Thermal compounds - who uses what

Push it to the max but make sure that you keep it cool!
*Pilgrim*
Registered User
Posts: 115
Joined: 21 Feb 2011, 10:04
Location: Kemptonpark

Thermal compounds - who uses what

Post by *Pilgrim* »

I had a look through the forums and can't really find one specific topic dealing with this.

What I would like to know is:

1) Who uses what thermal compounds/ what would you recommend?
2) How does it perform; is there a noticible difference in temps (did it meet your expectations)?


This goes for CPU's and any other hardware that would require thermal paste.

Some input in this regard will be greatly appreciated.
MOBO: Intel P67-B3 "Barrage" Extreme Series | CPU: i5-2500K @ 4.5GHz | Cooler: Corsair H60 p/p | RAM: 2 X 4GB Corsair XMS3-1333MHz DDR3 | GPU: MSi GTX570 Twin Frozr III Power Edition OC | HDD: 500GB Seagate Barracuda | PSU: Corsair HX1000 | Case: CM 690ii Advanced |Screen: Samsung XL2370 |
User avatar
THE_STIG
Spoiled Brat
Posts: 11762
Joined: 26 Aug 2010, 20:33
Processor: Core i7 6800k
Motherboard: Asrock x99 taichi
Graphics card: Zotac 1080ti amp extreme
Memory: 16gb(4x4gb) corsair vengeance
Location: Some say.......

Re: Thermal compounds - who uses what

Post by THE_STIG »

I use either Arctic silver 5 (for my main rig)or the cheap R30 tube form the local matrix(for old pc's and unimportant stuff). The difference in temps is not massive, but the more expensive stuff does keep things a little cooler during the hot summer months so I guess it meets my expectations :) .

I did a test on an old hot running AMD Athlon xp 2500+.

Arctic silver :

35 at idle and 56 at full load.

Cheap stuff:

38 at idle and 60 at full load.

This was done during probably the hottest day in summer(think it was 35 or something). So I would go for the Arctic silver(there is an expensive Alumina version which goes for around R195 :shock: ) or one of the equivalents :wink: .
*Pilgrim*
Registered User
Posts: 115
Joined: 21 Feb 2011, 10:04
Location: Kemptonpark

Re: Thermal compounds - who uses what

Post by *Pilgrim* »

I'm currently using Zalman ZM-TG2 and I'm very disappointed with it, ok so it only cost me R37 but I needed it.

Long story short; RMA'd my mobo, received a new one on Friday and reassembled everything. Cleaned off all the old thermal paste and applied the Zalman paste, ran Prime95 and temps jumped up to 87 degrees. :shock: My CPU is running at default clocks with the stock cooler, so I wasn't expecting very low temps, but this is scary. Even with the thermal compound that came pre-applied to the cooler my temps never went over 80.
MOBO: Intel P67-B3 "Barrage" Extreme Series | CPU: i5-2500K @ 4.5GHz | Cooler: Corsair H60 p/p | RAM: 2 X 4GB Corsair XMS3-1333MHz DDR3 | GPU: MSi GTX570 Twin Frozr III Power Edition OC | HDD: 500GB Seagate Barracuda | PSU: Corsair HX1000 | Case: CM 690ii Advanced |Screen: Samsung XL2370 |
User avatar
THE_STIG
Spoiled Brat
Posts: 11762
Joined: 26 Aug 2010, 20:33
Processor: Core i7 6800k
Motherboard: Asrock x99 taichi
Graphics card: Zotac 1080ti amp extreme
Memory: 16gb(4x4gb) corsair vengeance
Location: Some say.......

Re: Thermal compounds - who uses what

Post by THE_STIG »

^^ wow, i think you might want to invest in some better stuff. I actually have a similar problem, my core 2 E7500 runs at 40 idle and 60-65 under full load according to core temp. But the bios repports it running at 35 idle and 48 under full load. So I think the bios is more acurate but I am going to get a new cooler.
IcePick88
Registered User
Posts: 1341
Joined: 18 Mar 2008, 02:00
Location: KZN
Contact:

Re: Thermal compounds - who uses what

Post by IcePick88 »

*Pilgrim* wrote:I'm currently using Zalman ZM-TG2 and I'm very disappointed with it, ok so it only cost me R37 but I needed it.

