Arctic Silver 5 is made by Arctic Silver, Inc. They make several products. None of them are coolers although they did originally make a cooler when the company was founded in California. The company that makes MX-4 is Arctic , original founded as Arctic Cooling, a German-Swiss company. They make coolers, fans, monitor mounts, a lot of other stuff, and MX-6 thermal paste - their newest and best - which is the product you should have included in your comparison along with MX-4.
I really want to know what mx-6 does here I like it way better than mx-4 it doesn't pull AM4 CPUs out the board anywhere near as bad as 4 does and it doesn't seem to dry out near as bad
@@michaelhemric5228 MX-6 is thicker, drier than MX-4, it may conduct the heat better than MX-4 when you have bad contact, but its the opposite if you have good contact when the paste doesn't really need to fill the gaps. It's like when you use 1.00mm copper or 0.25mm aluminium sheet the aluminium is still better despite the fact that the copper the better heat conductor, that is why the thickness matter, and that is why the m/W/K on a product basically don't matter. In my testing MX-6 worst or equal than MX-4, MX-5 was the best, but it was very sticky. For CPU-s I stuck with MX-4, because it just work and you can forget about it for 3-4 years, for me not worth experimenting.
Probably not. I’ve heard the MX-6 will separate out which sucks. I dunno if that’s with the tube open or if it would happen if you never opened it at sll
It is good, mine already for 10 years, in PC that i use for Movies with my Projector, with i5-4460. Unfortunately this PC does not handle some 4k video's, so i will change it. But it still will work in my moms PC for office for next 10 years i think with same paste.
We switched to Kingpin KPx about 2 years ago after conducting our own similar shoot-out, with similar results to Jay's findings. We have thousands of systems in the field now with it and have been very pleased. No dry outs so far. Definitely more expensive than some of the bulk stuff, but we can happily vouch for it.
Really nice to hear from you guys, let's us know you're paying attention, which increases credibility in my book. Maybe one day when I get off this poverty type beat I'll be able to afford one of your systems. Good looking.
@@AustnTokPK3 deserves more attention really. It's by far the best paste I've ever used and I always have a 30gr tube handy these days. It doesn't dry out, spreads easily, it's expensive as hell but still. It's so good..
@ImprezzionOfficial yup. Expensive, but so worth it.i used Thermal Grizzly prior to using PK-3, but when I got my 14900ks, i tested a few pastes, and PK-3 came out ahead. I have another build with a 12600k running a 5.2ghz all core OC. Under a full load, PK-3 and KPx didn't show any difference. They both peaked exactly the same. (Can't remember the exact number) although under a full 320w load with the 14900ks, PK-3 peaked at 90⁰ while KPx peaked at 91⁰
Something that probably should have been in that lineup would be Noctuas NT-H1/2 because Noctuas coolers are extremely popular and most people probably use the thermal paste than comes with them
As someone who has used noctuas thermal paste for two decades, I think it falls between arctic and KPX in pricing, but nearly identical performance. As for longevity, well I think two decades of never feeling a need to change paste speaks for itself. lol Clean up is similar to the rest, little bit of alcohol and something to wipe with.
Right ? That's the nt-h1 is what I'm using n got all my friends to use .. i came here to see how it compares and surprised it isn't on the list .. such a popular paste
When you spent a lot ouf money on having a more fancy lighting in your PC spending a little more on paste will not kill you. I use Thermal Grizzly for years now. Never had any issues. I also ,like Jay said, apreciate the work of the company and R&D behind it.
Switched to MX6 here after seeing it holds well over time (Something MX5 failed and was discontinued for). So far, so good, and its increased viscosity compared to 4 helps with bare die application on GPUs.
mx4 burns really fast even on my laptop 5-7 months max ... i switched to NT-H1/2 аnd quite happy with the result 5 degrees difference and burns way slower
Modern thermal paste doesn't chemically degrade or dry out under conditions found in a PC, as the suspension is intentionally made very hard to evaporate. Arctic rates the MX series for temperatures over 200 degrees. The rise in temperatures is likely caused by loosely fitting cooler and the gap between cooler and chip shrinking and expanding with temperature fluctuations, causing paste to be pumped out. Small size of bare chips without IHS also plays a role. Use more paste, even around the chip, not just on it, so that no air would enter the gap, and try screwing the cooler as tightly as possible.
Dell, HP, IBM / Lenovo certified Server hardware engineer here. All of these manufacturers teach you the same thing during training. Thermal paste is to be spread thinly across the entire CPU die using an old store card or similar spreader. The paste only needs to be Microns thick. There is no point putting it on thickly. Doing so can actually make matters worse and reduce conductivity. I personally have tested some Noctua H2 against some cheapo no name paste off ebay. And there was a big temp difference over a long time of high cpu load.
I can confirm it from my own experience. Recently I was forced to re-paste my Ryzen 5 7600 because the mobo went wrong (and repaired under warranty). Although I replaced the mobo because it went wrong again as far as I can judge it does not make a difference. So second time I used a lot less paste (same Noctua NT-H1 AM5 Edition as before, did spread it thinly evenly) and the max. temperature during Cinebench R23 dropped by 10 Celsius (!).
Regarding the pricing of the Thermal Grizzly paste. It is that expensive on Amazon true, but he also sells through his partner caseking in Germany where the Price for a 11,1g Tube is 24,9€/27,8$ which comes down to 2,24€/2,5$ per gram which is definitely more realistic. Unfortunately they only ship inside Europe but for every fellow European out there dont buy the paste on Amazon but rather on caseking.
Never let me down. Got a tube when I installed my 2600 in early 2020, then used it again on my 5600x, then again on my 7800x3d and its given me good temps on all 3 chips. For the price it's just fine
Yep, it's definitely pretty long lasting. And in the instance of my system, the cooling aspect wasn't important to me since it's on an r5 3600. I haven't touched the inside of my system since I built it in early 2020 and it's still running around the same temp as when I first pasted it.
@@Blackrhyme7 I am also extremely pleased with my MX-4, I'm using it on my evga 2070 and my and my 5600x. I originally got it after a lot of research and wanting a thicker paste but not super thick well also running cool. All my research pointed to this and it paid off.
One thing Roman (Der8auer) noted in an interview is the cost difference between the Thermal Grizzly pastes (Kryonaut isn't the only TG paste) is that the more expensive ones get more machine time to grind the particles of the primary interface material smaller and smaller. The smaller the particles, the better the thermal transfer. Also, TG pastes are manufactured in Germany, which is why those prices are so high.
@@WayStedYou how do you find it lasts? just posted a different comment there, been seeing my GPU temps rising a few months after application. Not a lot, but the hotspot has risen from +6C to +15C on full load over the past while.
I've just gone from MX-4 to MX-6 together with Arctic thermal pads in my first gen PS4 and after a week it's definitely running cooler and quieter than before. 🤔🤔
@@NinjAsylumI believe the MX-5 has been discontinued. Issues with the paste separating. My first tube I bought was that way. Started out runny until I squeezed out a bit. Seemed to work well though. Now I have MX-6
Technically the carrier goo expires and old paste turns to something more like bird poop and it impossible to evenly spread, or gets "juicy" as the suspended solids coagulate, and clumpy particles do not lay down as thin (microscopically), thus worse performance. However if you meant lasts forever once installed, yeah sort of if ~7 years is "forever" and you never take it apart again.
95W AMD from 2008 w/ Arctic Silver 5, proper temps for air cooling. a few months ago i replaced the CPU, the paste was still in its place w/ minimal signs of pump-out. (i usually apply it by spreading it in a thin layer). 40W Intel from 2010 in a lenovo laptop doesn't overheat. i do clean the fans and coolers w/ compressed air every few years... ime in the long run dust has greater temp impact than pastes. ps: i still have some left but it has become more viscous as far as i can tell (i store the pastes in the fridge). i've used it for other applications, specifically transistors that get bolted to the heat sinks as it's less messy in its current form than the runnier pastes sold for electronics (they call those thermal grease but serve the same purpose). i should also mentioned that i just did a little experiment by heating a drop of that super old paste AS5 and it thinned out to a tooth paste consistency while warm... that tells me it still has the properties to fill the gaps as the components go thru the initial heat cycles...
ArticSilver5 is the gold standard in my opinion. It has always worked on everything. And I have built dozens of pc desktops. You will need to replace the paste once a year as it will fry into thin air leaving big open patches. Usually around one to two years. I have personally move onto thermal grizzly. It works great, price sucks, but it goes on like clay and stays.
@@geronimo5537 Not sure why you have had to replace the paste. Like I said, 15 years overclocked 20%, never have replaced the paste. PC is running like a champ.
I replaced a cooler in 2022 that had never been so much as loosened since 2013. I still had the tube of Arctic Silver 5 that I had used to apply it. Neither the paste in the tube (which I did not use again) nor the paste on that old I5-3570K were dry. It had spent those 9 years in a vertical orientation, overclocked to its limit, and spent at least 75% of the time powered on. I've used AS-5 on other applications and it doesn't run or somehow leak out. My current PC uses whatever Corsair applies on the H150i Elite Capellix 360mm AIO. Full coverage with no mess.
I hate Artic Silver with passion, I don't care about the performance if the paste uncleanable, there is a reason why builders like MX4. If you see that digusting stuff day to day and drips all over the GPU and motherboard when you remove the cooler you would hate too.
That's about what I saw when I decommissioned my old 2012-era PC with an i9-3770k CPU. Arctic Silver tube still in the motherboard box or I'd never have remembered what I used. Ran for 10 years vertical and no heat issues whatsoever using a decent (for the time) air cooler. And it was powered on pretty much 24/7 although spent at least 2/3 of that time asleep. I cleaned off the old paste two years ago when I cleaned everything up and gave it away to a friend for his kids to game on. I repasted with Noctua NT-H1 because that was what I had and I didn't trust the leftover tube of Arctic Silver.
I personally use Arctic Silver 5 in at least 10 desktop pc. In almost 30 years i have encounter not even a problem using AS5. Great cooling paste at a reasonable price. 😊
Same here with Arctic Silver. Ran a i7-2600k OCd to 4.8 ghz for 11 years with an H100 aio. Was still wet when the computer got upgraded to an i7-13700k. Maybe a mess but cleaned up easily with paper towels and isopropyl.
ArcticSilver 5 isn't difficult to get out of the tube... It's actually one of the easier ones to squeeze out and to spread... If your ArcticSilver 5 is difficult to squeeze out of the tube or to spread, then it means it's dried out, and won't perform as well.
Yeah, while it was certainly a pain to clean after I made a mounting error, the Arctic Silver 5 I used on my last rig was definitely not thick like that.
I agree, i just pulled out a tube that's been sitting in my garage for 4 years and its not thick and runs out just fine. Definitely a pain to clean though but honestly you shouldn't need to repaste your cpu/gpu very often for it to even matter. I've always got great results with it, never had a problem with it running out and frying the mb either although i would prefer paste that I don't have to worry about that. Still got a big tube of AS5 and some MX4 so ill stick to those until it drys out and probably try the kingpin next.
@@TaylorTEK I tried MX4 once, and had bad results with it (probably just me not being used to thicker paste). These days I use Kryonaut and am happy with it. I even repasted my old GTX 1080 Ti with it. KPx is probably fine too, but I haven't tried it yet.
My go to is Thermal Grizzly. Easy to work with. Performs great. Lasts forever. It's also not "expensive". 1 gram is a huge amount for personal builds. That's enough to build like 3-4 systems, because you don't need mutch of it for a good application. Especially if using the "cake frosting" method, with the included spatula. So $9-10 is next to nothing, knowing you're getting quality, performance, longevity, and an easy install/removal experience. I wouldn't mind using the Kingpin stuff either. I'm just used to Thermal Grizzly at this point, and like the additional install accessories.
I buy Noctua because they understand why pre-spreading is a bad idea. Takes a lot of study in physics to understand that. I want the chemist formulating my thermal paste to have had that training.
Being as Roman puts the R&D effort into his products, and most everyone has no complaints because the product is good, then I'd say that the price of admission is well worth it. If I have to fork out a relatively decent chunk of my money for the product, and it delivers, maybe over-delivers, then its worth it in the end.
It's honestly not worth it. A lot of people use it for the flex or becuase they think that at that price it has to be the best. It is really on a par with nh-2 and mx-6 - maybe 1c better at best. It doesn't pump out, but neither do those other two - I would never buy it or recommend it to clients, however if they want to buy it i won't tell them they have bought badly - just expensively.
