Is the special paste really worth it?

Azureth

Azureth

Supreme [H]ardness
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Feb 29, 2008
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I've been told to get this Arctic paste, and I'm curious if it really helps?
 
There are various high-end pastes (AS5, MX-2, TX-2 etc.) which should improve matters versus stock paste, but I'd not get too het up about exactly which one of those you get. Some say that MX-2 is the best, but others will always use AS5, etc. Ceramique is also good.
 
Don't listen to these people....Colgate works best!!

J/K!!
 
These days, both AMD and Intel have improved the thermal compound that comes with their CPUs, so its not as big a deal as it once was. The mediocre paste/pads have been replaced with much more effective thermal compound, so if you're not doing any heavy OC'ing, the stock thermal compound and heatsink should do just fine. If you want to do some real OC'ing, the tried and true Arctic Silver 5 is probably still the most popular. Other good pastes that were also mentioned above are the Arctic Cooling MX-2, TX-2, and the hardest one to find, Shin-Etsu X23. You can't go wrong with any of those, IMO.
 
Nice thing with TX-2 and MX-2, no curing time, and they work just as well as AS5. They are also less viscous so spread thinner.
 
Usually you end up with a 1-3c reduction in temperature over traditional crap white paste.
 
I'd go with MX-2. It's relatively cheap compared to AS5, and outperforms it by a degree or two.
 
I would say AS5, easier to spread compared to the MX-2 stuff, and easier to find.
 
Some people have their favorites, others will use whatever is on hand. Take your pick and go with it. :)

For me, I love that new IC Diamond 7 Carat TIM. It's just my preference.
 
tuksonrider said:
Some people have their favorites, others will use whatever is on hand. Take your pick and go with it. :)

For me, I love that new IC Diamond 7 Carat TIM. It's just my preference.
Click to expand...

QFT. Anything, in general, is better than stock although the stock TIM material is getting better.

Short answer: Yes.

Long answer:
Your question is better put as: After spending a lot of money on high performance computer parts and perhaps intending to gain additional performace by running the system at faster than stock settings and knowing that heat is the killer of all electronics, does it make sense to not spend $7 bucks on improved thermal interace paste/material and how much in time and effort will it cost to have to go back and do it later?

The question is almost retorical.
 
RADEoN said:
AS5 is the way to go
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I gave up on this crap.

MX-1, MX-2, and paint on Zalman stuff work way better for me these days. AC5 loses its effectiveness too fast, I don't like pulling my stuff apart every few months to redo it.
 
That's odd, AS5 should do better with time as it has a curing period. You might be applying it wrong, too much/too little or something...

It got 3rd place in the 33-way test linked here (that involved no curing periods at all even)
 
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