Long story short; RMA'd my mobo, received a new one on Friday and reassembled everything. Cleaned off all the old thermal paste and applied the Zalman paste, ran Prime95 and temps jumped up to 87 degrees. :shock: My CPU is running at default clocks with the stock cooler, so I wasn't expecting very low temps, but this is scary. Even with the thermal compound that came pre-applied to the cooler my temps never went over 80.
Strange. I use the TG1 from Zalman and even with my "not so smooth" TX3's underside, my cpu temps never go over 45, and that is with a 600MHz overclock. :?:
CPU: AMD Phenom II X2 555 (OC'ed to 3.8Ghz)
CPU Cooler: CM Hyper TX3 P/P
GPU: Sapphire Radeon HD5850
Motherboard: Asus M4A785T-M
Memory: 4GB Corsair XMS3 DDR3 1333
Case: Zalman Z7
Display: Samsung Syncmaster 2243BWX
User avatar
Stuart
Lead Forum Administrator
Posts: 38503
Joined: 19 May 2005, 02:00
Location: Home

Re: Thermal compounds - who uses what

Post by Stuart »

*Pilgrim* wrote:I'm currently using Zalman ZM-TG2 and I'm very disappointed with it, ok so it only cost me R37 but I needed it.

Long story short; RMA'd my mobo, received a new one on Friday and reassembled everything. Cleaned off all the old thermal paste and applied the Zalman paste, ran Prime95 and temps jumped up to 87 degrees. :shock: My CPU is running at default clocks with the stock cooler, so I wasn't expecting very low temps, but this is scary. Even with the thermal compound that came pre-applied to the cooler my temps never went over 80.
That's just not normal. Cooler must not be seated properly or temp reading must be faulty or something. What is the reading in the bios?
Image
naughty
Registered User
Posts: 2707
Joined: 18 Feb 2003, 02:00
Location: durban
Contact:

Re: Thermal compounds - who uses what

Post by naughty »

you have to clean the old stuff out properly - and maybe lap the cooler too to get rid of the residue of the old stuff before you apply any new compounds - it helps a lot

i use the coolaboratory pro stuff - one syringe lasts at least 10 applications and even though i purchased this syringe a long time ago its lasted a long time ..... temps would be around 3 to 4 degrees cooler than with arctic silver 5 when properly applied .... we used it on my buddies i7 990 and the temps were around 40 degrees at idle - remember though that this is a 6 core cpu - i also have arctic silver 5 and also lots of arctic silver ceramique - i had purchased 33g tubes of those and theres so much left i could probably do at least 30 or 40 coolers yet
Asus Z68-V Pro/Gen3, i5-3570k, 16GB Kingston Hyperx DDR3-1600, Gigabyte Radeon HD6970 OC graphics card, Corsair H100 liquid cpu cooling, Lite-on Blu-ray burner, Western Digital Raptor X HDD, Gigabyte Sumo 5115 modded case, Samsung P2770 monitor
User avatar
Prime
Registered User
Posts: 27729
Joined: 01 Mar 2004, 02:00
Location: Getting into trouble
Contact:

Re: Thermal compounds - who uses what

Post by Prime »

I use the zalman stuff. my screwy 9300 runs noticeably better on it. check you cooler seating...

In fact I use the zalman stuff on my eletronics too :whistling:
Brad2.0
Registered User
Posts: 100
Joined: 20 Dec 2008, 19:00
Location: Durban

Re: Thermal compounds - who uses what

Post by Brad2.0 »

Im using very cheap stuff at the moment, I needed it urgently. I got it from Matrix, it was R15 rand.
But it is working!
My idle temps are 26'c and when maxed under load goes to 61'c average.
When gaming it goes to 58'c. Im using the corsair H50 on a 2600k clocked to 4.6ghz. Im happy with that.
Monty
Forum Moderator
Posts: 10000
Joined: 05 Feb 2004, 02:00
Processor: Intel i5-4690K @ 4.5GHZ
Motherboard: ASUS Maximus VII Formula
Graphics card: ASUS GTX970 Strix
Memory: 4 x 4GB Corsair Dominators
Location: Messing with your Mind
Contact:

Re: Thermal compounds - who uses what

Post by Monty »

I use Chuck Norris's Piss. Has to be handled very carefully, and if you put too much on, it melts the CPU, but it works very well.