Same here, pretty surprised I had to scroll a bit to find it ! Used the NT-H1 for quite a while, now I always go for the NT-H2 as its the upgrade and I beleive the H1 wasn't listed anymore the last time I buyed some. H2 seems to not squish out as far as the H1 is Quite a goopy one, that tend to squish out over the time but might be why it's not dry after a year or more (I do maintenance every year or so) so I never actually saw this paste completly dried out. Used both versions in custom builds, servers, consoles and even a phone repair for the NT-H2. Price could be better but I appreciate the alcohol wipes that come in the 10G pack, I always cary one in the tech bag, pretty handy
Bit surprised that Jay didn't include a thermal paste from Noctua... I always used the included NT-H1 while using Noctua coolers, and then bought a separate NT-H2 when switched to an AIO. Another reason for choosing the NT-H2 was that I switched to AM5, and Noctua had an AM5 edition of the thermal paste, so the box also included a thermal paste guard for AM5 CPUs. I like when everything's included.
@@GrayReactsYT I have used NT-H1 on a bare die CPU (so similar to GPU application) and it was mostly fine. The one challenge I had was that the NT-H1 was a little thicker and therefore more difficult to spread/seat the cooler on evenly. A minor nit but if you want absolute ease of installation, Arctic MX-4 or MX-6 is very easy to apply to bare dies.
As someone who built a system back in 2017, I went with Arctic MX-4 for my I7-6700k cpu which was paired with a Coolermaster Hyper 212. I ran the PC from 2017 all the way to 2022 with zero issues whilst pushing the CPU to its limits and my temperatures more or less remained the same as the earlier years with no major negligible difference between them. The only reason why i replaced and reapplied more MX-4 to my CPU in 2022 was because i was doing a standard maintenance run and clean of my computer as i was preparing it for more hardware and thought i might as well just do a refresh of the paste whilst i am here, But i honestly believe it would have gone another 5 years without any problems had i left the original goop i put on there back in 2017. For me it was more of a piece of mind situation so i could rest easy knowing that i have done the necessary maintenance to my rig so it will last throughout the ages.
I ran AS-5 exclusively from 2006 to 2024, but I couldnt get any AS-5 from the Egg when I put this rig together so I tried something different. Cooler Master Cryofuse Ultra-High Performance was the same price of 7.99 for a 2g tube. I dont know about longevity as I have just started using it but I do know my TEMPS are amazeballz on a 14700K. So if you ever want to try something new that might replace AS-5.
It is an outdated TIM and you can get better performance without the conductivity downside elsewhere. Cheaper too. Good stuff but not worth the money in 2024.
@@falkwulf3842 AS-5 came out 2012, you probably used AS-2 or 3 in 2006. Still good stuff, my Q6600 from 2007 is still on it's first pasting of AS-2 or 3 today.
@@MaaZeus AS-5 is not conductive but it is capacitive and lasts forever without needing to be repasted. Almost all others need a repasting every few years but not AS so it is very cost effective. I've got a Q6600 that is still running today and I've never needed to repaste it in 17 years, mind you it's AS-2 or 3 but 17 years and it's still working like a few days after I first applied it. Oh and it was overclocked from 2.4GHz to 3.0GHz for the first 9 or 10 years.
I am in a similar situation as you, except I have been using arctic MX for years. I know its not the best but it has always worked well for me and lasts for a really long time.
Only problem with including the thermal graphene based sheets is that they don't qualify as a "paste", but more of a thermal transfer "medium" like a GPU's thermal pads.
@@z0lid Even if it's 5c hotter it could be a boon for server, set-it-and-forget-it usages. A great solution to make a build for your parents imo. They're gonna use it until the CPU fan dies before upgrading.
So - they all perform basically exactly the same, within about 2 -3 degrees at the most. Thanks for confirming I don’t need to worry or care about using anything other than the thermal paste that my cooler came with 😊
I still use the AS5, it lasts for years. You just have to apply it properly, spread an even layer just enough that you can't read the cpu markings. I have one that hasn't seen a temp increase for 10 years.
Same, I always am like, hmm i probably should replace my thermal paste soon. But then I look at my temps and they are the same, nothing in my setup gets hotter than 70c.
I've been using the Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut for 3 builds in the last 6 years and each time I pull the cooler off it is never dried out. I finally finished of my 3 gram tube and that's even after having to replace 2 coolers on the current system. 1 of coolers had the stud broke with just finger tightening the thumb nut (I am 5'4" 135, not body building material). The second had the AIO pump fail (Arctic Cooling liquid freezer II 360mm, replacement was going to take too long to wait but it's still coming and will be a Back-up). I also repasted once after 2 years on the 1st system I used it on (It was soft, like butter?,but not dried). I used to be an Arctic Silver MX-4 fan (It's not a horrible paste and on the site it mentions it's a side by side to MX-5 & not a replacement). I wholey trust and will continue using Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut until something else is as affordable and performant for 3 grams plus spreader (the 3 gram kit is not expensive). I have no doubt KPX is also something I would enjoy. End Point, spending a few dollars more for piece of mind that I've done everything I can to protect the thermal state of the CPU is WORTH $20 (which I pay less for the 3 gram kit). Cheers! Stay Healthy and Stay Sane!
@@kh_trendyno its just a semi solid paste, once its on, its on. It melts and reforms but its like, on there. Also takes a few heat cycles to reach max performance
@M0nsterRipper I used to use Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut with the spread thermal paste method and I got about a 7 deg avg difference when running Cinebench.
It technically does, but not enough to actually matter outside of special circumstances. Main thing that matters, like Jay was saying, is how well it holds up over time and how easy it is to apply. As long as you don't get cheap nonsense.
@@TheRaidenRaiden Yeah, any name brand paste will be fine, atleast for a while...The more expensive pastes will stay good for much longer though...I use kryonaut because I have the extra money and I like supporting Derbauer...I did buy a tube of Insignia brand paste from Best Buy one time because it was all they had and I needed something right then...It was the absolute worst thermal paste I have ever used! I think toothpaste would conduct heat better than that stuff! lol
@@brucepreston3927 Was it the white stuff. I tried some insignia stuff from Best Buy and It was white looked like white acrylic paint, spread about as good as frozen Peanut butter and cooled like I wasnt using any TIM at all. And the cleanup cost me a half a box of Qtips and a full bottle of 93% Iso. Sound like the stuff you were using?
MY 2 Cents: I (accidentally) used a 21 Years Old Arctic Silver 3 syringe to bring back to life an old 2080 Ti which was thermal throttling real bad (Ambient temp inside the house is always about +32C/90F in summertime). I meant to use the newer Arctic Silver 5 but picked the wrong syringe from the lot and only realized it when it was too late. Long story short I was afraid I messed up but the card now, despite the high ambient temps and OLD AF paste, works even better than when it was brand new with higher clock speeds and lower temps. Quality paste really does make a difference and it has got a really long shelf life.
@@ChzimpO It doesn't last any longer than any other paste..... I've seen the pre-applied TIM on a stock Intel cooler go 15 years without thermal issues.
I would've loved to see Noctua's paste in this test. It's the one I've used for the last 10 years, but it would be awesome to see it compared to others.
Every review I've seen of it puts it right in the bunch with mx-6, kryonaut and corsairs paste (which i forget the name of but is actually good) so definately a very decent paste.
Used NT-H1 for years with good results. Also tried Kryonaut and did not see any real difference. NT-H1 has never given me an issue and it is cheaper. I get the giant tubes.
cheaper than Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut, performs about the same, but then we're not supporting der8auer, so I might start using Thermal Grizzly for that reason alone, when my NT-H1 is empty, which might take a long time
Arctic Silver 5 isn't the easiest to spread, and doesn't have the top end thermals, but for an extremely long term build, it's been the most consistent. After 6 or 7 years on my last rig, it still wasn't dry, and had the exact same consistency as it when I first put it in. I always use it on a build that's not shooting for max performance and isn't going to see much maintenance. And Jay is 100% right. It's like a bad poop or anti-sieze to clean up 😂
Get a cup of hot water and leave the tube in it for 5 or 8 minutes. As for length of use, I used AS-2 or 3 in 2007 on a Q6600 and it is still the same temps 17 years later.
I can attest to it durability. Had a HEDP gaming pc that built in 2013. in 2017 made it a NAS/gaming server running 24/7. Stripped the head of screw for the cooler. I used arctic silver 5 then. I didn't bother trying to change the paste ever since i knew it would be a hassle. But this year i decided to get rid of the system. Sold the parts used. When i took it off i was amazed that it still wasn't dry. After 11 years of use. Never had issues with thermals on it. However when i built my new system this year i tested arctic silver 5 vs mx-6. Let it run for 1 week before i checked the thermals. Arctic silver 5 was 4 degrees warmer. So went with MX-6. I will see in some years if i the thermals are still good. Still running silver 5 on all my server needs.
I can confirm that. On my last two builds i used the Arctic Silver Paste. The older of the two is a AMD FX8350 , 8 Core / 8 Threads @4GHz with 64GB Ram and the paste is now 11 Years on the CPU and is still working absolutely fine with an Skythe Carma Cross II Aircooler. The Rig is used mainly for Video Editing and rendering and also Gaming once in a while. The Paste is still in top condition after all these years.
Arctic provides a cleaner, the reason it stays liquid over years is its silicone oil base carrier fluid, this is also what makes the cleaning a bit difficult. use an oil based cleaner first, theirs is most likely just orange oil based, at least it smells like it. after getting the thermal paste off with the oil based cleaner you can clean-up with alcohol as usual
I bought a Tube of AS-5 in 2007 with my E6600 in 2007, I haven't had a CPU under a cooler as long as @1300BlueStar. I still have used that same tube for the 4 subsequent builds since 2007, its been the old reliable friend.
Been using mx4 with i9, i7 & ryzen with AIO or Tower cooler and never had any issues, it's a great product at a great price and it last a long time too!
I've been using the Arctic Silver 5 for over a decade. I've never had heat issues and have never needed to re-apply. I would like to see you do a video on the new thermal pads that are purporting to be better than the paste.
I love Thermal Grizzly and it is my go-to compound. I bought 2 tubes like 4 years ago and still haven't used all mine up. $9 a gram isn't bad at all, I have NEVER had to replace the paste on an IHS unless I had to replace the cooler on a CPU for an unrelated reason. I have also used Thermal Grizzly on GPU coolers. Most the PCs I build are for Engineers that do CAD/CAM workloads. I typically build / rebuild their systems every 3-4 years. In the 100s of systems I have built, rebuilt or serviced, I have yet to have any issues with Thermal Grizzly as long as it was applied correctly in the first place. Even in cases where it was over applied and it was squishing out the sides, I still haven't had thermal issues (just a mess to clean up).
And for those kind of regular systems, just use their cheaper stuff, that's what Roman always recommends because he himself knows that the expensive stuff is at most slightly better. And a lot of the 9$ is probably from taxes as well, as it has to be imported from the EU, it's definitely cheaper over here.
@@cromefire_ Writing from Sweden the TG Kryonaut 1g is sold for 109 SEK in one of Swedens most popular shops. That equals to 10,47 USD as of writing this message.
@@kiiroMADE here in Germany directly (of course that'll skew it a bit) you can get it for like 2.50€ if you get the 3ml, which I believe something along those lines was used in the video. The 1g is also 8€, but much of it is probably just handling the item in the warehouse and so on, if you need it more than once, just get like even the 1,5ml and then it's way more reasonable than 1g. Even if you get stuff from Amazon for example, you'll barely see something below 5€, because handling costs just don't add up otherwise.
I bought a 10cc syringe of a white industrial thermal paste used for transistors and rectifiers like 15 years ago, 4$, and that's what I've been using since then. Never had an issue. And it's at least 15 years-old... 🤷
@@andygozzo72 Probably white lithium in silicone, it's been used in audio electronics for a very long time, and is more temperature stable than zinc, and the problem with knock-off pastes is exactly that they use zinc, which is not suitable for the task. If you're into hard core DIY, you can make your own thermal pastes using silicone or dialectric paste as the base, and adding your favorite material of the week to the mixture, micro diamond and micro sapphire are easy to find as polishing abrasives, and very affordable. For silver powder I used really fine sandpaper, and part of a bar. It's a fun use for spare equipment, not the thing to use on your gaming rig the first time you play.
The MX-4 has been my go to over the years been storing mine in my fridge. Had to come see your reviews/recommendations for a new application. I’m a lot less nervous about getting the job done (I have always dreaded this part of my PC maintenance). Great video! 😅
It's crazy, I've been building my own PCs since 2004, and I started using Arctic Silver back then, and I still use it today. I even have a tube sitting on my desk right now. Mine, my wifes, and my kids PC all have it, they're all on nearly 24x7, and I've never had an issue with a PC over heating out of the 3 dozen or so PCs I've built over the years. Glad to see it's at least competitive with other top brands. That said, I did buy a couple sheets of PTM7950, and my new builds ill be giving those a shot.
