Xigmatek's new thermal compound is optimised for heatpipe direct touch (HDT) coolers
As the name suggests, the heatpipes in a HDT cooler are placed in the base of the cooler and gaps will normally be present between the base and the heatpipes. This results in a lower surface area of contact when the base touches the CPU which will in turn reduce the cooler's thermal efficiency. To solve this problem Xigmatek's Xi-3 thermal compound was designed specifically for HDT coolers and features smaller, more dense particles. The Xi-3 is rated at 104 Pa·s, specific gravity at 2.5 g/cm³, 9.1 W/mK thermal conductivity and features an anti-bleed composition.
As with most other compounds on the market, the compound is non-electrically conductive and will be sold in a 4 g syringe for a currently unknown price.
depends on the paste... some paste turns to crap after long useage period.
someone on the steam forum a while ago was haveing reboot problems with his cpu, and it turned out his thermal paste was hard, cracked, and not doing its job at all, once he applied new paste, his system went i believe 15-20c cooler,
if you are haveing a heat problem with your computer and you dont overclock, odds are its a thermal paste issue, or you have a VERY poor cooler, and at least from my experiences, amd give you a pretty damn good cooler on higher end parts, and intel... i think its resomended to get a after market cooler, but i am not sure.
ok, os they are good at stock, because i remember a time where both companies gave such poor coolers it was recommended to just toss them and get an after market even at stock.
At stock speeds, intel coolers are just fine and newer intel cpu's can even get a mild overclock on them "IF" i recall correctly.
Although, if you want any major overclock, it's recommended to get an aftermarket cooler.