Used to be a die hard AS-5 user I still use it a bit from time to time. Wondering what folks are using for thermal paste any suggestions?

I've been using AS Ceramique for a long time. Decent thermal properties, not electrically conductive, applies and cleans up fairly easily. I see it's been replaced by Ceramique 2.

I prefer Artic Cooling MX-4 or Artic Silver Céramique 2. They are easier to apply and less prone to the common problem of applying too much paste (these spread easier than AS 5). Also, they are non-conductive, so cannot damage or short out any components.

I used to be a die hard AS5 user until a guy at a comp shop said try out MX4, so I did and temps went down 1.5c at idle, about 2-3 at load. Nothing fancy but it helps. The non-conductive property of the MX4 and the fast cure time are the real sellers.

I'm using the Arctic MX-4 for both CPU and GPU. It keeps the temperature very low and cheap. :-p I've been using Arctic's thermal compounds for years already from MX-2

For more Thermal Paste info including tests and reviews See
viewtopic.php?p=559427#p559427

To first order - it doesn't matter. A few degrees won't make or break anything. I've tried all of those mentioned so far in this thread and found no noticeable difference that I trust. Mostly I'll pick a tube at random, or just use whatever comes caked on the bottom of the stock HSF. I have yet to regret this strategy.

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/ ... -2012/1490

Even toothpaste, butter and others were tested.

I guess Xbitlabs' reviews deserve a mention here.

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cooler ... dup-1.html
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cooler ... dup-2.html

AS5 is not electrically conductive. Somehow their formula keeps the silver content from conducting. I spread some all over an old Athlon and its various surface mount caps and the bridges and it wasn't even unstable. If you measure its electrical resistance you will find that it's infinite (electrical insulator). They state that it is very slightly capacitive, whatever that could affect I don't know.

But I too have been using Ceramique for years. It's very cheap in the large 20g syringe and yet performs close to the best stuff out there.

Rarely would there be a problem with AS-5 (or equivalent) on a CPU, even if spilled over to other surface mount components as you describe. There have occasionally been some problems reported when using it on bare chipsets or other chips that have no heat spreader.

I was referring to an old Athlon with an exposed die. I slopped it all over an old Third as a little experiment and ran Prime95 for a few hours. AS works fine for that.

One situation I know AS5 is disliked for is with extreme phase change cooling because its physical properties change for the worse apparently.

The following qutoes are from the Artic Silver website:

"Arctic Silver 5 was formulated to conduct heat, not electricity. (While much safer than electrically conductive silver and copper greases, Arctic Silver 5 should be kept away from electrical traces, pins, and leads. While it is not electrically conductive, the compound is very slightly capacitive and could potentially cause problems if it bridges two close-proximity electrical paths.)"

"Céramique 2 does not contain any metal or other electrically conductive materials. It is a pure electrical insulator, neither electrically conductive nor capacitive."

Superbiiz has MX-4 on sale today for $6.40 (4 gram tube) and free shipping with code POCKY7504. The sale is good on 5/20-21. About a 33% savings over the Egg.

http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=FAN-MX4

I've ordered some MX-4 and Gelid GC-2 to try.
I've a bit of AS5 left I won't be pulling stuff out to replace it with the newer paste, but it should be interesting to see how they stack up
I don't expect a big difference between the top 5-10 products on the market

AS5 well only downer really is the cure time it works pretty well as a thermal past least I have not had any problems with it, nice to try some newer stuff though

Here's an old reminder of how to apply the paste, it makes a difference.

http://www.madshrimps.be/articles/artic ... dup-2007/4

My strong suspicion is that those results are becasue either the CPU heat spreader, or the contact area of the cooler, are not flat.

Here's more:
What is the Best Way to Apply Thermal Grease? - Part 1
What is the Best Way to Apply Thermal Grease? - Part 2