Nice, Theres nothing wrong with it and it works just fine still. I use it on my main system, ive got a few systems with different Tp's on them and they will be checked/re-pasted very soon to see the results after 1-2-3 yr tests. I do it to see whats best for my systems and whats the best value, plus I like my own tests/data, trust but Verify, if you will. For example, how many Years will it last without drying right out and being useless. So far the only paste thats not been worth a cent is the Cheap chinese stuff. Its really oily and dries after 6-8 months. All my systems are 24/7 I should add. I see no real difference between Arctic, Gelid, Silver etc thus I dont see the need ( no sub zero here) to spend More money on Kp's brand or TG either. As for the PTM 7950 pads, theyre $30 bux per pad here and that stops me, that would get Very expensive to swap over. Ill stick to $10 purchase of the regular old paste thats done me well for the past 30 years. Cheers.
The problem with the PTM 7950 phase change thermal pad is that it is still subject to the pumping action due to thermal cycling. Unless you can either guarantee that you won't thermal cycle your CPU from min to max (and back), then the phase change thermal pads will be fine. But if your CPU will EVERY hit the max, and then bottom back out to minimal load, then you will have the pumping effect happen, which is the same issue with thermal paste. So it's either run your system upto moderate levels of load, or run it full tilt, 100%, all the time.
@@bose301s "PTM is not subject to pump out" Yes, it is. Think about it -- it's PHASE CHANGE thermal pad. What to you think happens, when it changes PHASES?
From Arctic Silver website: "Not Electrically Conductive: Arctic Silver 5 was formulated to conduct heat, not electricity. (While much safer than electrically conductive silver and copper greases, Arctic Silver 5 should be kept away from electrical traces, pins, and leads. While it is not electrically conductive, the compound is very slightly capacitive and could potentially cause problems if it bridges two close-proximity electrical paths.)" Also, I applied some AS5 2 weeks ago and it ran out of the tube fine. Was not hard to squeeze at all.
If you want to get pedantic - by definition, capacitance is a form of conductivity since it reflects the ratio of charge transferred between two isolated conductors...the marketing department is taking some "creative liberties" with that one. But even if interpreted colloquially to mean "won't fry your components", no one wants to have to clean up bits of rogue thermal paste because there are electrical issues, no matter how non-permanent they are. Arctic Silver 5 was great back in the day but it is an average performer with some (minor) risks now.
@@AlexanderNecheff Just apply a thin skim and you won't have a problem. If you get push out like Jay was showing you've used way way too much. Honestly I was cringing when Jay was spreading on that cpu, I'd say he had more then twice the paste that was needed.
I currently have 4 Gaming rigs running with Arctic Silver 5, because... it was a top recommendation when I built the PC's.. the oldest TWO are just over 6 years old, the youngest is two and a half years old. About to build a PC for traveling between homes, instead of trying to pack up my main gaming rig all the time, and will be using the same tube, since I bought a 12 gram tube of the Arctic Silver 5 way back when.... The first had an AIO, but it died swiftly, the pump quit, and I have replaced it with a Noctua NH-D15... (Or similar.) Since then I have been staying away from the water, and have yet to have any issues with the Arctic Silver 5 on any of the gaming rigs. I am not trying to promote it, Just saying, thats what I got/bought and have been using with no problems so far! Keep up the good work!
Controversial, but I've run a much smaller experiment, and I concluded it doesn't really matter all that much what you use unless you are doing extreme overclocking. Between Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut and a tub of white thermal paste from Coolermaster, there was at most 3C difference. Given the one is a small tub of thermal paste, we are talking about a MASSIVE price difference for marginal improvement.
Yup! The most difference is in long time stability. You can really see when a paste is using 30%+ silicone. Good paste (long time stable) is usually using 55-65% Aluminiumoxid, 15-20% zink, and rest silicone paste. Paste like this is usually a bit more viscous because it contains so much solid particles. And this is what makes the paste also long time stable
How about the Paste that cracks and dries up over a short period of time. That’s the main point he’s talking about here to me. I don’t want to constantly have to reapply my past. Pain in the butt and I had a bad experience one time remounting the AIO. I tightened down the 4 screws to the mounting bracket too hard apparently and the CPU was not running correctly afterwards and tried everything before taking the AIO off and inspecting the Pins. Sure enough I had smashed 2 pins in the lower right hand corner. I was able to use a needle to bend them back up into position luckily and remounted everything and it worked fine. The KingPin paste he’s talking about will not dry up or crack so I want something like that. That CPU was a 14900KS very expensive and it’s running like a champ today.
@@papasmurf5598 The paste only dries out if they use cheap silicone oil. If it is cheap the vapor preasure is to high. Best is silicone oil that is used or example in Diffusion pumps. It does have a so low vapor preassure that it does not dry out (even under vakuum). There are a bunch of pastes that are doing fine in this regard. The Apex, Thermal Grizzly is making a new paste right now that will focus on long time stability, Thermalright TF8, Apex or simply go with the Thermal Grizzly kryosheet (this will 100% not dry out because it is not a paste. It is made out of carbon nanotubes).
I guess it depends on the purpose. We know that CPU blocks don't vary in performance that much either, but the price can be ludicrous and differs wildly between them. But let's say if you're investing into the AlphaCool Core 1 because it has dethroned pretty much everything else by about the same margin we have here between the MX4 and the Thermal Grizzly - and you're willing to throw cash at it -, then I guess you won't cheap out on the thermal paste either to lose the marginal gain the better block brings on the table, will you? Or if 3°C doesn't matter, then I guess a budget build would do the job just fine too. Heck, even water cooling isn't necessary.
This 😁 Thermal paste really does not matter much. Even without your cpu gets cooled (check out the video of Tech Illiterate), although not recommended. I just check what Noctua is saying about which method to use for which CPU and that's it. I am AM5 and the said pea, work perfectly. Not a fan of spreading it like Jay tbf.
My did an AM5 build last year and used the paste that came with the PA120SE and haven't seen any difference in temperature. I used the X pattern when applying and was probably over generous with it as there was a tiny little creep out of the sides when I tightened down the cooler.
@@BiscuitBarrel179 X pattern is also fine, just spreading it, is usually not recommended anymore, because you can have air bubble and with X or a pea, you press the air with the paste from the center out. Noctua always does great tests and gives their recommendations. But in the end it anyway does not matter much.
I still use the good old white silicone heat sink compound. I have super heavy 70's and 80's amps with this stuff and it still does the job. It doesn't dry out, it doesn't need to be replaced, it just works.
Yeah honestly I thought something like that would be a good thing to add to this video I feel that I wasted my time watching it because it did not have a base to compare it to.
I've been using AS5 since the ThermalRight XP-90 on my Athlon 64 and it's been a solid performer for decades. It's shocking to see how well it holds up against modern compounds, I was expecting something else to have come out by now to do noticeably better.
@5:24 I was actually hoping to see if IC Diamond made the cut but I guess not, I was part of the original test batch back in the day and still use it on everything to this day, one day I'll have to run my own experiments but with no following I doubt anyone would care
Would love to see the PTM7950 sheets tested and thermal grizzly sheets and all that stuff, also been reading about PTM 7958 SP as a very interesting option especially for my laptop, my desktop im sure is fine with whatever it doesnt struggle thermally at all since the gaming loads arent enough to push it to its limits
I use both thermal grizzly kryonaut and conductonaut. I think you did a great job explaining things. Not sure if you agree, but I think the problem with liquid metal is that most people don't understand that less is really more, but it's a chore getting it to latch and spread to the surfaces. I think this causes people to over add liquid metal causing the leakages.
I've had good results from mx-4 and noctua's nt-h1. Both have lasted years in my systems without having to re-apply the paste. I'm currently using nt-h2 and that does tend to spread easier. I've been using that for several months without issues. Get whichever is cheaper.
H1 is cheaper than H2. Also performs better than MX-4 and lasts longer. MX4 is one of the cheapest name brand pastes on the market. You generally get what you pay for. 20g of MX-4 is $2 cheaper than 10g of H1. But MX-4 is fine for most people. I like to OC so I get the Noctua NT-H1. But I don't have any high end hardware so it is pointless to spend more than that. For that matter, TF-4 is even cheaper than MX-4 if you are just getting a small tube and performs about the same.
Arctic Silver needed 50hrs of curing via multiple heatcycles to perform at its best(according to datasheet) and that curing time was the reason why it fell out of fashion. These days I either use Noctua NT-H2 or Arctic MX-4 for thermal paste and for low maintenance systems graphene thermal pads that are available on market. Edit: Checked again and curing time is 200hrs for Silver 5 not 50hrs.
Yeah, you have to let it cure for a while. It's an "apply and forget" thing, not an "apply and see immediate results." I use it on long-term builds where I'm just mounting a cooler and never going to touch it for the next 5 years. Even after 5 years it'll still be tacky and malleable.
I remember the days of installing with AS5, doing benchtests - and then coming back 5 days later and and everything benched 2c cooler after it cured :)
I've been using Article Silver 5 for well over a decade It has been solid and even though it has its flaws it's still a Solid Paste and lasts a REALLY Long Time I used it on GPU's, Laptops, even my Nintendo Switch and it has never let me down. It's OG but it's still Solid to this day.
“it's almost like a butt plug that just shoots out of there and then it craps all over your CPU like Taco Bell.” First, I wanna know why we are using a butt plug, and 2 ... I can die now. At least I'll die laughing.
Agree with what you stated. There's only margin gains for the 'expensive' products. I've had great success with Noctua NT-H1, which I think is really good and valued.
@@Keaton. Iv'e tried the cheapest ones I could find on Ali Express and they perform the same as the LTT one, only difference is that one time the Ali Express PTM 7950 came half squashed but it still worked in dropping Hot Spot temps for my 7800XT and 7900xtx. The ones from Ali Express are like £4 for 80x80x0.2mm sheet and it comes with free tools too
I switched to ptm on my 7900xtx a week ago and have done a ton of burn ins with furmark and just playing games like cyberpunk and bl3. The improvement hasn't been as big as I hoped. I only dropped about 4° on my hotspot and 5° on my die temp. And there's still a 25° delta. I guess my limit wasn't the compound but the cooler itself.
As someone that still has some AS5 in my drawer.. I've never had the viscosity issue you described with getting it out of the tube... definitely possible that they have changed the formula over the last few years, but I found that interesting.
I've been using arctic silver since they started making it, every tube I've ever gotten was the exact same paste every time. Never seen it thicken at the tip, although I've seen several of the lithium pastes do that, and I tend to avoid any brand that does. I've built hundreds of machines, and serviced thousands, rarely is the thermal paste itself the problem, if ever. Badly applied paste, improperly mounted heat sinks, and one or two thermal paste plastic covers that didn't get peeled, but no instances where the paste itself failed. By far the number one thermal problem for both desktop and server systems is dust, just dirty heatsinks.
@@MobiusGT In my experience the mx6 dries out very quickly and is a pain to remove, mx4 last for many years, easy to remove, works fine and also taste good.
I end up with Noctua on accident a lot by getting their coolers for stuff, but if I've ever went out and deliberately bought paste because I was low or just wanted some stuff for stock, I'd always get Grizzly. I actually used liquid metal on my laptop, and it has to be almost 15 degrees cooler on that thing. I love supporting Der8auer as well, as like you said, he's a super enthusiast with his own personality, and his morality is some of the best I've ever seen in the industry.
How long did it take for that to happen? All I use is kryonaut and I have 2 systems that I put it on CPU/GPU that I built 4 years ago for my workshop and they are giving the exact same temps as when they were built...Plus I have it on both the systems in my house...Kyronaut does dry up a bit after a year or two, but I have never noticed a difference in temps because of it...
@@brucepreston3927 Same. My computer was built during April 2020, so 4 years. It gets used almost every day, usually for gaming, image editing or light 3D modeling. Temps are rock solid and with no variance other than when the room itself heat soaks (it's small and the window opens the other way around)
Same. But I'm planning to go back to normal Kryonaut since it seems my CPU rans a bit hotter (3-5 C higher) with the MX-6. I used Kryonaut Extreme and it does not even last a year before degrading and having slightly worse performance than Kryonaut. Dunno why though.
Unless you buy the cheapest stuff which comes in a bucket, it makes no practical difference in my experience, as far as initial temps go. It all comes down to whenever it is electrical conductive, how easy it is to apply and how long it lasts before it dries out.
Been an Arctic Silver user since it first came out, always been my go-to product. Never had any issues with applying or clean up. The method I use was smearing a thin layer across the whole surface, spreading it with just my finger. When taken apart, there was always full surface contact, cleaning old paste, I never used any solvent, just wipe with a rag was all that was needed. With that said, I will try Thermal Grizzly the next time I remove the cooler. I rarely overclock these days, so I never have heat related issues, been many years(over 15) since I've had a CPU failure.
