Multiple Thermal Paste Comparisons and Review

Peter_Brosdahl

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Most of what you wanted to know about TIM but we're too afraid to ask. I'm not talking about Tim Cook, or Tim Sweeney. Talking about the gooey stuff every builder should get right so they can squeeze every megahertz out of their CPU while keeping it cool. Shut your mouth! But I'm only talking about Thermal Interface Material.
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Credit: Guru3d


I should say that if you're doing a build you should know the risks involved. If you're trying to improve a rig, or even a laptop, GPU, or anything with paste, there's risks involved. You could damage your equipment or yourself. Disclaimer: The FPS Review, or it's staff, does not accept any responsibilities, or liabilities for damages to, or limited to, equipment, property, person(s), or warranties, in using this information. Use at your own risk!

I've seen some reviews out there cover 1 or 2, maybe a few more, but never 20 so this is informative for beginner and advance builders. Looking thru the thread there's already users speaking up about other products they plan to add in later. They cover metrics about types such as metal, ceramic and carbon based with thermal conductivity, density, electrically conductive, even ease of use which provides a nice breakdown most will find useful.

edit: As pointed out by @Azrak , the original author used an incorrect terminology and has been corrected(along with my typo).

Tell us about your experiences with different products. Feel free to diverge into the realms of prepping GPUs, or CPUs, for liquid cooling as it is often a needed step. Share stories about simply trying to improve cooling for either desktop or laptops. Just because it came from the factory does not mean its always the best.

Full Story
 
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Anyone test mayonnaise? I always liked the massive showdowns that included random crap like mayo, toothpaste, and chocolate.

No practical reason, just for giggles, as it often worked decently well.

I have used zinc oxide before. It happened to be in a diaper rash ointment, but I figure the zinc oxide didn't really care what packaging it was in. It worked better than the stock thermal pad.
 
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Brian_B said:
Anyone test mayonnaise? I always liked the massive showdowns that included random crap like mayo, toothpaste, and chocolate.

No practical reason, just for giggles, as it often worked decently well.

I have used zinc oxide before. It happened to be in a diaper rash ointment, but I figure the zinc oxide didn't really care what packaging it was in. It worked better than the stock thermal pad.
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I remember back in the day THG using mayo. It performed very well, until it didn't. Lol


Pretty good round-up.

Never heard of capacitive TIM's before
 
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I was always an Arctic Silver user, but switched to the MX-4 with very good results.
 
The Thermal Grizzly Conductonaut really stood apart from the competition. Especially under high thermal load with an AIO. So the gallium in the Conductonaut doesn't react with intel/AMD IHS?
 
Terminus said:
The Thermal Grizzly Conductonaut really stood apart from the competition. Especially under high thermal load with an AIO. So the gallium in the Conductonaut doesn't react with intel/AMD IHS?
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Well, it's not a good idea to use on an IHS mainly because if you spill just a tiny bit over the side it could short out and it also sticks much more than regular TIM. It will also discolor copper heatsinks.
 
Was using MX4 for years, but recently switched to Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut. Until I ran out and used some EK Ectotherm I had laying around. I saw no difference in temps.
 
Riccochet said:
Was using MX4 for years, but recently switched to Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut. Until I ran out and used some EK Ectotherm I had laying around. I saw no difference in temps.
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I bought some Kryonaut and honestly, I don't see what's so special about it either. I used some like 5+ year old MX-4 before that and it seemed to be fine. As long as it's non-conductive and within 1-2C of the other pastes, I'll just go with whatever is cheapest.
 
Strelok said:
I bought some Kryonaut and honestly, I don't see what's so special about it either. I used some like 5+ year old MX-4 before that and it seemed to be fine. As long as it's non-conductive and within 1-2C of the other pastes, I'll just go with whatever is cheapest.
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I doubt most people are going to see much more than 1-2C between just about everything on the market given that it's applied correctly.
 
Terminus said:
The Thermal Grizzly Conductonaut really stood apart from the competition. Especially under high thermal load with an AIO. So the gallium in the Conductonaut doesn't react with intel/AMD IHS?
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Gallium doesn't react with nickel.
The only thing you need to worry about it reacting with is aluminum. It is very very very bad and results in destruction within just a couple of hours.
I've been using liquid metal for years and years with no issues.
 
Azrak said:
Never heard of it.

From the article:

Exactly the opposite of what is being tested. :rolleyes:

TIM stands for Thermal Interface Material.
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Thanks! I kept thinking it looked strange. Stranger still is where I got 'Infusion". "Insulation" is what the original author used but since I'm not doing a direct quote I'll change it on our side. Oh well, considering how much hard work Chris put into it, it's possible it may have been a translation error.
 
I'd be more interested in a long-term test, as some TIM's will "dry out" and performance suffers. I'm not into replacing my TIM every year.
 
pek2000 said:
I'd be more interested in a long-term test, as some TIM's will "dry out" and performance suffers. I'm not into replacing my TIM every year.
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Agreed. He did mention that a couple do go thru changes after install. Long term testing would be difficult. In order to maintain some accuracy you would need an equal amount of systems running under the same conditions for equal amounts of time. So twenty kinds of TIM would be twenty rigs. It's not impossible but would be really difficult for most sites.
 
lostin3d said:
Agreed. He did mention that a couple do go thru changes after install. Long term testing would be difficult. In order to maintain some accuracy you would need an equal amount of systems running under the same conditions for equal amounts of time. So twenty kinds of TIM would be twenty rigs. It's not impossible but would be really difficult for most sites.
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20 gpus doing some cryptomining....
 
AS5 still hanging in there after all these years. It's definitely showing its age, but it's well within an acceptable margin for non or light OC'ers.

I'm using PK-3 right now, but I may have to check out those Thermal Grizzly products a bit closer...
 
pek2000 said:
I'd be more interested in a long-term test, as some TIM's will "dry out" and performance suffers. I'm not into replacing my TIM every year.
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I ran some MX4 for I think 5 years or something and didn't notice any changes. It looked a bit dry when I took off the cooler but didn't seem to affect performance in any noticeable way. I did read that Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut should be changed every year or so, but I'm not doing it so we will see next year if temps increase!
 
Riccochet said:
I doubt most people are going to see much more than 1-2C between just about everything on the market given that it's applied correctly.
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I have to agree. I honestly just used what came with my motherboards, coolers or CPU. Been so long I don't remember which. The 2600k in my signature is pushing close to 8 years now and I honestly haven't noticed any change in cooling behavior. Even more so impressive since newer games are regularly taking it up to the 70-95% usage these days. I was glad to see all those years of working on my own cars when I was younger came in handy. Principle is fairly similar to making gasket seals, although back then some materials did make a difference for vehicles that ran hot(turbos).
 
I've been using Gelid Extreme since putting an aftermarket cooler on my 1080ti and it does what the reviews say, performs well above its W/K compared to other pastes, considering its supposed to be in the middle.
You dont need much at all, spread it ultra thin.
 
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