https://www.arctic.ac/uk_en/mx-4.html
Any other pastes like this?Once applied, you do not need to apply it a second time as it will last at least for 8 years.
Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Lawrence Lee
Any other pastes like this?Once applied, you do not need to apply it a second time as it will last at least for 8 years.
Really? Citation needed I'd say. Sure paste can cake and also separate. But needing to change it every few years? I don't think many people does that. I've never observed any (meaningful) degradation of performance over time with any of the pastes I've used.Ice Tea wrote:Most manufactures say to change the paste every 2 or 3 years
just a couple Examples:Vicotnik wrote:Really? Citation needed I'd say. Sure paste can cake and also separate.
Chill Factor 3Recommended storage time (before use) up to 2 years
Recommended usage time (on the CPU) up to 3 years
MX-4In order to achieve lasting optimal results, we recommend a renewal of the Chill Factor 3 every 12 months.
As i say this thread is not about personal experience as you sometimes see people saying they are still using a 20 year old socket A pc with Arctic silver 5 while others complain of temperature creep after only a couple of years and it's like their thermal paste has vanished and left a dry square around the base of the heatsink?High Durability
In contrast to metal and silicon thermal compound, the performance of MX-4 does not compromise over time. Once applied, you do not need to apply it a second time as it will last at least for 8 years.
<headscratch>Vicotnik wrote:I get your point. But thermal paste is used all over the place, almost everywhere electrical components gets hot and require cooling. Saying that most manufactures of thermal paste say to change the paste every 2 or 3 years is not correct. Some niche manufactures does it, as you point out. There's always been a lot of magical thinking around thermal paste. For most people, even most here on the forum, the brand of paste matters little as does replacing the paste, other than when changing coolers and such.
I've used a small syringe of it, and only had to get new paste recently.Vicotnik wrote:... I've used Arctic Silver Ceramique for the last decade or so, the large syringes lasts forever. ...
I seen good comments about the pads, around 2-3C higher than the best thermal paste, but taking away the application for some users and for certain heastinks that are hard to mount like Thermalright LeGrandMacho might end up better. GamerNexus in one of his videos didn't think they are that great, and being excessively hyped atm, they have some on their way and will be releasing a review once they come back from COMPUTEX, i do think they seem like a good solution for some but not for all.Ice Tea wrote:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpphKzmDiJM
Above is where this question stems from for Manufacture guaranteed longevity.
No one rush out and buy these pads as it's apparently from forum comments it's just ( Panasonic soft PGS graphite ) that they have re-packaged and overpriced but i'm waiting for other reviews to confirm this.
The more likely reason is Intel noticed micro-cracks forming near the edges of larger sized die due to stress conditions from thermal cycling and different rates of expansion between the die, TIM, and IHS. I'd site the paper, but I don't have the link handy...it is out there in pdf form on the web, though.BrianF wrote:Heck, the longevity of TIM is the reason Intel gave us years ago for them using it under the lid (to the chagrin of overlockers) instead of indium etc which apparently can have issues over time.
I would love to go back to expose dies, get rid of IHS and the soldier/paste dramaBrianF wrote: Heck, the longevity of TIM is the reason Intel gave us years ago for them using it under the lid (to the chagrin of overlockers) instead of indium etc which apparently can have issues over time.
That's the point of this thread that i wondered if anyone knew of any others that buck the trend like Arctic MX-4 and actually tell people to leave it alone and are prepared to stand by their product and guarantee it as it seems to be the complete opposite of all the others i've looked at so far.BrianF wrote:I personally dont think there is much credence to the whole "you have to periodically reapply" TIM, or even that they have a shelf life. Sounds like a way to get people to buy (and waste) more product.
Taking Arcric Silver as one of the more prominent examples, they state of their productIce Tea wrote:(...) i wondered if anyone knew of any others that buck the trend like Arctic MX-4 and actually tell people to leave it alone (...)
