What is the BEST thermal grease/paste or T.I.M for Air?

JPS · Post by **JPS** » Wed Jun 11, 2008 8:09 am

I am getting ready to build a couple of new systems for clients and realized out am out of my old trusty Arctic Silver 5. The new systems will be E8400 driven and built around one of the DFI boards. All cooling will be on AIR and I suspect the NB and SB will each need some help as well.

Before I go order more thermal grease, thermal paste, T.I.M., or whatever you call it, I wanted to solicit feedback on what is the best option to use currently. Is my old trusty AS5 still king of the hill or is there a newer, more exotic material I should look at?

Thanks in advance for your opinions!

elemental · Post by **elemental** » Wed Jun 11, 2008 8:27 am

http://www.dansdata.com/images/goop/nofibgraph2.gif

I think that tells you all you need to know

JPS · Post by **JPS** » Wed Jun 11, 2008 8:59 am

elemental wrote:http://www.dansdata.com/images/goop/nofibgraph2.gif

I think that tells you all you need to know

Toothpaste it is then! Only question now is, which brand? Crest, Tom's, Aquafresh??? Minty? Bubblegum? Spearmint?

Ohhhh, the choices!

elemental · Post by **elemental** » Wed Jun 11, 2008 9:30 am

LOL -- a truly multimedia computer: sight, sound and scent!

but -- I think you can pretty much get anything and be more or less okay. I still hear AS5 being recommended highly, though (but there are naysayers who are worried about the slight electrical conductivity of almost-pure silver).

Nick Geraedts · Post by **Nick Geraedts** » Wed Jun 11, 2008 9:56 am

No matter what that site says, I swear by Arctic Cooling MX-2 paste. I find that I get even lower temperatures than with AS5, and it's easier to work with and clean off.

halcyon · Post by **halcyon** » Wed Jun 11, 2008 10:02 am

I beg to differ with elemental and Dan's Data :)

One needs to do proper loading, several tests on each paste and then calculate results.

If you want to shave off the last 1-3 C off your temps, consider the application of the paste & spreading it (e.g. with pressure on the sink, not with your finger).

If you want to consider the best pastes, then OCZ Freeze, Arctic Silver 5, Noctua NT-H1, several Shin Etsus or Tuniq TX-2 should be ok.

Please consider also non-toxicity, electrical conductance, corrosion potential (esp. on copper heatsinks), spreading easiness and aging (i.e. how often you have to re-apply due to oxidization/drying up).

I like OCZ Freeze and Tuniq TX-2, because they consistently come on top, are non-conductive and at least Tuniq doesn't need constant re-application due to drying.

Refs:
http://www.circuitremix.com/index.php?q ... page=0%2C7
http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?o ... mitstart=3
http://www.madshrimps.be/?action=getart ... rticID=635
http://hardwarelogic.com/news/137/ARTIC ... 03-03.html
http://www.technic3d.com/article-645,3- ... gleich.htm
http://www.cpu3d.com/index.php?option=c ... 52&limit=1

JPS · Post by **JPS** » Wed Jun 11, 2008 10:25 am

halcyon wrote:I beg to differ with elemental and Dan's Data

One needs to do proper loading, several tests on each paste and then calculate results.

If you want to shave off the last 1-3 C off your temps, consider the application of the paste & spreading it (e.g. with pressure on the sink, not with your finger).

If you want to consider the best pastes, then OCZ Freeze, Arctic Silver 5, Noctua NT-H1, several Shin Etsus or Tuniq TX-2 should be ok.

Please consider also non-toxicity, electrical conductance, corrosion potential (esp. on copper heatsinks), spreading easiness and aging (i.e. how often you have to re-apply due to oxidization/drying up).

I like OCZ Freeze and Tuniq TX-2, because they consistently come on top, are non-conductive and at least Tuniq doesn't need constant re-application due to drying.

Refs:
http://www.circuitremix.com/index.php?q ... page=0%2C7
http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?o ... mitstart=3
http://www.madshrimps.be/?action=getart ... rticID=635
http://hardwarelogic.com/news/137/ARTIC ... 03-03.html
http://www.technic3d.com/article-645,3- ... gleich.htm
http://www.cpu3d.com/index.php?option=c ... 52&limit=1

Thank you! That is the most informative answer I have received. FWIW, I am going with OCZ Freeze, unless I come across something that points to it having a corrosion potential with copper-based coolers.

jaganath · Post by **jaganath** » Wed Jun 11, 2008 10:33 am

there are naysayers who are worried about the slight electrical conductivity of almost-pure silver

AS5 is not pure silver, i doubt it is >20% silver by weight. and it's not conductive, but capacitive.

thejamppa · Post by **thejamppa** » Wed Jun 11, 2008 11:13 am

AS5 is still one of the best ones. Zalman STG-1 is not half bad either, its very easy to apply.

