What is the best thermal paste under 10 dollars

Hematite

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In my new pc build I need thermal paste for my cpu. What's the best thermal paste Under 30 dollars (the cpu isnt that good it's an i5 6500) thank you!
 
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as5 or mx-4 are fine and under $10 last i checked. what heatsink you using? lots come with decent paste.
 
Yeah, why such an arbitrary Max? Is $20 too much to ensure your $700 processor doesn't overheat?
 
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I like Diamond 7. You can snag a tube for $10 here . Be sure to warm it up before applying, its thick af.
 
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Yeah, why such an arbitrary Max? Is $20 too much to ensure your $700 processor doesn't overheat?
Be serious. There is always going to be a limit. $20 of extra cooler will make a far bigger difference.
 
And if I may ask, what if we relax the $10 limit and set it up to say $15?
idk, ask the op.
sure there are more expensive, but they usually are needed unless chasing that last couple degrees, as bigd said.
 
I like Diamond 7. You can snag a tube for $10 here . Be sure to warm it up before applying, its thick af.
Thank you! I will be sure to do that
 
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I've been using Arctic Silver Ceramique 2. May not be the top performer but it works great for anything that the last 1-2C doesn't matter.

Never had a problem with it separating.
It cleans up way easier than stuff like IC Diamond and Arctic Silver 5.
 
I've been using Arctic Cooling MX-2 and MX-4 for quite a while. I've never had any issues with it, it's cheap and it's easy to clean up. It's probably not the easiest to apply but not difficult and definitely easier than some.
 
It's personal preference, since the differences between them are negligible.

Not worth it to rack your brain over thermal paste.
 
Honestly unless you have a huge still left off no one should be using AS5 anymore. Most newer pastes are generally better and not conductive.
AS5 has never been conductive. I was using AS5 up until a couple of years ago, I mostly used that stuff over the course of a decade. I would still be using it but I ran out. Right now I am using TF8, its better.
 
Last system I built was in 2012 and this is the brand That I used. Seeing that that was 8 years ago, it seems logical that things have changed.

Any good reviews where someone has taken the time to test this? Just truly interested.
 
AS5 has never been conductive. I was using AS5 up until a couple of years ago, I mostly used that stuff over the course of a decade. I would still be using it but I ran out. Right now I am using TF8, its better.
Hmm I swear it was conductive.
 
I had been using mx 4 for years on gpus and cpus because its cheap and works great, $20 for a giant tube is great value. The last few years ive been using higher end stuff on my own gear like thermal grizzly and prolimatech pk3 with very nice results. Also tried noctuas nt1 when i picked up one of their nh u12s black hs and liked that as well.
Thermal paste is cheap no matter how you look at it. You only use a bit each time so get a couple different kinds and start a collection...or be cheap and get a giant tube and never see what all the hype is about!
 
Hmm I swear it was conductive.
Nope, just a little capacitive. So don't spew everywhere and you should be good. Meaning don't build bridges..

I've tried AS5, Ceramique, NTH1, ICD7, CFIII, and TF8. Out of those TF8 is what I replaced AS5 with.. works good.

I see TG reformulated their formula, TF8 used to be slightly better on paper, TG one upped them :D

I might try it next..
 
Nope, just a little capacitive. So don't spew everywhere and you should be good. Meaning don't build bridges..

I've tried AS5, Ceramique, NTH1, ICD7, CFIII, and TF8. Out of those TF8 is what I replaced AS5 with.. works good.

I see TG reformulated their formula, TF8 used to be slightly better on paper, TG one upped them :D

I might try it next..
As I am behind the times on thermal paste, what does TG stand for?

Thank you,
 
Whoa, I just double checked the last paste I bought and it was Prolimatech PK3 30g for 34 bucks. I hate running out of the stuff.
 
Unless you want to push the extreme overclocking any paste will do. I always use whatever I find laying around, never had an issue. Last tube I got was like $2, works fine.
 
Some have already said it, but I'll say it again; Any of the top 20 TIMs will do the job and have less than 3c difference in temp. Only Gallium (liquid metal) is better and it's only a couple degrees cooler and much harder to apply and get good seat, so 2c better is assuming you get a good seat. Most resent testing by Guru3D in 2019 showed top TIMs all within 4-5c. tom'sHARDWARE tested 85 TIMs in 2017 is a few years old, but most have not changed and there are only a few new ones. Below chart is from earlier testing, but again same basic group of TIMs with only a few new ones missing. I added lines showing TIMS with temp range and numbers of TIMs in that range from.

You can see top 4 liquid metal TIMS are 1.8-2.8c cooler than next 56 normal component TIMs have only 3c difference in heat transfer .. and most popular brands are in lower 20 of that 56 TIMs. So don't worry much about which TIM you choose. Worry about getting everything clean, not using too much TIM and getting a good seat and mount.

3106390.jpg

Link to original source:
https://www.tomshardware.com/uk/reviews/thermal-paste-comparison,5108.html
 
If you are willing to spend $1 more.... I have been using Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut lately on my AIOs when redoing my paste applications... temps dropped about 5C from the default that came with the AIO and some of my other PCs saw similar results even on air.
 
Switched to PK-3 from AS5 shortly after I transitioned from a Xigmatek DK2 1283 to a Prolimatech Megahalems Black in early 2014, which was shortly after switching my i7-3770K from an ATX to uATX build back in early 2013.
Never re-applied it since, so it's still running the original dose of TIM under the HSF after 6.5 years.

After switching the TIM on the Megahalems, I did notice a solid 2°C drop at idle and bouncing between 3-4°C drop at load.

I'll probably stick with PK-3 or try out some IC D24 or TG Kryonaut for my upcoming Zen3 build early next year.
 
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