A new thermal paste for my GPU

MX-2 took a 16th place finish here. As you can see two compounds tied for 1st in this test. We do not recommend AS5 however due to the capacitance and curing time issues on their web site. That's the most extensive review i have found and the only products I have seen top those two are Grizzly's top end product ($25) and Liquid metal options.

The nice thing about Shin Etsu ... they are the OEM to many PC TIM companies, they are available worldwide and are very inexpensive. For GPUs however, I prefer gelid extreme ... by the time you cover the GPU, the memory and the VRMs ... on both side of the thermal pad, you will be at it for a while and the Gelid remains pliable for a longer period.

As far as your sites, I didn't see any products I am familiar with. If you want to consider options, take a look again at that 80-way test and work your way up from the bottom till ya find something available.

As for whether to do it, I have oft found TIM application to have been done rather sloppily at the factory ... heck EVGA even had the 1/3 of the coloer miss the GPU. So its not so much a matter of using a better TIM, its quite common to find a poor TIM application on a factory card. I have done it and improved by > 5C on numerous occasions and I doubt using a different TIM accounted for more than 1C of that difference.


...as for how much difference which TIM makes ... could be 0 ... could be 4.5C.

While you are at it, you might want to examine the feasibility of adding thermal pads to your VRMs and Memory. The EVGA SC2 series is well know for this deficiency, most recently with the 1060, 1070, 1080 series where they had to offer a thermal pad kit to users as the card PCBs were frying.

A web search should uncover if there are any particular problems with your card. If you want to look up what, where and how to apply the paste and undertake this effort, look at EK Waterblocks page instructions which detail where TIM should be applied. Of course your backplate and heat sink may vary and adjustments made accordingly but it does show you where to look.