So what thermal compound are the kids using these days?

[Detale]

Well I was a huge fan of Arctic silver 5 for the longest time. Then I tries the IC Diamond stuff and what a PITA it was to apply but I never saw any noticeable difference. I figure I'm still working on the WC rig slowly and I'm going to order stuff so I need new compound.

So what do you use/recommend guys?

[ronscores]

Arctic MX-2 user here, just because could not get hold of AS5 :D

[Overlord]

I found no difference between the thermal compound that Intel put on their stock cooler & AS5.

[Cabalo]

AS5 here too. Once it gets some bedding, it has produced the best results for me, using WC.

[battues]

I use Thermalright Ultra-120A 1366on my new computer and the Thermalright TRUE Copper 775/1366/AM2 on my "old" computer with the Noctua 120MM Case Fan NF-P12-1300Rpm on both of them and filling very cool :)

[clocker]

I use AS Ceramique because it's non-conductive and I don't have to worry about getting it on something it shouldn't.

[Detale]

Ceramique??? I thought you were a silver guy Clocker? AS 5 says its also non conductive on the product page.

[clocker]

Seems to me I started using Ceramique because vid card waterblock makers recommended it...EK does, as do DangerDen and Swiftech.
Being a lazy sod, it was easier to just use it on everything.

Personally, I've never seen any evidence of the famous AS5 "settling in" phenomenon...where it gets better after 200 hours of use.
At this point I'm also not terribly concerned about whether there are better compounds available...I'm sure there are but only when my big tube of Ceramique runs out will I worry about it.

[Snee]

Ceramique??? I thought you were a silver guy Clocker? AS 5 says its also non conductive on the product page.

I've seen reviewers state its electrical conductivity is "negligible", and I've this notion that it would conduct at least a little electricity what with it containing silver. I'm not sure how they process it and how it works, though, that's just a notion.

Still using it.

[Detale]

I know what you mean. The UV fluid I was using to cool my rig was supposed to be non conductive as well. I know now first hand it was in fact conductive :dabs:

Something to think about.

[clocker]

OK, I thought about that all night.

Now I'm done and moving on.

Today I'll be thinking about unicorns, staying warm and the emissions system of a '96 LT1 engine...who's with me?

[Detale]

Why not use ceramique and make your own gaskets :O it'd work I swear!!!

[Byzantium]

Still using Arctic Silver 5... should I not be?

[Artemis]

Still using Arctic Silver 5... should I not be?

Hell yeah AS5 is still some of the best, clocker was just talking about a different arctic product he uses, ceramique, but AS5 still does the job, just don't get it on anything else but the heatsink/chip combo you are protecting, it doesn't go away..........

[clocker]

Let me add a bit of clarification...
I use Ceramique because I have a large tube of it- probably a lifetime supply, actually- and don't see any reason to switch.

After several years pursuing "the best" cooling products- up to and including thermal compounds- my current philosophy has become far more lax.
Basically, at this point if my PC doesn't melt into a steaming silicon puddle, I'm OK.

Lots of money and effort can be funneled into chasing a minor, sometimes undetectable, temp reduction and really, for what?
Can't say it ever mattered to the performance I can detect, benchmarks be damned.

It was, and still can be, an interesting intellectual hobby but as far as making the computer do more, there's little evidence I can provide that "super cooling" a PC actually works, much less justifies the price involved.

When my tube of Ceramique runs out- or more likely, gets misplaced- I'll see what compound is considered the best and probably get it.
Then forget about it and let the PC live in peace instead of in pieces, which has been Sprocket's normal state for lo these many years.

[Detale]

So C at the risk of being mis-quoted for all eternity, how big is this tube?:naughty:

[Col. Skillz]

heh, some say that shit expires after a few years or loses its conductivity.

these are the same people that reapply thermal paste every 6 months though =p

i keep my arctic silver in the freezer i think, or the fridge. along with my industrial supply of super glue i got for $5 on ebay =)

[athenaesword]

can't agree more with that. at the rate that processors are being churned out these days, the minute additional cooling/oc you can get from cooling would just get submerged under the new stuff.

i'm a firm believer that computing will not forever remain with the current architecture. these cooling solutions would probably come in redundant in the not too far off future.

so for now, slap on some as5 and be done with it.


Let me add a bit of clarification...
I use Ceramique because I have a large tube of it- probably a lifetime supply, actually- and don't see any reason to switch.

After several years pursuing "the best" cooling products- up to and including thermal compounds- my current philosophy has become far more lax.
Basically, at this point if my PC doesn't melt into a steaming silicon puddle, I'm OK.

Lots of money and effort can be funneled into chasing a minor, sometimes undetectable, temp reduction and really, for what?
Can't say it ever mattered to the performance I can detect, benchmarks be damned.

It was, and still can be, an interesting intellectual hobby but as far as making the computer do more, there's little evidence I can provide that "super cooling" a PC actually works, much less justifies the price involved.

When my tube of Ceramique runs out- or more likely, gets misplaced- I'll see what compound is considered the best and probably get it.
Then forget about it and let the PC live in peace instead of in pieces, which has been Sprocket's normal state for lo these many years.

[Detale]

heh, some say that shit expires after a few years or loses its conductivity.

these are the same people that reapply thermal paste every 6 months though =p

i keep my arctic silver in the freezer i think, or the fridge. along with my industrial supply of super glue i got for $5 on ebay =)

I never understood the whole re-apply thing. Honestly some of these fancy pastes require a "curing" time anyway so are we expected to wait until the curing time and then reapply 2 weeks later?? Seems like a marketing ploy to me :eyebrows: