Thermal compound selection

Furion · Post by **Furion** » 10 Mar 2008, 22:13

Hello everyone.

fairly easy question here. What thermal compound are most of you using and from where did you purchase it? And its price. I was leaning towards antec silver but i am open to suggestions as well.

thanks

Post by **KillerByte** » 10 Mar 2008, 22:18

Artic Silver 5!!!

R100 for the small tube, enough to cover like 10 cpu's, or more.

Furion · Post by **Furion** » 10 Mar 2008, 22:21

Any online store that i can purchase from?

Post by **KillerByte** » 10 Mar 2008, 22:25

www.sybaritic.co.za

Furion · Post by **Furion** » 10 Mar 2008, 22:29

Thank you...thank you...thank you very much

Post by **KillerByte** » 10 Mar 2008, 22:37

pleasure

WiK1d · Post by **WiK1d** » 10 Mar 2008, 22:40

Wow, didn't know they stocked AS5, it's a ***** to track down in SA. Another damn good paste is the Zalman STG-01 or something

Post by **KillerByte** » 10 Mar 2008, 22:45

its also good to have some Arctic Silver ArtiClean 1 + 2 Thermal Surface Cleaner + Purifier just to clean any CPU or GPU's you have and you want to put on more compound.

WiK1d · Post by **WiK1d** » 10 Mar 2008, 22:50

KillerByte wrote:its also good to have some Arctic Silver ArtiClean 1 + 2 Thermal Surface Cleaner + Purifier just to clean any CPU or GPU's you have and you want to put on more compound.

In simplified terms, cutex remover

Obituary · Post by **Obituary** » 10 Mar 2008, 22:53

Just how much does the different brands of thermal paste impact temperatures?

WiK1d · Post by **WiK1d** » 10 Mar 2008, 22:58

Well, some claim to contain silver (the best conductor of heat besides diamond) when they don't, so they talk bs

Obituary · Post by **Obituary** » 10 Mar 2008, 23:01

So if I was to use the plain old stuff that comes with the stock cooler as apposed to artic silver, it wouldn't make that much of a difference?

WiK1d · Post by **WiK1d** » 10 Mar 2008, 23:02

AS5 will be a LOT better than what comes with heatsinks

Obituary · Post by **Obituary** » 10 Mar 2008, 23:06

Makes sense, but still my question is aproximately how many degree's difference would you notice?

WiK1d · Post by **WiK1d** » 10 Mar 2008, 23:08

depends, some users have noted up to a 10*C drop, but I'd say anything between 2-5C is plausible. It should help a lot with load temps though

Obituary · Post by **Obituary** » 10 Mar 2008, 23:09

Wow thats not bad at all 8O

Do you use arctic silver WiK1d?

WiK1d · Post by **WiK1d** » 10 Mar 2008, 23:17

Yeah I use AS5, or AC, depending on how my mood is

DAE_JA_VOO · Post by **DAE_JA_VOO** » 10 Mar 2008, 23:20

If you're willing to import, get yourself some MX-2. Made by the same company as AS5, but it wipes the floor with AS5.

WiK1d · Post by **WiK1d** » 10 Mar 2008, 23:23

Shin Etsu > *

Obituary · Post by **Obituary** » 10 Mar 2008, 23:23

Currently I use some cheap stuff that came with my cooler, would love some AS5 or the like

DAE_JA_VOO · Post by **DAE_JA_VOO** » 10 Mar 2008, 23:26

WiK1d wrote:Shin Etsu > *

Does it even beat MX-2? If so, have you got some linkage for that? I almost fell off my chair when i saw that MX-2 was generally 2'C colder than AS5. If this is even colder i think i'll crap my pants.

WiK1d · Post by **WiK1d** » 10 Mar 2008, 23:27

Dude, shin etsu is THE BEST paste out there, scarce and expensive as dino teeth, I'd kill for a tube. There's lots of sets. It's an old skool paste, not sure if it's in production anymore. (PPC's stocked them a while ago)

Obituary · Post by **Obituary** » 10 Mar 2008, 23:29

http://www.techwarelabs.com/reviews/coo ... ex_3.shtml

Linkage.

Wow it gets cooler as it sets in 8O

Conclusions
After testing fairly extensively, I've come to the conclusion that this paste is better than the Arctic Silver II I was using, but not something to fall all over yourself to pick up. It's not terribly hard to spread, but it is more difficult than something like Arctic Silver. It's thicker and takes a bit more to get where you want it. It's also pretty hard to clean up after if it gets everywhere.

I wouldn't recommend it over Arctic Silver III, but it might be alright for RAMsinks; I don't think it has any metal in it, which would eliminate shorting and possible fried cards.

Source - http://www.overclockers.com/articles742/

WiK1d · Post by **WiK1d** » 10 Mar 2008, 23:34

You can really use that as a comparison as it's tested on damn old hardware, but Shin Etsu is awesome. But for sub-zero action Arctic Ceramique destroys.

All in all, AS5 is the all rounder and is easiest to obtain

Obituary · Post by **Obituary** » 10 Mar 2008, 23:35

Tried finding more recent tests but there weren't any

Do you know of any stores that readily stock AS5 or the like?