Viscosity. The term you are searching for is - viscosity. "The state of being thick, sticky, and semifluid in consistency, due to internal friction." "cooling the fluid raises its viscosity"
@@Balrog132 Yeah, that confuses people so much when people discuss it. High viscosity means it's jelly like, low is water like. Viscous fluid means hard to deform too. Don't confuse with vicious. :p
Absolutely love JTC! What a breath of fresh air from what the other guy became. JTC Keeps people enthusiastic about PC's and Building PC's where as the other guy just wants to sell you pillows and underwear. Thank You Jayztwocents for making cents of all these technologies.
I clean the thermal paste with Wurth - break cleaner. It also cleans sticky surfaces. Doesn't affect skin, doesn't affect the electronics if gets in contact, just clean dirt easily then evaporates.
How would you know if there were? True graphene is invisible to the naked eye at One Atom Thick. KryoSheets are graphite, regardless of what the marketing says. Source: I make true graphene by the quart for industry, and it requires liquid suspension or direct substrate bonding via CVD, spectrography study and a TEM to find out how well the batch came out after a week of effort.
I remember doing some testing for a company 10+ years ago that was this "diamond dust infused", and it was amazing, 5-8C drops on CPUs that would otherwise run quite hot with all the mainstream brand thermal pastes. I ran one for several years with that stuff. Then came time to remove the heatsink and it was essentially fused to the CPU. Took some goo gone and high % isopropyl alcohol to finally cut through. Since then Arctic MX-4 has always been my go to, it consistently works well.
I can't remember what I used before arctic silver but it's what I used when I built my last computer in 2016 which is still running like a champ today with no overheating issues ever and my first computer ever was a C64 when I was a kid in the 80's and it was a hand me down from my moms cousin. I am retired and living in the Philippines with my filipina wife and kids and they dont have any real computer stores to speak of so I've ordered all the parts from Amazon to do a new build and when I was looking for a good thermal past on Amazon I ended up ordering Thermal Grizzly - Kryonaut Extreme and was unsure if I would like it or not but this video is giving me some confidence in my choice. I am pretty excited to get all my parts in hopefully the next week in a half and excited to show my wife and kids how to build a computer since none of them even know how to use a computer yet and the laptop that I am using now will become the household laptop for everyone to use.
My 955 BE, OC-ed to 3.2ghz, was done 13 years ago with Artic Silver and temps have been stable for over a decade. That said, it was known to conduct... but with intentful application, I never had a problem. In my new build, I did use Thermal and have been totally happy with it. Protecting my $400 CPU easily justifies the spend - I almost went with Thermal's sheets, but it was a little too exotic.
surprised to see Gelid GC Extreme isn't recommended. I've had that paste in a system built back in 2015 and the cpu temps on that system is exactly as it was on day 1. never repasted. never even took the cooler fans apart. just simple regular cleaning of blowing dust out.
That's because this whole video is bullshit, he endorsed the german fuckboy, I've tried all of these religiously testing like a madman and GC was the lowest under stress and also at idle. I even tested with the noctua paste that comes with their coolers and even that one was better than Kryonaut. IT's just a massive marketing bullshit thing
Same here. I had to use the reflow method 4 times on my old GTX 770 from 2020 till 2022 in order to avoid the GPU scalping that happened during that time. The card may have died once again but the temperatures never increased one bit. I used the last of the Gelid paste in 2021 on my 5900x / Noctua NH-D15 combo. No change in temperatures since then. Overall you can't go wrong with Gelid Solutions GC-Extreme.
Honestly, I've used Artic Silver and Noctua Thermal paste for many years. Yes, the Artic Sliver is messy, but I've never had to change it once applied. Hardware has a point of diminishing returns; by the time the paste begins to degrade (dry out/ harden), the hardware's toast. As one of my electronics instructors would say.... "we're picking fly poop out of pepper." Most of the time, I'm replacing the Manufacturer's dried-out crumbling chalk that was once in its lifetime some form of thermal coupler. BTW, you missed the Noctua thermal paste.
I just wish TG put more than juuuust barely enough for one application in a tube. I cracked open a fresh tube of KPX today, and it felt like I could have made it rain thermal paste. In a good way.
@@DasWandbild no doubt... My wallet cried because I had to get enough to repaste my GPU and enough for the Threadripper build I'm upgrading to before the end of the year 😂 Would've hurt less if I had bought it afterwards 😂
My take has always been that yes, some pastes are better than others, but the paste-to-paste difference is relatively small, especially compared to the mount-to-mount variability. Getting a proper mount is much more important. The icing method usually winds up with an excessive amount of paste. I usually pre-warm the tube and use a gloved hand and spread it with my fingertip which results in a much thinner layer. Also, it's amusing to still see Arctic Silver 5 on the list. That stuff was great 15-20 years ago, but - without having gotten to the results section yet, I can't imagine it actually keeps up today. For the last several years I've been using the Kryonaut or Kryonaut extreme in my "overkill" water loops. It's a little thick when it first come sout of the tube, so heating it is definitely worthwhile, but once properly applied I find it lasts for several years without noticibly degrading. My understanding is that the "Kryonaut Extreme" is not necessarily "better" across the board, but that it is better optimized for conductivity at lower temperatures, like one might see with more extreme cooling methods (or at the very least overkill water loops) so it's better to choose the right one for your application. Regular Kryonaut of rair or regular water-cooling and Kryonaut Extreme for extreme cooling or very beefy water loops. I have used Extreme on my GPU's for the last 3 years, and have been very happy with it. The CPU gets regular Kryonaut, and it works well.
Jay, this is a good time to remind noobs that Liquid Metal is not something the average person should be using. I always cringe when I see people talking about how they applied liquid metal and now their laptop won’t turn on or their motherboard won’t post, or their GPU isn’t detected.
I just want to mention a few things on price per gram (if you need a lot of paste). MX-4 is available in a 45g tube for $25, and 20g for $14. My default paste, MX-6, is only up to 8g for $11. KPX is 10g for $30, and 30g for $56. There are also some 10g Noctua pastes that are decently priced. Though this is probably only useful to me because I have a few devices, and monke brain is activated by the better value of larger tubes.
You put this video out a few hours after I bought some new paste. I thought the algorithm was bringing back an old vid based on my personal data again... Don't freak me out like that again, please!
Mx4 has always been my go-to for all my builds. It's been rock solid in every box I've built, the price is right, and it usually lasts long enough that I'm either upgrading my CPU or building a whole new box before having to replace it.
My dad asked me to repaste his laptop and mentioned to get some silver based thermal paste, i already have a tube of mx4 and this video shows me that old school wins, but the risk of a short in a laptop die especially since it's surrounded by all those little resistors worries me quite a lot, so it's great that the max delta between them is just 3 degrees and ease of cleaning after the paste had it's course means a lot, thank you for mentioning that caveat of arctic silver in the video :)
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FYI Jay, Arctic Cooling GmbH and Arctic Silver Inc. are two different companies
That they are
wait he says that in the video? haven't watched yet, but I thought that was kind of common knowledge.
@@jeffb.6642 yeah, multiple times
Oh >_>
Also, Arctic Silver 5 is not electrically conductive
Arctic Silver 5 is made by Arctic Silver, Inc. They make several products. None of them are coolers although they did originally make a cooler when the company was founded in California. The company that makes MX-4 is Arctic , original founded as Arctic Cooling, a German-Swiss company. They make coolers, fans, monitor mounts, a lot of other stuff, and MX-6 thermal paste - their newest and best - which is the product you should have included in your comparison along with MX-4.
I didn't know that and I was working in computer store when those products where new 😮
I really want to know what mx-6 does here I like it way better than mx-4 it doesn't pull AM4 CPUs out the board anywhere near as bad as 4 does and it doesn't seem to dry out near as bad
would have been nice to see mx-6 included that's what I'm using
@@michaelhemric5228 MX-6 is thicker, drier than MX-4, it may conduct the heat better than MX-4 when you have bad contact, but its the opposite if you have good contact when the paste doesn't really need to fill the gaps. It's like when you use 1.00mm copper or 0.25mm aluminium sheet the aluminium is still better despite the fact that the copper the better heat conductor, that is why the thickness matter, and that is why the m/W/K on a product basically don't matter.
In my testing MX-6 worst or equal than MX-4, MX-5 was the best, but it was very sticky.
For CPU-s I stuck with MX-4, because it just work and you can forget about it for 3-4 years, for me not worth experimenting.
@@sviktor4 i still love mx2, i got a box of it in 18
What I want to know is if I have thermal paste sitting in my cupboard for say three or four years is it still good?
Mine wasn’t even good after a month
I think it depends on how well sealed it is...
Probably not. I’ve heard the MX-6 will separate out which sucks. I dunno if that’s with the tube open or if it would happen if you never opened it at sll
It is good, mine already for 10 years, in PC that i use for Movies with my Projector, with i5-4460. Unfortunately this PC does not handle some 4k video's, so i will change it. But it still will work in my moms PC for office for next 10 years i think with same paste.
I just buy new. If I'm spending $600 on a CPU, what's $6 more dollars?
We switched to Kingpin KPx about 2 years ago after conducting our own similar shoot-out, with similar results to Jay's findings. We have thousands of systems in the field now with it and have been very pleased. No dry outs so far. Definitely more expensive than some of the bulk stuff, but we can happily vouch for it.
Really nice to hear from you guys, let's us know you're paying attention, which increases credibility in my book. Maybe one day when I get off this poverty type beat I'll be able to afford one of your systems. Good looking.
Give Prolimatech PK-3 a shot. I got lower temps than KPx and Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut by about 1c-2c on average
@@AustnTokPK3 deserves more attention really. It's by far the best paste I've ever used and I always have a 30gr tube handy these days. It doesn't dry out, spreads easily, it's expensive as hell but still. It's so good..
@@ImprezzionOfficial Unless you get a 12 year old tube.
@ImprezzionOfficial yup. Expensive, but so worth it.i used Thermal Grizzly prior to using PK-3, but when I got my 14900ks, i tested a few pastes, and PK-3 came out ahead. I have another build with a 12600k running a 5.2ghz all core OC. Under a full load, PK-3 and KPx didn't show any difference. They both peaked exactly the same. (Can't remember the exact number) although under a full 320w load with the 14900ks, PK-3 peaked at 90⁰ while KPx peaked at 91⁰
Something that probably should have been in that lineup would be Noctuas NT-H1/2 because Noctuas coolers are extremely popular and most people probably use the thermal paste than comes with them
For sure I was surprised to not see it in the comparison.
As someone who has used noctuas thermal paste for two decades, I think it falls between arctic and KPX in pricing, but nearly identical performance. As for longevity, well I think two decades of never feeling a need to change paste speaks for itself. lol Clean up is similar to the rest, little bit of alcohol and something to wipe with.
Right ? That's the nt-h1 is what I'm using n got all my friends to use .. i came here to see how it compares and surprised it isn't on the list .. such a popular paste
This! i went with the h2 and have been loving the cool temps. my 5yr old gpu feels brand new now
I use either kingpins or Noctuas those are the two brands I've been using for a long time now, used to be an IC diamond guy
When you spent a lot ouf money on having a more fancy lighting in your PC spending a little more on paste will not kill you. I use Thermal Grizzly for years now. Never had any issues. I also ,like Jay said, apreciate the work of the company and R&D behind it.
@rslataraWhat risk?
"Butt plug that shoots out of there, craps all over your CPU like Taco Bell." -- Shirt worthy quote right there
Coming soon for sponsorship considerations by Jay.. Butt Plugs and Taco Bell.
Look into Jim Jeffries - I Swear to God - Warehouse, great story about something exploding outward.
Where do we sign the petition to have this shirt made?? /s LMAO You guys made my night...
Jay, got experience with butt plugs shooting out? 😂
Jay always pronouncing when he is not sponsoring something. That one was crystal clear lol
I've been using MX4 because of the combination of price & longevity. Glad to see it holds up fairly well all things considered!
Switched to MX6 here after seeing it holds well over time (Something MX5 failed and was discontinued for). So far, so good, and its increased viscosity compared to 4 helps with bare die application on GPUs.
Try Noctua NT-H2
Sadly in Amazon a lot of counterfeit are sold so I'd rather buy a good Chinese brand than a Fake mx4
mx4 burns really fast even on my laptop 5-7 months max ... i switched to NT-H1/2 аnd quite happy with the result 5 degrees difference and burns way slower
Modern thermal paste doesn't chemically degrade or dry out under conditions found in a PC, as the suspension is intentionally made very hard to evaporate. Arctic rates the MX series for temperatures over 200 degrees. The rise in temperatures is likely caused by loosely fitting cooler and the gap between cooler and chip shrinking and expanding with temperature fluctuations, causing paste to be pumped out. Small size of bare chips without IHS also plays a role. Use more paste, even around the chip, not just on it, so that no air would enter the gap, and try screwing the cooler as tightly as possible.
