Arctic MX-5 Thermal Compound Listed Ahead of Launch

I'm going to get some of this paste in the next few weeks so I can repaste my GPU and hopefully it will improve my temp by 1-2* C.

But the real reason I'm commenting is to talk about Arctic Silver 5, since other people are talking about it. I can't believe that company is still in business and people are still buying AS5. I bought that stuff in 2004 so I could repaste my Pentium 4 Socket 478 Willamette, to think it still has any relevance is amazing

If anyone is thinking about what TIM is good or what to buy, this is the best article I have seen recently https://www.tomshardware.com/best-picks/best-thermal-paste

I mean even in the article you posted, AS5 is within 2-3 degrees of liquid metal and within 1 degree of mx-4. From best to worst thermal paste you're looking at a pretty small delta. That being said ceramique2 gang 4 life, 25g tube is under 10 bucks and will last YEARS.
 
There are even other materials besides thermal paste that you can use and will give ok results...
Temperatures.png
https://www.igorslab.de/en/heat-con...nts-in-test-with-unexpected-outcome-practice/

Yeah I'm pretty sure Arctic Cooling is a German company (Arctic.ac).
Arctic is originally from Switzerland I think, and moved headquarters to Germany a few years back.
 
To each their own, but as we kinda see, the actual rubber-meets-road performance deltas are usually very small.

I personally worry / care a lot more about longevity, and the Arctic stuff has been stellar in that regard. I have 2 positively ancient machines with MX-2 in them, thermals are still fantastic.
My newer machines have MX-4, seem to be trending similarly, i.e. same temps now as when new.
 
There are even other materials besides thermal paste that you can use and will give ok results...
View attachment 340209
https://www.igorslab.de/en/heat-con...nts-in-test-with-unexpected-outcome-practice/


Arctic is originally from Switzerland I think, and moved headquarters to Germany a few years back.
Yes, but how long are those things going to last is the real question. I'd rather not have to repaste literally every day, or even every hour (minutes?) with some of these.

All of the replacement pastes shown here are not intended for long-term productive use, and long-term consistency is simply not a given, even with the better representatives. It is a feasibility study, the imitation of which is entirely at your own risk. All products shown here and tested as paste were purchased by the author himself or come from the author’s long-term stock or private household. Pixelation is done for many reasons, but with full intent and the imposed sense of duty.

My favorite is that even though the article boasts about the gearbox grease, molybdenum sulfate is electrically reactive with nickel, which is what the CPU IHS and aluminum heatsinks get coated with. Not to mention the horrible stains it will leave on everything.
 
I just did a quick comparison between prolimatech pk3 and MX-5. They compare about the same temp wise with my back up rigs i7 8086k @ stock speed and voltage, asrock z390 phantom gaming 9 and noctua u12s with dual fans. Its good stuff. i would have no problem using it regularly or recommending it.
 
Can't believe some people get so hung up on thermal paste.
Most decent pastes perform within 0-3C of each other, which isn't going to do squat over the long run if an adequate HSF is being utilized along with appropriate chassis airflow.

For those that are into sustained or extreme OC'ing, then a thermal paste should be even less of a worry, since an alternate cooling solution (like a massive HSF or H2O) that can do a much better job of dissipating the heat is likely going to be utilized anyway and still only see the 0-3C difference between the different pastes.

MX4, AS5, PK-3, ICD24, cheap OEM stuff, etc - I've used them all and they all perform close enough to keep my give-a-crap meter at a solid zero.


Buy and use whatever you want. Your wallet, your computer, your choice. Have fun.
 
Been using MX-4 for years and it performs very well. Will wait until reviews are released before investing any money into MX-5.
 
I thought reusable graphite thermal pads were all the rage now.
I'm using one of the IC pads on my spare right. It works great.

Probably only using pads on any new rigs. It's not quite a good as paste in terms of temps, but it's up there, and also lasts forever, no need to repaste.
 
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I use a heatsink made of .9999 pure silver. Its disc shaped and legal currency in the republic of gonnadiahrea
 
Meh they all basically the same damn thing nowadays.

Yep this I bought a $5 200G (yes gram) I think that is around 8 Ounces this was like 6 years ago I only used like 1/2 " off the top so this would last me probably another 10 (or more) years

MX-4 has been my go-to for quite some time now. I have no complaints for any of the applications that I have used it for from desktop CPUs to mobile chipsets and everything in between. I look forward to the independent reviews hopefully showing that it is within 1° C of the other top of the line options out there...

I bought Arctic Silver 5 back when I worked at COMPUsa I used that tube up and went back to the cheap stuff all basically the same for normal purposes I don't overclock anything I do remember my EPOX EP-51VPXC I set my 266 MHZ K6-2 to 333MHZ VIA jumper the dip switches and caps that did not last long but this was back when overclocking was actually worth it not these days as you can only get an extra 100MHZ or so back then it was actually fun too reading the manual on what setting to change!
 
Or else "oh, we went to the warehouse to pull it and discovered we don't actually have any in stock. Try again later."
maybe. just got a "shipped" notification and an expected arrival of Apr 6. guess ill see what happens....

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I mean even in the article you posted, AS5 is within 2-3 degrees of liquid metal and within 1 degree of mx-4. From best to worst thermal paste you're looking at a pretty small delta. That being said ceramique2 gang 4 life, 25g tube is under 10 bucks and will last YEARS.

I used ceramique once. I couldn’t get the heat sink off not even a week after applying, ripped the cpu out of the socket. I tried to play with it, turned it, heated it up, etc.

Never touched it again. It’s like they mixed epoxy into it.
 
I just saw the list. Top of the list was "Water based lubricant".

Gonna try using K-Y and see how far the temps drop
 
I just saw the list. Top of the list was "Water based lubricant".

Gonna try using K-Y and see how far the temps drop
They didn't test long term. My assumption is that a water based lubricant would dissipate over time, I don't think anyone should actually try in a real system.
 
They didn't test long term. My assumption is that a water based lubricant would dissipate over time, I don't think anyone should actually try in a real system.
You would think one of the tech people would've done it by now--stick toothpaste and whatever on a Celeron or an i3 and see how long it lasts. That kinda seems right up LTT's alley for example. A modern Intel processor will just throttle itself or shut down, after all, if it gets too hot. (I assume Zen chips do too but I haven't read of anyone trying it.)
 
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