Aergan Posted December 2, 2014 Share Posted December 2, 2014 Hi all, I'm in need of a decent thermal grease/paste to use on PC's and games consoles and I've not had great experiences with the "branded" ones as of late (Artic Cooling, Artic Silver, Zalman). Any reccomendations from personal experience on better performing (and hopefully *a lot* cheaper) alternatives? I've previously heard discussions about industrial / professional grade stuff that's a lot cheaper / better than PC industry peddled toothpastes, but I'm not too sure what terms I should be searching for? Help is much appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draconian Guppy Posted December 2, 2014 Share Posted December 2, 2014 IIRC there's much better stuff than artic silver nowadays, ceramicsomethingstuff :p , that said, if it's not anything high performance (overclocking, fanless heatsinks) i'd vouch for artic silver http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/thermal-paste-performance-benchmark,3616-19.html http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/thermal-paste-heat-sink-heat-spreader,3600.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philcruicks Posted December 5, 2014 Share Posted December 5, 2014 Personally I've always found Arctic Silver fine. One thing to check is how your applying the compound, different CPU's should have it applied in different ways depending on how they were constructed. Check out the link and find your CPU. http://www.arcticsilver.com/intel_application_method.html# Also make sure you don't apply too much, And that you've properly cleaned the CPU and heatsink before applying new paste. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xerino Posted December 5, 2014 Share Posted December 5, 2014 Ive always had good luck with Arctic Silver 6, just a little drop and good to go :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sc302 Veteran Posted December 5, 2014 Veteran Share Posted December 5, 2014 artic silver has been my go to....perhaps you need a better heat sink/fan solution. As far as game consoles go, there could be microcracks in the solder joints....I know this was an issue with the xbox 360's and their rrods...artic silver will not fix the rrod (or really any thermal compound). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draconian Guppy Posted December 5, 2014 Share Posted December 5, 2014 Although I too vouch for artic silver, the articles I posted are worth a read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xendrome Posted December 5, 2014 Share Posted December 5, 2014 IIRC there's much better stuff than artic silver nowadays, ceramicsomethingstuff :p , that said, if it's not anything high performance (overclocking, fanless heatsinks) i'd vouch for artic silver Arctic Silver is fine typicalyl, the ceramic stuff is hard to apply and if done incorrectly can result in worse temps. Draconian Guppy 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mindovermaster Moderator Posted December 5, 2014 Moderator Share Posted December 5, 2014 I use Tunia TX-2. Never had an issue with them. I used Arctic in the past. Little to same performance, IMO. Draconian Guppy and goretsky 2 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simplezz Posted December 5, 2014 Share Posted December 5, 2014 I always use Arctic Silver myself. Just remember to first clean the contact point with 99% pure isopropyl and a clean lint-free cloth. Any contamination of the contact will result in an inefficient heat transfer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Evil Overlord Posted December 5, 2014 Share Posted December 5, 2014 Whatever was supplied, my physical thermometer built into my case has never exceeded 65C Personally I like to think they're all up to the task, so long as they've been applied correctly. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aergan Posted December 6, 2014 Author Share Posted December 6, 2014 IIRC there's much better stuff than artic silver nowadays, ceramicsomethingstuff :p , that said, if it's not anything high performance (overclocking, fanless heatsinks) i'd vouch for artic silver http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/thermal-paste-performance-benchmark,3616-19.html http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/thermal-paste-heat-sink-heat-spreader,3600.html With Artic Silver 2-5, I've found that it works well for small dies but never seems to make that good of contact on larger heatspreaders e.g. AMD64, PS3, Core i7 (due to the viscosity under "bolt-on" designs) and becomes very expensive to maintain. WIth the PS3, I've pretty much ruled out silver based compounds as it seems to never make good contact with large areas unless you gently warm up the heatspreaders beforehand - which might be the issue I face, it's too damn cold in my house most of the time. I haven't used their C?ramique since the Athlon XP-M days - C?ramique 2 seems to be the least expensive per gram out of their ranges (also availible in a larger 25g tube). I shall buy some and give that a go, thanks. Draconian Guppy 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
