Cooling Which Thermal Paste...

So, I've just ordered all the bits for my new PC which should be delivered tomorrow. However, I totally forgot about the thermal paste for the CPU/Heatsink. Now, I haven't built a PC for over 4 years and am not up to date with the latest stuff. Last time I user Arctic Silver and spread a small amount over the CPU die (Athlon 64) and then slapped the heatsink on.

After doing some research, seems like Arctic Silver 5 might be the way forward. Is this the case, or are there some better products available?

I also checked out some application methods on Youtube and a lot of them show that the paste needs to be spread over the entire CPU using a finder?!? Is this right?

Thanks in advance.

PS. The CPU is an i720 and I'm planning to use the stock heatsink that comes with it.

 

IMO you can't go wrong with Arctic Silver 5, Arctic MX-2 or MX-3.

But if you are using the stock heatsink then it will already have some paste applied. I wouldn't bother getting better TIM unless you were planning to upgrade the Heatsink as well.

 

I've just whacked on some arctic 5 on mine and temps seem good

 

I've seen people have problems taking the stock heatsink off the processor when using the paste that comes on it, but this is purely anecdotal evidence, might not be a problem at all. I just put some mx-2 on my i7 at 4ghz, and the temps are pretty good with a titan fenrir considering the ambient temps were around 33 C this afternoon, with 90% humidity. Brutal.

 

Arctic silver 5.

 

Use the stuff on there. Its dow corning tc-1996. A very big company with a very big R&D budget.

 

Shin-Etsu or IC Diamond 7.

 

Arctic MX-3

 

Arctic Silver Ceramique is good.

 

MX-3
or MX-4 if you can get hold of it (its slightly better - lower temps, more easily spreadable).

 

I have ordered some Arctic 5 as a guide how much should be applied, and is it better to apply it to the heat sink rather than the chip to avoid getting it on the motherboard?

 

+1

I use both of these. Not at the same time lol.

Use a large grain of rice size in the middle of CPU. Before tightening twist to right and then to the left and then back to center and tighten fully job done.

 

Gelid Solutions GC-Extreme 3.5g

 

Thermalright Chill Factor III. I spent about 6 hours the other day finding reviews of various TIMs and this came out every time on top. I'm not sure why it's so underestimated, but it certainly beats the more well-known brands.

 

I evenly spread a small amount over the CPU using an old credit card and then strapped the cooler on. Not sure how it works as i'm not monitoring temps at the moment.

 

I've recently started using CoolLaboratory Liquid Pro again. It's a pain to get off but on my Core i7 at 4.2GHz it's given me a 4ºC drop in load temps compared to MX-2 and on my E8400 it's given a 2ºC drop at 4.2GHz also compared to MX-2.

 

I used IC Diamond 7 but it's expensive (10 bucks for 1.5gr for a differency of 2°) now i use Arctic Silver MX-2 or OCZ Freeze Extreme