I definitely rave about Arctic Silver, that stuff rocks! Did a PC remake for a friend, he saw temps drop from 50s to 20s with Arctic silver and a little case management
Art Williams wrote:I'm not telling you it is going to be easy, I'm telling you it's going to be worth it.
*Pilgrim*
Registered User
Posts: 115
Joined: 21 Feb 2011, 10:04
Location: Kemptonpark

Re: Thermal compounds - who uses what

Post by *Pilgrim* »

Cleaned off all the old thermal paste and reapplied new paste. Used slightly more pressure when I mounted the cooler and ran Prime 95 again. This time my max temp went up to 75 degrees, which is about 3 degrees less than what I got with the pre-applied stuff from intel. Idle temps are also about 3-4 degrees lower than previously. :D

On this subject, here is some interesting reading with regards to thermal compounds:
http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?o ... &Itemid=62
MOBO: Intel P67-B3 "Barrage" Extreme Series | CPU: i5-2500K @ 4.5GHz | Cooler: Corsair H60 p/p | RAM: 2 X 4GB Corsair XMS3-1333MHz DDR3 | GPU: MSi GTX570 Twin Frozr III Power Edition OC | HDD: 500GB Seagate Barracuda | PSU: Corsair HX1000 | Case: CM 690ii Advanced |Screen: Samsung XL2370 |
User avatar
THE_STIG
Spoiled Brat
Posts: 11762
Joined: 26 Aug 2010, 20:33
Processor: Core i7 6800k
Motherboard: Asrock x99 taichi
Graphics card: Zotac 1080ti amp extreme
Memory: 16gb(4x4gb) corsair vengeance
Location: Some say.......

Re: Thermal compounds - who uses what

Post by THE_STIG »

Monty wrote:I use Chuck Norris's Piss. Has to be handled very carefully, and if you put too much on, it melts the CPU, but it works very well.

I definitely rave about Arctic Silver, that stuff rocks! Did a PC remake for a friend, he saw temps drop from 50s to 20s with Arctic silver and a little case management
Yea that stuff is really good :D . Been using it for a long time now(since the Athlon XP days I think)
KillerByte
G3AR Staff Member
Posts: 5790
Joined: 08 Mar 2003, 02:00
Location: PCFormat HQ
Contact:

Re: Thermal compounds - who uses what

Post by KillerByte »

I use Noctua's NH-1 miracle stuff at home and Artic Silver 5 (a big tube from Landmarkpc.co.za) at work.
What I type has nothing to do with the people that employ me.
User avatar
Stuart
Lead Forum Administrator
Posts: 38503
Joined: 19 May 2005, 02:00
Location: Home

Re: Thermal compounds - who uses what

Post by Stuart »

THE_STIG wrote:
Monty wrote:I use Chuck Norris's Piss. Has to be handled very carefully, and if you put too much on, it melts the CPU, but it works very well.

I definitely rave about Arctic Silver, that stuff rocks! Did a PC remake for a friend, he saw temps drop from 50s to 20s with Arctic silver and a little case management
Yea that stuff is really good :D . Been using it for a long time now(since the Athlon XP days I think)
You were using Chuck Norris' piss in the Athlon XP days? But that was before everyone realised how über1337 he is!
Image
Hman
Registered User
Posts: 28520
Joined: 06 Oct 2003, 02:00
Processor: Intel i5 650
Motherboard: Asus P7H55-M LX
Graphics card: Gigabyte 7850 2GB OC
Memory: 8GB Kingston DDR3
Location: In my skin
Contact:

Re: Thermal compounds - who uses what

Post by Hman »

How big is your tube KB ?
"Every thinking man is a drinking man."


Member of the Barberton Tigers
KillerByte
G3AR Staff Member
Posts: 5790
Joined: 08 Mar 2003, 02:00
Location: PCFormat HQ
Contact:

Re: Thermal compounds - who uses what

Post by KillerByte »

its the 12g tube
What I type has nothing to do with the people that employ me.
Hman
Registered User
Posts: 28520
Joined: 06 Oct 2003, 02:00
Processor: Intel i5 650
Motherboard: Asus P7H55-M LX
Graphics card: Gigabyte 7850 2GB OC
Memory: 8GB Kingston DDR3
Location: In my skin
Contact:

Re: Thermal compounds - who uses what

Post by Hman »

That's dissapointing.
"Every thinking man is a drinking man."