Vicotnik · Post by **Vicotnik** » Wed Jun 11, 2008 11:29 am

I use AS CÃ©ramique because it's cheap (I have a 12g tube that seems to last forever) and not conductive or capacitive in any way.

autoboy · Post by **autoboy** » Wed Jun 11, 2008 3:43 pm

I use the pad on the bottom of the heatsink or the free stuff I've got laying around. Never had a problem. I'm not trying to get super low temps, I'm going for stability and anything under 60C is safe to me.

Lt_Dan · Post by **Lt_Dan** » Thu Jul 10, 2008 4:48 am

after all these links i didn't get what is best.
it's a decision between:
1. OCZ( the shop where i usually buy has only OCZ.)
2. Arctic silver
3. arctic cooling

another question - how do i remove old grease from the cpu?

thanks,
dan.

F for Fragging · Post by **F for Fragging** » Thu Jul 10, 2008 8:25 am

Lt_Dan, personally I think it doesn't make much difference among the best TIM's if they perform one or two degrees better or worse. Just choose between OCZ Freeze, Arctic Silver 5, Tuniq TX-2 or Arctic Cooling MX-2 or whatever else is good depending on price and availability.

You can remove TIM with Arctic Silver ArctiClean.

xev · Post by **xev** » Thu Jul 10, 2008 9:31 am

or a rubbing alcohol swab. isopropyl actually should be better

no need to go and spend extra money on something that you can do with stuff from home.

just use bounty or good quality paper towel to remove the initial paste and then dab on som alcohol to dilute, make it easier to clean

jhhoffma · Post by **jhhoffma** » Thu Jul 10, 2008 10:27 am

IPA is good general solvent, but to really get the goop off you need to use xylene first then follow-up with IPA. I think ArticClean is a xylene-based solvent; so is Goof-Off while Goo-Gone is a naptha/xylene derivative.

Lt_Dan · Post by **Lt_Dan** » Fri Jul 11, 2008 3:30 am

thanks.
what kind of alcohol?

jhhoffma · Post by **jhhoffma** » Fri Jul 11, 2008 6:05 am

IPA (isopropyl alchohol). It's also known as rubbing alchohol, but that's usually in it's more common 70% form. Most drug stores will sell 99% as well, and that's what you want. No reason to pay for water...

Do not use any other kind of alcohol.

Lt_Dan · Post by **Lt_Dan** » Fri Jul 11, 2008 6:16 am

thanks.
does anyone have experience with the OCZ?

zoatebix · Post by **zoatebix** » Fri Jul 11, 2008 7:28 am

Vicotnik wrote:I use AS CÃ©ramique because it's cheap (I have a 12g tube that seems to last forever) and not conductive or capacitive in any way.

I used CÃ©ramique exclusively for three years or so (I bought a huge tube), but I've recently started trying other things because I misplace my CÃ©ramique, but also because it's very cohesive; I find it sticks to itself a lot and that it's hard to get out of the tube cleanly.

I bought a tiny tube of AS-5 for my last project. So far I like it better than the stuff that came with the Thermalright HR-05 SLI/IFX

jhhoffma · Post by **jhhoffma** » Fri Jul 11, 2008 7:44 am

OCZ Freese is similar to Ceramique, while OCZ Ultra+5 is just like Arctic Silver 5. They're all good for TIM. Proper application matter much more than actual type. You won't be able to measure any difference between them if you apply it properly.

Get the cheapest name brand you can. I've been using Ultra+5 for 2-3 years and it's no better than the white Zalman paste, IMO.

Lt_Dan · Post by **Lt_Dan** » Fri Jul 11, 2008 8:02 am

thanks.
what is the right way?
and what's - "TIM"?

zoatebix · Post by **zoatebix** » Fri Jul 11, 2008 8:16 am

Thermal Interface Material.

Lawrence Lee · Post by **Lawrence Lee** » Fri Jul 11, 2008 9:53 am

1-2C difference not worth thinking about and most brand name pastes cost about the same.

jhhoffma · Post by **jhhoffma** » Fri Jul 11, 2008 11:47 am

Lt_Dan wrote:what is the right way?

Depends on the CPU, but each manufacturer will have instructions on how.

zoatebix · Post by **zoatebix** » Sat Jul 12, 2008 4:52 pm

Nick Geraedts wrote:No matter what that site says, I swear by Arctic Cooling MX-2 paste. I find that I get even lower temperatures than with AS5, and it's easier to work with and clean off.

I just ran into tons of watercooling enthusiasts who love the stuff (and it's discontinued predecessor), too, so there might be something to it.

That said, I think F for Fragging has it right when he says to chose primarily based on pricing and availability.