to 200 hours of using your pc or a month to show its 'true' temperatures,the cure time is long,and there wont be any big differences.Whats your opinion about MX-2 and MX-4?and Noctua Nt-h1 against Arctic Silver 5?Thank you for yout time man (y)
 
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Nikitas K

Nikitas K

Commendable
Jan 26, 2017
8
0
1,510


What thermal compound u think will offer me the lowest temperatures?Thank you for your reply,much apprieciated
 
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13thmonkey

13thmonkey

Titan
Jan 10, 2006
24,798
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75,790
The HIGH temps that you are WORRIED about, will as a result of contact pressure, cooler design and quality of manufacture, fan speed and general airflow and temp inside the case, the difference between the worst and the best compounds will be 1-4 C, between the best in that group 1-2C.

Therefore you must identify and solve the other problems, as picking the most perfect compound will not solve your problem.
 
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Solution
A

aquielisunari

Judicious
Mar 31, 2011
6,499
14
33,015


at least -5 degrees celcius lower my max temperature will only happen if your current compound is dried up and useless and is then cleaned off and re-applied. Arctic Silver 5 has a proven track record and is the thermal compound I would choose(and I did for my current PC). It's the heatsink(cpu cooler) that is going to make those significant differences. The compound is pretty much only about efficiency. It makes sure the heat transfer from the CPU lid to the heatsink base happens as smoothly as possible. Microscopic imperfections on the contact surfaces slows down the heat transfer. The thin film of compound fills those valleys so that the marriage is as seamless as possible. At that point it's up to the heatsink to cool the CPU and not the compound. Let's say one person is using a cooler with 4 copper pipes and another person is using a cooler with 6 copper pipes(aka heatpipes) and a larger fin-stack. The larger heatsink has more surface area to pull(or wick) heat away from its base, into its pipes, up to the fins where the very thin metal fins readily accept that heat where the fans then have there job to do. They blow away that collected heat which cools the fins and the pipes. And that process repeats. Think of the compound as a quarterback in US football. It only hands off the heat to the receiver. It's not actually the cog that's cooling the CPU.
 
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