Dell, HP, IBM / Lenovo certified Server hardware engineer here. All of these manufacturers teach you the same thing during training. Thermal paste is to be spread thinly across the entire CPU die using an old store card or similar spreader. The paste only needs to be Microns thick. There is no point putting it on thickly. Doing so can actually make matters worse and reduce conductivity. I personally have tested some Noctua H2 against some cheapo no name paste off ebay. And there was a big temp difference over a long time of high cpu load.
Let alone increasing migration of excess, which is his main criteria in tests
I can confirm it from my own experience. Recently I was forced to re-paste my Ryzen 5 7600 because the mobo went wrong (and repaired under warranty). Although I replaced the mobo because it went wrong again as far as I can judge it does not make a difference. So second time I used a lot less paste (same Noctua NT-H1 AM5 Edition as before, did spread it thinly evenly) and the max. temperature during Cinebench R23 dropped by 10 Celsius (!).
Regarding the pricing of the Thermal Grizzly paste. It is that expensive on Amazon true, but he also sells through his partner caseking in Germany where the Price for a 11,1g Tube is 24,9€/27,8$ which comes down to 2,24€/2,5$ per gram which is definitely more realistic. Unfortunately they only ship inside Europe but for every fellow European out there dont buy the paste on Amazon but rather on caseking.
Im bouht nothing from caseking in 15 years living in europe😂
Thermal Grizzly has a Shop as well, you can deliver directly there
Aquatuning sells it too. Best cooling shop 🤘
Amazon is still cheaper if you have Prime. 5€ for delivery is making Caseking price much worse.
@@Scytian1 "Amazon is still cheaper if you have Prime." So if you are already paying Amazon for shipping even when you dont order anything.
Been using Arctic mx4 for years, might be a bit warmer than other ones, but can confirm it lasts for a quite a while after application.
Never let me down. Got a tube when I installed my 2600 in early 2020, then used it again on my 5600x, then again on my 7800x3d and its given me good temps on all 3 chips. For the price it's just fine
Agreed, I have taken apart systems that have run for years on MX-4 and not a single one has dried out.
Yep, it's definitely pretty long lasting. And in the instance of my system, the cooling aspect wasn't important to me since it's on an r5 3600. I haven't touched the inside of my system since I built it in early 2020 and it's still running around the same temp as when I first pasted it.
Same, The pc I'm typing this out on is 9 years or so old, still the original application and using a Noctua air cooler ( i7-6850K)
@@Blackrhyme7 I am also extremely pleased with my MX-4, I'm using it on my evga 2070 and my and my 5600x. I originally got it after a lot of research and wanting a thicker paste but not super thick well also running cool. All my research pointed to this and it paid off.
One thing Roman (Der8auer) noted in an interview is the cost difference between the Thermal Grizzly pastes (Kryonaut isn't the only TG paste) is that the more expensive ones get more machine time to grind the particles of the primary interface material smaller and smaller. The smaller the particles, the better the thermal transfer. Also, TG pastes are manufactured in Germany, which is why those prices are so high.
MX-6 Would have been cool to see compared to MX-4
Mx6 is much easier to spread, basically the same cooling aswell and its very cheap too
@@WayStedYou how do you find it lasts? just posted a different comment there, been seeing my GPU temps rising a few months after application. Not a lot, but the hotspot has risen from +6C to +15C on full load over the past while.
and MX-5 .. and Corsair's new paste is supposedly REALLY good. Would have liked to see a test with that.
I've just gone from MX-4 to MX-6 together with Arctic thermal pads in my first gen PS4 and after a week it's definitely running cooler and quieter than before. 🤔🤔
@@NinjAsylumI believe the MX-5 has been discontinued. Issues with the paste separating. My first tube I bought was that way. Started out runny until I squeezed out a bit. Seemed to work well though. Now I have MX-6
I'm still rocking a tube of Arctic Silver 5 til it runs out. The stuff does what it's supposed to and it lasts forever. Can't complain.
Technically the carrier goo expires and old paste turns to something more like bird poop and it impossible to evenly spread, or gets "juicy" as the suspended solids coagulate, and clumpy particles do not lay down as thin (microscopically), thus worse performance. However if you meant lasts forever once installed, yeah sort of if ~7 years is "forever" and you never take it apart again.
Exactly artic silver OG is the only way to go
I think the mx 4 is now the best value to performance ratio
True. 😊
95W AMD from 2008 w/ Arctic Silver 5, proper temps for air cooling.
a few months ago i replaced the CPU, the paste was still in its place w/ minimal signs of pump-out. (i usually apply it by spreading it in a thin layer).
40W Intel from 2010 in a lenovo laptop doesn't overheat.
i do clean the fans and coolers w/ compressed air every few years... ime in the long run dust has greater temp impact than pastes.
ps: i still have some left but it has become more viscous as far as i can tell (i store the pastes in the fridge). i've used it for other applications, specifically transistors that get bolted to the heat sinks as it's less messy in its current form than the runnier pastes sold for electronics (they call those thermal grease but serve the same purpose).
i should also mentioned that i just did a little experiment by heating a drop of that super old paste AS5 and it thinned out to a tooth paste consistency while warm... that tells me it still has the properties to fill the gaps as the components go thru the initial heat cycles...
Computer I built 15 years ago with AS , air cooled, 20% overclock, still running like a champ.
ArticSilver5 is the gold standard in my opinion. It has always worked on everything. And I have built dozens of pc desktops. You will need to replace the paste once a year as it will fry into thin air leaving big open patches. Usually around one to two years. I have personally move onto thermal grizzly. It works great, price sucks, but it goes on like clay and stays.
@@geronimo5537 Not sure why you have had to replace the paste. Like I said, 15 years overclocked 20%, never have replaced the paste. PC is running like a champ.
Which paste
you mean Artic Silver ? did you use Artic Silver 5? or 3?
@@overdriver99 which paste you use
I replaced a cooler in 2022 that had never been so much as loosened since 2013. I still had the tube of Arctic Silver 5 that I had used to apply it. Neither the paste in the tube (which I did not use again) nor the paste on that old I5-3570K were dry. It had spent those 9 years in a vertical orientation, overclocked to its limit, and spent at least 75% of the time powered on. I've used AS-5 on other applications and it doesn't run or somehow leak out. My current PC uses whatever Corsair applies on the H150i Elite Capellix 360mm AIO. Full coverage with no mess.
I did the same thing and now I was just wondering how good or bad is the Corsair pre applied paste?
I hate Artic Silver with passion, I don't care about the performance if the paste uncleanable, there is a reason why builders like MX4.
If you see that digusting stuff day to day and drips all over the GPU and motherboard when you remove the cooler you would hate too.
That's about what I saw when I decommissioned my old 2012-era PC with an i9-3770k CPU. Arctic Silver tube still in the motherboard box or I'd never have remembered what I used. Ran for 10 years vertical and no heat issues whatsoever using a decent (for the time) air cooler. And it was powered on pretty much 24/7 although spent at least 2/3 of that time asleep. I cleaned off the old paste two years ago when I cleaned everything up and gave it away to a friend for his kids to game on. I repasted with Noctua NT-H1 because that was what I had and I didn't trust the leftover tube of Arctic Silver.
I personally use Arctic Silver 5 in at least 10 desktop pc. In almost 30 years i have encounter not even a problem using AS5. Great cooling paste at a reasonable price. 😊
Same here with Arctic Silver. Ran a i7-2600k OCd to 4.8 ghz for 11 years with an H100 aio. Was still wet when the computer got upgraded to an i7-13700k. Maybe a mess but cleaned up easily with paper towels and isopropyl.
ArcticSilver 5 isn't difficult to get out of the tube... It's actually one of the easier ones to squeeze out and to spread... If your ArcticSilver 5 is difficult to squeeze out of the tube or to spread, then it means it's dried out, and won't perform as well.
Yeah, while it was certainly a pain to clean after I made a mounting error, the Arctic Silver 5 I used on my last rig was definitely not thick like that.
I noticed that as well.
I agree, i just pulled out a tube that's been sitting in my garage for 4 years and its not thick and runs out just fine. Definitely a pain to clean though but honestly you shouldn't need to repaste your cpu/gpu very often for it to even matter. I've always got great results with it, never had a problem with it running out and frying the mb either although i would prefer paste that I don't have to worry about that. Still got a big tube of AS5 and some MX4 so ill stick to those until it drys out and probably try the kingpin next.
@@TaylorTEK I tried MX4 once, and had bad results with it (probably just me not being used to thicker paste). These days I use Kryonaut and am happy with it. I even repasted my old GTX 1080 Ti with it. KPx is probably fine too, but I haven't tried it yet.
Yes Artic Silver is ALWAYS easy out of the tube. Been using it for 15 yesrs. Jay-Z tube myst have been faulty.
My go to is Thermal Grizzly. Easy to work with. Performs great. Lasts forever. It's also not "expensive". 1 gram is a huge amount for personal builds. That's enough to build like 3-4 systems, because you don't need mutch of it for a good application. Especially if using the "cake frosting" method, with the included spatula. So $9-10 is next to nothing, knowing you're getting quality, performance, longevity, and an easy install/removal experience. I wouldn't mind using the Kingpin stuff either. I'm just used to Thermal Grizzly at this point, and like the additional install accessories.
I buy Noctua because they understand why pre-spreading is a bad idea. Takes a lot of study in physics to understand that. I want the chemist formulating my thermal paste to have had that training.
The most expensive doesn't mean much if it pales in comparison to the TAX on the CPU you're using it on.
If mounting pressure can work on the dot method, then I don't think pre applying a thin layer is going to cause any "air bubbles".@@Lurch-Bot
Being as Roman puts the R&D effort into his products, and most everyone has no complaints because the product is good, then I'd say that the price of admission is well worth it. If I have to fork out a relatively decent chunk of my money for the product, and it delivers, maybe over-delivers, then its worth it in the end.
I agree
It's honestly not worth it. A lot of people use it for the flex or becuase they think that at that price it has to be the best. It is really on a par with nh-2 and mx-6 - maybe 1c better at best. It doesn't pump out, but neither do those other two - I would never buy it or recommend it to clients, however if they want to buy it i won't tell them they have bought badly - just expensively.
Noctua NT-H2 ,always had Noctua coolers so i always use there paste
dang, i've been buying NT-H1 10g for $15, is there a difference from H1 vs H2? surprised Jay didn't include Noctua.
Their
@@JSmith-nu4bl Theiy're
They're it is! I knew their would be a grammar cop!!
@@kefka900just a newer formula they have with a little better performance.
I love this video I own a computer repair shop and I get this question a lot when it comes to new builders!
I have always used the Noctua NT-H1 Paste. I have found it long lasting and provides consistent results over multiple builds.
Put it on a 3070 last nigth. Easy to apply. Last for years in my experience. Even better than what Noctua says regarding longevity.
Vote for the NT-H1 from me too. It also works well for GPUs and PlayStation 4
Same here, pretty surprised I had to scroll a bit to find it !
Used the NT-H1 for quite a while, now I always go for the NT-H2 as its the upgrade and I beleive the H1 wasn't listed anymore the last time I buyed some. H2 seems to not squish out as far as the H1 is
Quite a goopy one, that tend to squish out over the time but might be why it's not dry after a year or more (I do maintenance every year or so) so I never actually saw this paste completly dried out. Used both versions in custom builds, servers, consoles and even a phone repair for the NT-H2. Price could be better but I appreciate the alcohol wipes that come in the 10G pack, I always cary one in the tech bag, pretty handy
Same, kinda surprised he didn't include it as popular as it is.
It will dry out in a year and you will need to re-paste. Any MX is better in that regard.
Bit surprised that Jay didn't include a thermal paste from Noctua... I always used the included NT-H1 while using Noctua coolers, and then bought a separate NT-H2 when switched to an AIO. Another reason for choosing the NT-H2 was that I switched to AM5, and Noctua had an AM5 edition of the thermal paste, so the box also included a thermal paste guard for AM5 CPUs. I like when everything's included.
Have you tried noctua on a gpu just curious I had to switch because it would melt off gpu with 1-2 month period
@@GrayReactsYT No, I only used Noctua thermal pastes on CPUs.
@@GrayReactsYT I ran NT-H2 on my GPU with a water block for over a year, no issues.
Noctua pastes are good stuff. Definitely better than Arctic MX-4 but probably wouldn't be a significant departure from the trend shown in this video.