Member of the Barberton Tigers
KillerByte
G3AR Staff Member
Posts: 5790
Joined: 08 Mar 2003, 02:00
Location: PCFormat HQ
Contact:

Re: Thermal compounds - who uses what

Post by KillerByte »

I was ignoring your sexual innuendo.
What I type has nothing to do with the people that employ me.
User avatar
StarPhoenix
B.Soc.Sci, M.SocSci [UPCF]
Posts: 17634
Joined: 11 Dec 2003, 02:00
Processor: Core i5 3470
Motherboard: Gigabyte G1 Sniper Z77
Graphics card: nVidia GeForce GTX 1060
Memory: 8Gb DDR3 1600
Location: East London
Contact:

Re: Thermal compounds - who uses what

Post by StarPhoenix »

On the one ocassion that I bought a second hand CPU and needed to buy a third-party cooler for it [Zalman 9500 LED - boy did I go overboard], I bought Arctic Silver thermal paste....from The Prophecy Shop, I think. Since I find it difficult to apply the stuff without making an unsightly mess, I'm much happier using the thermal pads that are affixed to the coolers that come with a new CPU.
"Humankind cannot bear very much reality." T.S. Elliot
KillerByte
G3AR Staff Member
Posts: 5790
Joined: 08 Mar 2003, 02:00
Location: PCFormat HQ
Contact:

Re: Thermal compounds - who uses what

Post by KillerByte »

I know a few guys will probably not like my method of application but I squirt out a small amount of compound on to the CPU then press it against the heatsink and twist and turn it so that it spreads over the surfaces of the CPU and heatsink.
What I type has nothing to do with the people that employ me.
User avatar
THE_STIG
Spoiled Brat
Posts: 11762
Joined: 26 Aug 2010, 20:33
Processor: Core i7 6800k
Motherboard: Asrock x99 taichi
Graphics card: Zotac 1080ti amp extreme
Memory: 16gb(4x4gb) corsair vengeance
Location: Some say.......

Re: Thermal compounds - who uses what

Post by THE_STIG »

Stuart wrote:You were using Chuck Norris' piss in the Athlon XP days? But that was before everyone realised how über1337 he is!
:lol: His piss is expensive but it will cool everything :lol:
KillerByte wrote:I know a few guys will probably not like my method of application but I squirt out a small amount of compound on to the CPU then press it against the heatsink and twist and turn it so that it spreads over the surfaces of the CPU and heatsink.


That is actually not a bad idea :) That little plastic spreader thing that thermal paste sometimes comes with just seems to make a mess :(
User avatar
StarPhoenix
B.Soc.Sci, M.SocSci [UPCF]
Posts: 17634
Joined: 11 Dec 2003, 02:00
Processor: Core i5 3470
Motherboard: Gigabyte G1 Sniper Z77
Graphics card: nVidia GeForce GTX 1060
Memory: 8Gb DDR3 1600
Location: East London
Contact:

Re: Thermal compounds - who uses what

Post by StarPhoenix »

KillerByte wrote:I know a few guys will probably not like my method of application but I squirt out a small amount of compound on to the CPU then press it against the heatsink and twist and turn it so that it spreads over the surfaces of the CPU and heatsink.
Hey if it works and you processor hasn't spontaneously combusted yet, why not? I may try that again should I ever need to buy an aftermarket cooler.
"Humankind cannot bear very much reality." T.S. Elliot
User avatar
THE_STIG
Spoiled Brat
Posts: 11762
Joined: 26 Aug 2010, 20:33
Processor: Core i7 6800k
Motherboard: Asrock x99 taichi
Graphics card: Zotac 1080ti amp extreme
Memory: 16gb(4x4gb) corsair vengeance
Location: Some say.......

Re: Thermal compounds - who uses what

Post by THE_STIG »

Which you will because the stock Intel ones are absolute rubbish :x :x :x
KillerByte
G3AR Staff Member
Posts: 5790
Joined: 08 Mar 2003, 02:00
Location: PCFormat HQ
Contact:

Re: Thermal compounds - who uses what

Post by KillerByte »

considering that the CPU goes from being installed to running at 100% load I need the paste to be on good and proper first time round.
What I type has nothing to do with the people that employ me.
IcePick88
Registered User
Posts: 1341
Joined: 18 Mar 2008, 02:00
Location: KZN
Contact:

Re: Thermal compounds - who uses what

Post by IcePick88 »

I normally squeeze a bit out and sommer spread it with my finger until I get a even spread. Not smooth I might add, but then the pressure from the cooler flattens it for me. I never have paste coming out the sides. And my temps are good. Checked again last night after a BFBC2 session and the max temp was 40.
CPU: AMD Phenom II X2 555 (OC'ed to 3.8Ghz)
CPU Cooler: CM Hyper TX3 P/P
GPU: Sapphire Radeon HD5850
Motherboard: Asus M4A785T-M
Memory: 4GB Corsair XMS3 DDR3 1333
Case: Zalman Z7
Display: Samsung Syncmaster 2243BWX
Post Reply