123456789A Posted December 6, 2014 Share Posted December 6, 2014 If you're in a pinch and you have no money, you can use mayonnaise as a temporary thermal paste. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boo Berry Posted December 6, 2014 Share Posted December 6, 2014 I've used many TIMs over the years, but right now all I'll use is Noctua NT-H1, which is one of the best TIMs out there right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nosense Posted December 6, 2014 Share Posted December 6, 2014 Having using both Noctua NT-H1 and mx-4. I find that Noctua NT-H1 is a little bit better. I use the combo of Coollaboratory Liquid Pro and H1 for delidding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aergan Posted December 6, 2014 Author Share Posted December 6, 2014 If you're in a pinch and you have no money, you can use mayonnaise as a temporary thermal paste. I'd get sued by Acer for infinging on their intelectual property if I did that. The Evil Overlord 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goretsky Supervisor Posted December 6, 2014 Supervisor Share Posted December 6, 2014 Hello, Arctic Silver has been my "go to" thermal paste for years, and I've never had any any problems applying it when following their instructions. You might want to look at Antec's Formula 7 thermal paste. I've used that when Arctic Silver wasn't available and it seems to work well, too. Regards, Aryeh Goretsky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draconian Guppy Posted December 7, 2014 Share Posted December 7, 2014 If you're in a pinch and you have no money, you can use mayonnaise as a temporary thermal paste. The articles I posted have a "for fun" section where they test toothpaste and other substances, most last a couple of days in case of emergencies! T3X4S 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
123456789A Posted December 7, 2014 Share Posted December 7, 2014 The articles I posted have a "for fun" section where they test toothpaste and other substances, most last a couple of days in case of emergencies! Yes I know, the mayonnaise is not a joke. I've used it before. Victor Rambo, T3X4S, Draconian Guppy and 1 other 4 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T3X4S Posted December 8, 2014 Share Posted December 8, 2014 I realize this thread is already marked as solved, and everyone is saying Arctic Silver is a go to - but I just wanted to throw in my 2 cents as I have always thought this topic is just downright silly.In the articles posted by Draconian Guppy prove what I have always said.... IT DOESNT REALLY MATTER ! We are talking a difference of a couple of degrees. These things are not that sensitive where a couple of degrees makes a difference between perfectly stable and crap. If you are getting thermal shutdowns, there is another issue not the brand of thermal paste.When people post things like. "Oh man Shin Etsu sucks ! Coollab's stuff pwns " - it makes me want to wish for the ability to punch over the internet.There is always an exception. If one is overclocking and trying to keep a system running long enough to post a benchmark (the only thing OC-ing is good for) then a difference of 4-5 degrees can make a difference.Am I out of line on this ? Or do you agree this is nothing more than geek masterbation ? Something computer nerds argue over the most minute details and never realize it doesnt matter in the grand scheme, and millions of products run 24/7 on generic paste?With that being said, I will admit when building a system for myself or someone else, I wont use the generic stuff, I'll get either Shin-Etsu, or AS @ Fry's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aergan Posted December 8, 2014 Author Share Posted December 8, 2014 I realize this thread is already marked as solved, and everyone is saying Arctic Silver is a go to - but I just wanted to throw in my 2 cents as I have always thought this topic is just downright silly. In the articles posted by Draconian Guppy prove what I have always said.... IT DOESNT REALLY MATTER ! We are talking a difference of a couple of degrees. These things are not that sensitive where a couple of degrees makes a difference between perfectly stable and crap. If you are getting thermal shutdowns, there is another issue not the brand of thermal paste. When people post things like. "Oh man Shin Etsu sucks ! Coollab's stuff pwns " - it makes me want to wish for the ability to punch over the internet. There is always an exception. If one is overclocking and trying to keep a system running long enough to post a benchmark (the only thing OC-ing is good for) then a difference of 4-5 degrees can make a difference. Am I out of line on this ? Or do you agree this is nothing more than geek masterbation ? Something computer nerds argue over the most minute details and never realize it doesnt matter in the grand scheme, and millions of products run 24/7 on generic paste? With that being said, I will admit when building a system for myself or someone else, I wont use the generic stuff, I'll get either Shin-Etsu, or AS @ Fry's. I was hoping someone was going to come along and list a good supplier of the industrial stuff at wholesale prices with it being just as good/the same as the consumer grade stuff - alas, no such luck. I go through a lot of the stuff through console repairs and the premium stuff is not cost effective for me, nor will anything really benefit from the sheer orgasmic healing properties of precious pure silver in its purist form. Overclocking is unfortunately a money making enterprise these days where brand trumps function. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Evil Overlord Posted December 8, 2014 Share Posted December 8, 2014 https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1239036-how-to-install-thermal-paste/ Here you go, a tutorial :p Aergan 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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