@@GrayReactsYT I have used NT-H1 on a bare die CPU (so similar to GPU application) and it was mostly fine. The one challenge I had was that the NT-H1 was a little thicker and therefore more difficult to spread/seat the cooler on evenly. A minor nit but if you want absolute ease of installation, Arctic MX-4 or MX-6 is very easy to apply to bare dies.
As someone who built a system back in 2017, I went with Arctic MX-4 for my I7-6700k cpu which was paired with a Coolermaster Hyper 212. I ran the PC from 2017 all the way to 2022 with zero issues whilst pushing the CPU to its limits and my temperatures more or less remained the same as the earlier years with no major negligible difference between them. The only reason why i replaced and reapplied more MX-4 to my CPU in 2022 was because i was doing a standard maintenance run and clean of my computer as i was preparing it for more hardware and thought i might as well just do a refresh of the paste whilst i am here, But i honestly believe it would have gone another 5 years without any problems had i left the original goop i put on there back in 2017. For me it was more of a piece of mind situation so i could rest easy knowing that i have done the necessary maintenance to my rig so it will last throughout the ages.
Been using AS5 since the late 2000's, I haven't had any issues with it. It just works, that's all I care about.
I ran AS-5 exclusively from 2006 to 2024, but I couldnt get any AS-5 from the Egg when I put this rig together so I tried something different. Cooler Master Cryofuse Ultra-High Performance was the same price of 7.99 for a 2g tube. I dont know about longevity as I have just started using it but I do know my TEMPS are amazeballz on a 14700K. So if you ever want to try something new that might replace AS-5.
It is an outdated TIM and you can get better performance without the conductivity downside elsewhere. Cheaper too. Good stuff but not worth the money in 2024.
@@falkwulf3842 AS-5 came out 2012, you probably used AS-2 or 3 in 2006. Still good stuff, my Q6600 from 2007 is still on it's first pasting of AS-2 or 3 today.
@@MaaZeus AS-5 is not conductive but it is capacitive and lasts forever without needing to be repasted. Almost all others need a repasting every few years but not AS so it is very cost effective. I've got a Q6600 that is still running today and I've never needed to repaste it in 17 years, mind you it's AS-2 or 3 but 17 years and it's still working like a few days after I first applied it. Oh and it was overclocked from 2.4GHz to 3.0GHz for the first 9 or 10 years.
I am in a similar situation as you, except I have been using arctic MX for years. I know its not the best but it has always worked well for me and lasts for a really long time.
@JayzTwoCents Wish you had included some of the "new" thermal sheets in this. They are supposedly lasting forever, and no messy application.
Only problem with including the thermal graphene based sheets is that they don't qualify as a "paste", but more of a thermal transfer "medium" like a GPU's thermal pads.
Second this. Would have loved to see how it compared. Even if it's not a paste it's still functioning the same
I want to see some tests with those as well they are interesting
@@z0lid Even if it's 5c hotter it could be a boon for server, set-it-and-forget-it usages. A great solution to make a build for your parents imo. They're gonna use it until the CPU fan dies before upgrading.
id love to see how the sheets compare to paste apps
So - they all perform basically exactly the same, within about 2 -3 degrees at the most. Thanks for confirming I don’t need to worry or care about using anything other than the thermal paste that my cooler came with 😊
Recently switched to PTM7950, so much easier to apply and I am getting better thermals as well
What paste did you switch from
Same for me, switched from the KPX and it improves my temps quite a bit
@@chris_007 either hydronaut or aeronaut from Thermal Grizzly
I still use the AS5, it lasts for years. You just have to apply it properly, spread an even layer just enough that you can't read the cpu markings. I have one that hasn't seen a temp increase for 10 years.
Same, I always am like, hmm i probably should replace my thermal paste soon. But then I look at my temps and they are the same, nothing in my setup gets hotter than 70c.
I've been using the Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut for 3 builds in the last 6 years and each time I pull the cooler off it is never dried out. I finally finished of my 3 gram tube and that's even after having to replace 2 coolers on the current system. 1 of coolers had the stud broke with just finger tightening the thumb nut (I am 5'4" 135, not body building material). The second had the AIO pump fail (Arctic Cooling liquid freezer II 360mm, replacement was going to take too long to wait but it's still coming and will be a Back-up). I also repasted once after 2 years on the 1st system I used it on (It was soft, like butter?,but not dried). I used to be an Arctic Silver MX-4 fan (It's not a horrible paste and on the site it mentions it's a side by side to MX-5 & not a replacement). I wholey trust and will continue using Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut until something else is as affordable and performant for 3 grams plus spreader (the 3 gram kit is not expensive). I have no doubt KPX is also something I would enjoy. End Point, spending a few dollars more for piece of mind that I've done everything I can to protect the thermal state of the CPU is WORTH $20 (which I pay less for the 3 gram kit). Cheers! Stay Healthy and Stay Sane!
I switched to PTM 7950 pads on my most recent build and I'm never going back to thermal paste! It was so easy and I'm getting better thermals.
how much better? lets say compare to Mx-6 or similar.
Can you reuse these pads? I've been thinking about purchasing a bunch and doing all my PCs in the house so I don't need to repaste them.
will give it a try with my next system... propably when AMD releases the X3D Zen5
@@kh_trendyno its just a semi solid paste, once its on, its on. It melts and reforms but its like, on there. Also takes a few heat cycles to reach max performance
@M0nsterRipper I used to use Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut with the spread thermal paste method and I got about a 7 deg avg difference when running Cinebench.
Never thought it actually made any difference, unless it was a really, really cheap one
It technically does, but not enough to actually matter outside of special circumstances. Main thing that matters, like Jay was saying, is how well it holds up over time and how easy it is to apply. As long as you don't get cheap nonsense.
@@LifeInJambles yeah, exactly, with cheaper pastes I saw a faster reduction in performance and had to repaste way sooner than expected
@@TheRaidenRaiden Yeah, any name brand paste will be fine, atleast for a while...The more expensive pastes will stay good for much longer though...I use kryonaut because I have the extra money and I like supporting Derbauer...I did buy a tube of Insignia brand paste from Best Buy one time because it was all they had and I needed something right then...It was the absolute worst thermal paste I have ever used! I think toothpaste would conduct heat better than that stuff! lol
@@brucepreston3927 Was it the white stuff. I tried some insignia stuff from Best Buy and It was white looked like white acrylic paint, spread about as good as frozen Peanut butter and cooled like I wasnt using any TIM at all. And the cleanup cost me a half a box of Qtips and a full bottle of 93% Iso. Sound like the stuff you were using?
@@TheRaidenRaiden cheap chinese GD-900 ftw
Just to be clear, you can get much better prices on Thermal Grizzly and KPX if you buy larger quantities. About $3 a gram if you buy 10g
MY 2 Cents: I (accidentally) used a 21 Years Old Arctic Silver 3 syringe to bring back to life an old 2080 Ti which was thermal throttling real bad (Ambient temp inside the house is always about +32C/90F in summertime). I meant to use the newer Arctic Silver 5 but picked the wrong syringe from the lot and only realized it when it was too late. Long story short I was afraid I messed up but the card now, despite the high ambient temps and OLD AF paste, works even better than when it was brand new with higher clock speeds and lower temps. Quality paste really does make a difference and it has got a really long shelf life.
That’s the best part of the AS line, lasts forever.
@@ChzimpO It doesn't last any longer than any other paste..... I've seen the pre-applied TIM on a stock Intel cooler go 15 years without thermal issues.
I would've loved to see Noctua's paste in this test. It's the one I've used for the last 10 years, but it would be awesome to see it compared to others.
Every review I've seen of it puts it right in the bunch with mx-6, kryonaut and corsairs paste (which i forget the name of but is actually good) so definately a very decent paste.
Used NT-H1 for years with good results. Also tried Kryonaut and did not see any real difference. NT-H1 has never given me an issue and it is cheaper. I get the giant tubes.
cheaper than Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut, performs about the same, but then we're not supporting der8auer, so I might start using Thermal Grizzly for that reason alone, when my NT-H1 is empty, which might take a long time
It's strange this video hasn't happened before from those I follow. Thanks man. I'm actually curious to see the results.
Arctic Silver 5 isn't the easiest to spread, and doesn't have the top end thermals, but for an extremely long term build, it's been the most consistent. After 6 or 7 years on my last rig, it still wasn't dry, and had the exact same consistency as it when I first put it in.
I always use it on a build that's not shooting for max performance and isn't going to see much maintenance.
And Jay is 100% right. It's like a bad poop or anti-sieze to clean up 😂
Get a cup of hot water and leave the tube in it for 5 or 8 minutes. As for length of use, I used AS-2 or 3 in 2007 on a Q6600 and it is still the same temps 17 years later.
I can attest to it durability. Had a HEDP gaming pc that built in 2013. in 2017 made it a NAS/gaming server running 24/7. Stripped the head of screw for the cooler. I used arctic silver 5 then. I didn't bother trying to change the paste ever since i knew it would be a hassle. But this year i decided to get rid of the system. Sold the parts used. When i took it off i was amazed that it still wasn't dry. After 11 years of use. Never had issues with thermals on it.
However when i built my new system this year i tested arctic silver 5 vs mx-6. Let it run for 1 week before i checked the thermals. Arctic silver 5 was 4 degrees warmer. So went with MX-6. I will see in some years if i the thermals are still good.
Still running silver 5 on all my server needs.
I can confirm that. On my last two builds i used the Arctic Silver Paste. The older of the two is a AMD FX8350 , 8 Core / 8 Threads @4GHz with 64GB Ram and the paste is now 11 Years on the CPU and is still working absolutely fine with an Skythe Carma Cross II Aircooler. The Rig is used mainly for Video Editing and rendering and also Gaming once in a while. The Paste is still in top condition after all these years.
Arctic provides a cleaner, the reason it stays liquid over years is its silicone oil base carrier fluid, this is also what makes the cleaning a bit difficult. use an oil based cleaner first, theirs is most likely just orange oil based, at least it smells like it. after getting the thermal paste off with the oil based cleaner you can clean-up with alcohol as usual
I bought a Tube of AS-5 in 2007 with my E6600 in 2007, I haven't had a CPU under a cooler as long as @1300BlueStar. I still have used that same tube for the 4 subsequent builds since 2007, its been the old reliable friend.
Been using mx4 with i9, i7 & ryzen with AIO or Tower cooler and never had any issues, it's a great product at a great price and it last a long time too!
I've been using the Arctic Silver 5 for over a decade. I've never had heat issues and have never needed to re-apply. I would like to see you do a video on the new thermal pads that are purporting to be better than the paste.
Same. Going on six years since i applied Artic Silver. Just ordered more for a new build
I love Thermal Grizzly and it is my go-to compound. I bought 2 tubes like 4 years ago and still haven't used all mine up.
$9 a gram isn't bad at all, I have NEVER had to replace the paste on an IHS unless I had to replace the cooler on a CPU for an unrelated reason. I have also used Thermal Grizzly on GPU coolers.
Most the PCs I build are for Engineers that do CAD/CAM workloads. I typically build / rebuild their systems every 3-4 years. In the 100s of systems I have built, rebuilt or serviced, I have yet to have any issues with Thermal Grizzly as long as it was applied correctly in the first place. Even in cases where it was over applied and it was squishing out the sides, I still haven't had thermal issues (just a mess to clean up).
And for those kind of regular systems, just use their cheaper stuff, that's what Roman always recommends because he himself knows that the expensive stuff is at most slightly better. And a lot of the 9$ is probably from taxes as well, as it has to be imported from the EU, it's definitely cheaper over here.
@@cromefire_ Writing from Sweden the TG Kryonaut 1g is sold for 109 SEK in one of Swedens most popular shops. That equals to 10,47 USD as of writing this message.
@@kiiroMADE here in Germany directly (of course that'll skew it a bit) you can get it for like 2.50€ if you get the 3ml, which I believe something along those lines was used in the video. The 1g is also 8€, but much of it is probably just handling the item in the warehouse and so on, if you need it more than once, just get like even the 1,5ml and then it's way more reasonable than 1g. Even if you get stuff from Amazon for example, you'll barely see something below 5€, because handling costs just don't add up otherwise.
I bought a 10cc syringe of a white industrial thermal paste used for transistors and rectifiers like 15 years ago, 4$, and that's what I've been using since then. Never had an issue. And it's at least 15 years-old... 🤷
standard zinc oxide+silicone, i bet?
@@andygozzo72 Probably white lithium in silicone, it's been used in audio electronics for a very long time, and is more temperature stable than zinc, and the problem with knock-off pastes is exactly that they use zinc, which is not suitable for the task. If you're into hard core DIY, you can make your own thermal pastes using silicone or dialectric paste as the base, and adding your favorite material of the week to the mixture, micro diamond and micro sapphire are easy to find as polishing abrasives, and very affordable. For silver powder I used really fine sandpaper, and part of a bar. It's a fun use for spare equipment, not the thing to use on your gaming rig the first time you play.