"Absolute Stability: Arctic Silver 5 will not separate, run, migrate, or bleed." No disclaimers. No limitations. They dont use the words "leave it alone" or "guarantee", but their statement is good enough for me, particularly when the stuff has been in circulation for around 10 years (and its predecessor, AS3, for several years prior to that) without any widespread evidence of a chronic need to reapply. Just to be sure I inquired with them and received the following reply: "Once our products are applied in a typical computing application there is generally no need to reapply the thermal compounds unless the thermal interface has been physically disturbed."
I have to imagine that guaranteeing thermal grease in general isn't a common practice because if they were to actually "guarantee" it, for any period, then unscrupulous people (and there are plenty of them out there) would abuse it. How could a manufacturer verify it was applied correctly, or if there even was a performance failure at all? They couldn't, so they'd be handing out free tubes left and right.
Arctic's Warranty statement does not specifically address MX-4 and is thus fairly generic (including a clause that defective product must be returned to them). It would be interesting to see what happens if someone called them up and said "your grease pumped out after 7 years....gime a new tube!" LOL
Thanks for the the link, solid results, but its worst than paste, something that was expected, but on things that i might not change over time, i might go with it. Still waiting on Steve/GamerNexus to see his tests into a more in depth testing.Ice Tea wrote:@Abula
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNHthP7Jv7A
A new video up on Graphite Thermal Pad vs MX-4 and he seems to confirm what others have said that you need good clamping pressure on the Pad to get it close to the paste temps.
No worries. I think most everyone here understood where you are coming from (I do), but I believe the broader picture, and the takeaway from this discussion, is that not only are thermal paste "guarantees" virtually non-existent, they might also be pointless. Thermal grease is not an electrical or mechanical component/assembly which you can slap a MTBF on, and it is used in such a dizzying and widely varying array of applications that the DIY PC market is something of a side-show.Ice Tea wrote:I wish i could articulate that without sounding rude as i really don't wish to be.
Sales gimmick or not some brands advise you to replace the paste every couple of years where as MX-4 seems to be the only one that bucks this trend unless anyone else knows of any other brand with a similar advertisement?Ice Tea wrote:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpphKzmDiJM
Above is where this question stems from for Manufacture guaranteed longevity.
No one rush out and buy these pads as it's apparently from forum comments it's just ( Panasonic soft PGS graphite ) that they have re-packaged and overpriced but i'm waiting for other reviews to confirm this.
But your subject line says "Manufacture Guaranteed Durable...". For me, the word 'guarantee' implies replacement or other restitution if/when the product fails to meet the terms of a written warranty, so discussing exactly what Arctic means when they use that phrase seemed appropriate. But on closer examination of their website and literature, I see now that they never use the word guarantee (only the phrase "8 Year durability") so it would be misleading for anyone to say they guarantee it (a claim is not the same as a guarantee).Ice Tea wrote:The question has nothing to do with a brand replacing their paste under warranty.
I've given you ample evidence that Artic is not "the only one": Arctic Silver makes the same long-term stability claim as Arctic. It is right there in their product information and literature.Ice Tea wrote:MX-4 seems to be the only one that bucks this trend
I proceeded to give other examples of brands that quote a different time frame for reapplication and why the question was asked in relation to the Graphite Pad Youtube Video.Once applied, you do not need to apply it a second time as it will last at least for 8 years.
Thanks for the link.Ice Tea wrote:@Abula
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAfIglmbwgk
3 year old MX4 vs New MX4 Vs Graphite pad
Few Hours since I posted , I'm working with my computer about 1 hour.SilverBullet wrote:Guaranteed Thermal Paste? Does such a thing exist?
Arctic Silver 5 , first time user , my Rig is sitting in the kitchen with fresh ball of paste applied.
Giving it time to set before hammering it.
Paste is sticky and thick , at the same time it's almost thin.
Good body that's for sure.
I centered the application dead square in the middle of CPU, pray it's not over applied.
I'll check in again tomorrow, post results.