The MX-4 has been my go to over the years been storing mine in my fridge. Had to come see your reviews/recommendations for a new application. I’m a lot less nervous about getting the job done (I have always dreaded this part of my PC maintenance). Great video! 😅
🤣🤣🤣🤣
It's crazy, I've been building my own PCs since 2004, and I started using Arctic Silver back then, and I still use it today. I even have a tube sitting on my desk right now. Mine, my wifes, and my kids PC all have it, they're all on nearly 24x7, and I've never had an issue with a PC over heating out of the 3 dozen or so PCs I've built over the years. Glad to see it's at least competitive with other top brands. That said, I did buy a couple sheets of PTM7950, and my new builds ill be giving those a shot.
Wow you have thermal paste sitting on your desk?! Me too 🤯🤯
Nice, Theres nothing wrong with it and it works just fine still. I use it on my main system, ive got a few systems with different Tp's on them and they will be checked/re-pasted very soon to see the results after 1-2-3 yr tests. I do it to see whats best for my systems and whats the best value, plus I like my own tests/data, trust but Verify, if you will. For example, how many Years will it last without drying right out and being useless. So far the only paste thats not been worth a cent is the Cheap chinese stuff. Its really oily and dries after 6-8 months. All my systems are 24/7 I should add. I see no real difference between Arctic, Gelid, Silver etc thus I dont see the need ( no sub zero here) to spend More money on Kp's brand or TG either. As for the PTM 7950 pads, theyre $30 bux per pad here and that stops me, that would get Very expensive to swap over. Ill stick to $10 purchase of the regular old paste thats done me well for the past 30 years. Cheers.
The problem with the PTM 7950 phase change thermal pad is that it is still subject to the pumping action due to thermal cycling.
Unless you can either guarantee that you won't thermal cycle your CPU from min to max (and back), then the phase change thermal pads will be fine. But if your CPU will EVERY hit the max, and then bottom back out to minimal load, then you will have the pumping effect happen, which is the same issue with thermal paste.
So it's either run your system upto moderate levels of load, or run it full tilt, 100%, all the time.
@@ewenchan1239 PTM is not subject to pump out
@@bose301s
"PTM is not subject to pump out"
Yes, it is.
Think about it -- it's PHASE CHANGE thermal pad.
What to you think happens, when it changes PHASES?
From Arctic Silver website: "Not Electrically Conductive:
Arctic Silver 5 was formulated to conduct heat, not electricity.
(While much safer than electrically conductive silver and copper greases, Arctic Silver 5 should be kept away from electrical traces, pins, and leads. While it is not electrically conductive, the compound is very slightly capacitive and could potentially cause problems if it bridges two close-proximity electrical paths.)"
Also, I applied some AS5 2 weeks ago and it ran out of the tube fine. Was not hard to squeeze at all.
yeah his AS5 is really weird. Mine is like when I got it 10 years or some ago
Same here!
If you want to get pedantic - by definition, capacitance is a form of conductivity since it reflects the ratio of charge transferred between two isolated conductors...the marketing department is taking some "creative liberties" with that one.
But even if interpreted colloquially to mean "won't fry your components", no one wants to have to clean up bits of rogue thermal paste because there are electrical issues, no matter how non-permanent they are.
Arctic Silver 5 was great back in the day but it is an average performer with some (minor) risks now.
@@AlexanderNecheff Just apply a thin skim and you won't have a problem. If you get push out like Jay was showing you've used way way too much. Honestly I was cringing when Jay was spreading on that cpu, I'd say he had more then twice the paste that was needed.
None of the times I used AS-5 was it hard to get out of the syringe. My first thought when Jay said that was he must have gotten an old tube of it.
I currently have 4 Gaming rigs running with Arctic Silver 5, because... it was a top recommendation when I built the PC's.. the oldest TWO are just over 6 years old, the youngest is two and a half years old. About to build a PC for traveling between homes, instead of trying to pack up my main gaming rig all the time, and will be using the same tube, since I bought a 12 gram tube of the Arctic Silver 5 way back when.... The first had an AIO, but it died swiftly, the pump quit, and I have replaced it with a Noctua NH-D15... (Or similar.) Since then I have been staying away from the water, and have yet to have any issues with the Arctic Silver 5 on any of the gaming rigs. I am not trying to promote it, Just saying, thats what I got/bought and have been using with no problems so far! Keep up the good work!
Controversial, but I've run a much smaller experiment, and I concluded it doesn't really matter all that much what you use unless you are doing extreme overclocking. Between Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut and a tub of white thermal paste from Coolermaster, there was at most 3C difference. Given the one is a small tub of thermal paste, we are talking about a MASSIVE price difference for marginal improvement.
Yup! The most difference is in long time stability. You can really see when a paste is using 30%+ silicone. Good paste (long time stable) is usually using 55-65% Aluminiumoxid, 15-20% zink, and rest silicone paste. Paste like this is usually a bit more viscous because it contains so much solid particles. And this is what makes the paste also long time stable
How about the Paste that cracks and dries up over a short period of time. That’s the main point he’s talking about here to me. I don’t want to constantly have to reapply my past. Pain in the butt and I had a bad experience one time remounting the AIO. I tightened down the 4 screws to the mounting bracket too hard apparently and the CPU was not running correctly afterwards and tried everything before taking the AIO off and inspecting the Pins. Sure enough I had smashed 2 pins in the lower right hand corner. I was able to use a needle to bend them back up into position luckily and remounted everything and it worked fine. The KingPin paste he’s talking about will not dry up or crack so I want something like that. That CPU was a 14900KS very expensive and it’s running like a champ today.
@@papasmurf5598 The paste only dries out if they use cheap silicone oil. If it is cheap the vapor preasure is to high. Best is silicone oil that is used or example in Diffusion pumps. It does have a so low vapor preassure that it does not dry out (even under vakuum). There are a bunch of pastes that are doing fine in this regard. The Apex, Thermal Grizzly is making a new paste right now that will focus on long time stability, Thermalright TF8, Apex or simply go with the Thermal Grizzly kryosheet (this will 100% not dry out because it is not a paste. It is made out of carbon nanotubes).
@svenhoff2653 Thanks for that Info. I do use Thermal Grizzly and it has been great.
I guess it depends on the purpose.
We know that CPU blocks don't vary in performance that much either, but the price can be ludicrous and differs wildly between them. But let's say if you're investing into the AlphaCool Core 1 because it has dethroned pretty much everything else by about the same margin we have here between the MX4 and the Thermal Grizzly - and you're willing to throw cash at it -, then I guess you won't cheap out on the thermal paste either to lose the marginal gain the better block brings on the table, will you?
Or if 3°C doesn't matter, then I guess a budget build would do the job just fine too. Heck, even water cooling isn't necessary.
installed a thermalright peerless assassin 120 today, i just used the tube that came with it
This 😁 Thermal paste really does not matter much. Even without your cpu gets cooled (check out the video of Tech Illiterate), although not recommended. I just check what Noctua is saying about which method to use for which CPU and that's it. I am AM5 and the said pea, work perfectly. Not a fan of spreading it like Jay tbf.
My did an AM5 build last year and used the paste that came with the PA120SE and haven't seen any difference in temperature. I used the X pattern when applying and was probably over generous with it as there was a tiny little creep out of the sides when I tightened down the cooler.
@@BiscuitBarrel179 X pattern is also fine, just spreading it, is usually not recommended anymore, because you can have air bubble and with X or a pea, you press the air with the paste from the center out. Noctua always does great tests and gives their recommendations. But in the end it anyway does not matter much.
To be fair almost all quality coolers come with brand thermal paste. Even if it's not labelled as such
I still use the good old white silicone heat sink compound. I have super heavy 70's and 80's amps with this stuff and it still does the job. It doesn't dry out, it doesn't need to be replaced, it just works.
Yeah honestly I thought something like that would be a good thing to add to this video I feel that I wasted my time watching it because it did not have a base to compare it to.
I've been using AS5 since the ThermalRight XP-90 on my Athlon 64 and it's been a solid performer for decades. It's shocking to see how well it holds up against modern compounds, I was expecting something else to have come out by now to do noticeably better.
@5:24 I was actually hoping to see if IC Diamond made the cut but I guess not, I was part of the original test batch back in the day and still use it on everything to this day, one day I'll have to run my own experiments but with no following I doubt anyone would care
Another great video! I was just having a similar conversation at work. This clears up a lot.
Would love to see the PTM7950 sheets tested and thermal grizzly sheets and all that stuff, also been reading about PTM 7958 SP as a very interesting option especially for my laptop, my desktop im sure is fine with whatever it doesnt struggle thermally at all since the gaming loads arent enough to push it to its limits
I too would like to see a comparison of the thermal pads and see how they stack up to these thermal pastes.
@10:38 Well, that was a hell of a mental image I didn’t think would come along with talking about computers!
I use both thermal grizzly kryonaut and conductonaut. I think you did a great job explaining things. Not sure if you agree, but I think the problem with liquid metal is that most people don't understand that less is really more, but it's a chore getting it to latch and spread to the surfaces. I think this causes people to over add liquid metal causing the leakages.
I've had good results from mx-4 and noctua's nt-h1. Both have lasted years in my systems without having to re-apply the paste. I'm currently using nt-h2 and that does tend to spread easier. I've been using that for several months without issues. Get whichever is cheaper.
H1 is cheaper than H2. Also performs better than MX-4 and lasts longer. MX4 is one of the cheapest name brand pastes on the market. You generally get what you pay for. 20g of MX-4 is $2 cheaper than 10g of H1. But MX-4 is fine for most people. I like to OC so I get the Noctua NT-H1. But I don't have any high end hardware so it is pointless to spend more than that.
For that matter, TF-4 is even cheaper than MX-4 if you are just getting a small tube and performs about the same.
Arctic Silver needed 50hrs of curing via multiple heatcycles to perform at its best(according to datasheet) and that curing time was the reason why it fell out of fashion. These days I either use Noctua NT-H2 or Arctic MX-4 for thermal paste and for low maintenance systems graphene thermal pads that are available on market.
Edit: Checked again and curing time is 200hrs for Silver 5 not 50hrs.
Yeah, you have to let it cure for a while. It's an "apply and forget" thing, not an "apply and see immediate results."
I use it on long-term builds where I'm just mounting a cooler and never going to touch it for the next 5 years. Even after 5 years it'll still be tacky and malleable.
I remember the days of installing with AS5, doing benchtests - and then coming back 5 days later and and everything benched 2c cooler after it cured :)
I've been using Article Silver 5 for well over a decade It has been solid and even though it has its flaws it's still a Solid Paste and lasts a REALLY Long Time I used it on GPU's, Laptops, even my Nintendo Switch and it has never let me down. It's OG but it's still Solid to this day.
“it's almost like a butt plug that just shoots out of there and then it craps all over your CPU like Taco Bell.”
First, I wanna know why we are using a butt plug,
and 2 ... I can die now. At least I'll die laughing.
Ok i got to watch now
You need the buttplug to hold the tail in. How else are you gonna hold the tail?
YES 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
@@mannyea Belt 🤨😑😑😑
@@Drewkungfoo Where is the fun in that?
Just FYI,the 4090 on the back is showing Jay it's gratitude by spinning the fans 7:37 😂
Lmao I just saw this and was about to comment, the ghosts of EVGA GPU's are haunting jay
Agree with what you stated. There's only margin gains for the 'expensive' products. I've had great success with Noctua NT-H1, which I think is really good and valued.
Am I the only one who noticed the EVGA 4090 fans spinning randomly?
Nope, he has it turned on 😂
I liked how the fans aren't even synchronized, each fan just does whatever it wants.
@@dslynx The third fan has a different power source to the first two.
It is their iCX technology, they place thermal sensors all over the card and only activates the individual fans as required by the area under it.
That's caused by poorly set fan curves for the GPU.
Thermal paste? Nah.
Honeywell PTM7950? Of course.
100%
Do you mean, LTT PTM7950? lol
@@Keaton. If only it were in stock right now... moddiy does have stock thankfully, which is who LTT recommended prior to them stocking it.
@@Keaton. Iv'e tried the cheapest ones I could find on Ali Express and they perform the same as the LTT one, only difference is that one time the Ali Express PTM 7950 came half squashed but it still worked in dropping Hot Spot temps for my 7800XT and 7900xtx. The ones from Ali Express are like £4 for 80x80x0.2mm sheet and it comes with free tools too
I switched to ptm on my 7900xtx a week ago and have done a ton of burn ins with furmark and just playing games like cyberpunk and bl3. The improvement hasn't been as big as I hoped. I only dropped about 4° on my hotspot and 5° on my die temp. And there's still a 25° delta. I guess my limit wasn't the compound but the cooler itself.
As someone that still has some AS5 in my drawer.. I've never had the viscosity issue you described with getting it out of the tube... definitely possible that they have changed the formula over the last few years, but I found that interesting.
I've been using arctic silver since they started making it, every tube I've ever gotten was the exact same paste every time. Never seen it thicken at the tip, although I've seen several of the lithium pastes do that, and I tend to avoid any brand that does. I've built hundreds of machines, and serviced thousands, rarely is the thermal paste itself the problem, if ever. Badly applied paste, improperly mounted heat sinks, and one or two thermal paste plastic covers that didn't get peeled, but no instances where the paste itself failed. By far the number one thermal problem for both desktop and server systems is dust, just dirty heatsinks.
Would like to know how graphene pad compares to thermal paste as they technically last forever.
MX-4 all the way so far for me.
even after MX-6 came out?
@@MobiusGT In my experience the mx6 dries out very quickly and is a pain to remove, mx4 last for many years, easy to remove, works fine and also taste good.
@@MobiusGT MX-6 is my backup if I'm out of Kryonaught its decent paste
@@MobiusGTlove the MX-6. Even though it’s the same car as the Ford Probe, I like the design and interior a bit more…..oh you meant the paste….sorry
@@Falita flavor is pretty important, have you tasted the japanese apple flavored thermal paste yet?
I have always used Noctua NT-H2 with great results. It's my go to.
I end up with Noctua on accident a lot by getting their coolers for stuff, but if I've ever went out and deliberately bought paste because I was low or just wanted some stuff for stock, I'd always get Grizzly. I actually used liquid metal on my laptop, and it has to be almost 15 degrees cooler on that thing. I love supporting Der8auer as well, as like you said, he's a super enthusiast with his own personality, and his morality is some of the best I've ever seen in the industry.
I used whatever Thermalright puts in the box with the PA120 I installed.
MX-6 is my favorite. I spread it using the cake-frosting method, and add a small blob of MX-4 to spread out. Has worked well on several builds.
Kingpin KPX has been my go to for years.
I just use whatever I have on hand! I still like Arctic Silver though!
I can't believe you used the phrase, " But Plug" in this video.
Caught me off guard 😂
I used to use Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut, but it lost its thermal conductivity over time. Now I use Arctic MX-6.
Same here
How long did it take for that to happen? All I use is kryonaut and I have 2 systems that I put it on CPU/GPU that I built 4 years ago for my workshop and they are giving the exact same temps as when they were built...Plus I have it on both the systems in my house...Kyronaut does dry up a bit after a year or two, but I have never noticed a difference in temps because of it...
@@brucepreston3927 Same.
My computer was built during April 2020, so 4 years.
It gets used almost every day, usually for gaming, image editing or light 3D modeling.
Temps are rock solid and with no variance other than when the room itself heat soaks (it's small and the window opens the other way around)
Went from TM30 (only thing at Best Buy) to MX-6 and the difference was noticeable
Same. But I'm planning to go back to normal Kryonaut since it seems my CPU rans a bit hotter (3-5 C higher) with the MX-6.
I used Kryonaut Extreme and it does not even last a year before degrading and having slightly worse performance than Kryonaut. Dunno why though.
Tldw: doesnt matter 1-2c difference.
Unless you buy the cheapest stuff which comes in a bucket, it makes no practical difference in my experience, as far as initial temps go.
It all comes down to whenever it is electrical conductive, how easy it is to apply and how long it lasts before it dries out.
In laptop or handheld device thermal paste matter a lot though,
@@mrbobgamingmemes9558 We must be looking at two differenr video, as this is not about hand helds.
@@Pandemonium088 yeah, just want to warm people that this is not the same scenario as on laptop,
Been an Arctic Silver user since it first came out, always been my go-to product. Never had any issues with applying or clean up. The method I use was smearing a thin layer across the whole surface, spreading it with just my finger. When taken apart, there was always full surface contact, cleaning old paste, I never used any solvent, just wipe with a rag was all that was needed. With that said, I will try Thermal Grizzly the next time I remove the cooler. I rarely overclock these days, so I never have heat related issues, been many years(over 15) since I've had a CPU failure.
Viscosity. The term you are searching for is - viscosity.
"The state of being thick, sticky, and semifluid in consistency, due to internal friction."
"cooling the fluid raises its viscosity"
Yeah it's actually the opposite of what he said. Viscosity is a stupid term and somehow counter-intuitive being the amount of non-fluidity :D
@@Balrog132 Yeah, that confuses people so much when people discuss it. High viscosity means it's jelly like, low is water like. Viscous fluid means hard to deform too. Don't confuse with vicious. :p
Absolutely love JTC! What a breath of fresh air from what the other guy became. JTC Keeps people enthusiastic about PC's and Building PC's where as the other guy just wants to sell you pillows and underwear. Thank You Jayztwocents for making cents of all these technologies.
how else will he afford his mansion with heated concrete floors and a water cooled server room using his pool?
@@fpbbqOh, we ARE talking about that guy. Heh.
I clean the thermal paste with Wurth - break cleaner. It also cleans sticky surfaces. Doesn't affect skin, doesn't affect the electronics if gets in contact, just clean dirt easily then evaporates.
Bro, scraping the turtle head had me rolling... 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
First time in a while I laughed that hard at a tech video joke 😂
Wished there are graphene thermal pads in this.
How would you know if there were? True graphene is invisible to the naked eye at One Atom Thick. KryoSheets are graphite, regardless of what the marketing says. Source: I make true graphene by the quart for industry, and it requires liquid suspension or direct substrate bonding via CVD, spectrography study and a TEM to find out how well the batch came out after a week of effort.
I remember doing some testing for a company 10+ years ago that was this "diamond dust infused", and it was amazing, 5-8C drops on CPUs that would otherwise run quite hot with all the mainstream brand thermal pastes. I ran one for several years with that stuff. Then came time to remove the heatsink and it was essentially fused to the CPU. Took some goo gone and high % isopropyl alcohol to finally cut through. Since then Arctic MX-4 has always been my go to, it consistently works well.
I almost felt bad laughing at this silly notion that this would be funny as a lube conversation.. until Jay drops the poop/buttplug comparison..
Yeah, I was expecting a taste comparison.
Unnecessary comma in the title
I can't remember what I used before arctic silver but it's what I used when I built my last computer in 2016 which is still running like a champ today with no overheating issues ever and my first computer ever was a C64 when I was a kid in the 80's and it was a hand me down from my moms cousin. I am retired and living in the Philippines with my filipina wife and kids and they dont have any real computer stores to speak of so I've ordered all the parts from Amazon to do a new build and when I was looking for a good thermal past on Amazon I ended up ordering Thermal Grizzly - Kryonaut Extreme and was unsure if I would like it or not but this video is giving me some confidence in my choice. I am pretty excited to get all my parts in hopefully the next week in a half and excited to show my wife and kids how to build a computer since none of them even know how to use a computer yet and the laptop that I am using now will become the household laptop for everyone to use.
your arctic silver 5 was a bad tube. I still use it and none of the tubes are hard to spread or have to be heated.
Or, he just needs to hit the gym. I've never had issues either.
Absolutely, it does have a shelf life and hardens in the tube.
Short Answer: Yes.
Long Answer: It depends.
My 955 BE, OC-ed to 3.2ghz, was done 13 years ago with Artic Silver and temps have been stable for over a decade. That said, it was known to conduct... but with intentful application, I never had a problem.
In my new build, I did use Thermal and have been totally happy with it. Protecting my $400 CPU easily justifies the spend - I almost went with Thermal's sheets, but it was a little too exotic.
surprised to see Gelid GC Extreme isn't recommended. I've had that paste in a system built back in 2015 and the cpu temps on that system is exactly as it was on day 1. never repasted. never even took the cooler fans apart. just simple regular cleaning of blowing dust out.
That's because this whole video is bullshit, he endorsed the german fuckboy, I've tried all of these religiously testing like a madman and GC was the lowest under stress and also at idle.
I even tested with the noctua paste that comes with their coolers and even that one was better than Kryonaut.
IT's just a massive marketing bullshit thing
Same here. I had to use the reflow method 4 times on my old GTX 770 from 2020 till 2022 in order to avoid the GPU scalping that happened during that time. The card may have died once again but the temperatures never increased one bit.
I used the last of the Gelid paste in 2021 on my 5900x / Noctua NH-D15 combo. No change in temperatures since then.
Overall you can't go wrong with Gelid Solutions GC-Extreme.
I've built or re-fitted at least 100 CPUs with MX-2 and MX-4. They're perfectly fine. I use the "X" method mostly.
Honestly, I've used Artic Silver and Noctua Thermal paste for many years. Yes, the Artic Sliver is messy, but I've never had to change it once applied. Hardware has a point of diminishing returns; by the time the paste begins to degrade (dry out/ harden), the hardware's toast. As one of my electronics instructors would say.... "we're picking fly poop out of pepper." Most of the time, I'm replacing the Manufacturer's dried-out crumbling chalk that was once in its lifetime some form of thermal coupler. BTW, you missed the Noctua thermal paste.
Kryosheet and nothing else, period.
I was hoping that would have been included in the comparison
I have switched to the thermal pad on CPU and I’m happy, but for GPU it is not available in my state and it is too expensive…
@@bohdan5093 You can cut them down to size. If you get the 50mm x 50mm, you can have several.
PRM7950 is pretty solid. It can compete with liquid metal in certain situations
I pretty much use Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut Extreme on everything
Pads on all my 5 computers. Performance and low temps.
I just wish TG put more than juuuust barely enough for one application in a tube.
I cracked open a fresh tube of KPX today, and it felt like I could have made it rain thermal paste. In a good way.
@@DasWandbild no doubt... My wallet cried because I had to get enough to repaste my GPU and enough for the Threadripper build I'm upgrading to before the end of the year 😂
Would've hurt less if I had bought it afterwards 😂
@@1967KIDbut what about dust cleaning on the radiators? Aren’t the pads vulnerable to the dismantling process?
My take has always been that yes, some pastes are better than others, but the paste-to-paste difference is relatively small, especially compared to the mount-to-mount variability.
Getting a proper mount is much more important.
The icing method usually winds up with an excessive amount of paste. I usually pre-warm the tube and use a gloved hand and spread it with my fingertip which results in a much thinner layer.
Also, it's amusing to still see Arctic Silver 5 on the list. That stuff was great 15-20 years ago, but - without having gotten to the results section yet, I can't imagine it actually keeps up today.
For the last several years I've been using the Kryonaut or Kryonaut extreme in my "overkill" water loops. It's a little thick when it first come sout of the tube, so heating it is definitely worthwhile, but once properly applied I find it lasts for several years without noticibly degrading.
My understanding is that the "Kryonaut Extreme" is not necessarily "better" across the board, but that it is better optimized for conductivity at lower temperatures, like one might see with more extreme cooling methods (or at the very least overkill water loops) so it's better to choose the right one for your application. Regular Kryonaut of rair or regular water-cooling and Kryonaut Extreme for extreme cooling or very beefy water loops. I have used Extreme on my GPU's for the last 3 years, and have been very happy with it. The CPU gets regular Kryonaut, and it works well.
Jay, this is a good time to remind noobs that Liquid Metal is not something the average person should be using. I always cringe when I see people talking about how they applied liquid metal and now their laptop won’t turn on or their motherboard won’t post, or their GPU isn’t detected.
Something like PRM7950 would be safer and offer performance close to liquid metal.
PTM7950 > Thermal paste.
I just want to mention a few things on price per gram (if you need a lot of paste).
MX-4 is available in a 45g tube for $25, and 20g for $14.
My default paste, MX-6, is only up to 8g for $11.
KPX is 10g for $30, and 30g for $56.
There are also some 10g Noctua pastes that are decently priced.
Though this is probably only useful to me because I have a few devices, and monke brain is activated by the better value of larger tubes.
Semen works well.
You put this video out a few hours after I bought some new paste. I thought the algorithm was bringing back an old vid based on my personal data again... Don't freak me out like that again, please!
Mx4 has always been my go-to for all my builds. It's been rock solid in every box I've built, the price is right, and it usually lasts long enough that I'm either upgrading my CPU or building a whole new box before having to replace it.
My dad asked me to repaste his laptop and mentioned to get some silver based thermal paste, i already have a tube of mx4 and this video shows me that old school wins, but the risk of a short in a laptop die especially since it's surrounded by all those little resistors worries me quite a lot, so it's great that the max delta between them is just 3 degrees and ease of cleaning after the paste had it's course means a lot, thank you for mentioning that caveat of arctic silver in the video :)
You could cover the resistors with a coat of clear nail varnish before using conductive pastes.