Question Please suggest the best thermal grease among the 3 choices.

[grandgalaz]

Hi friends, I need to repaste my CPU and GPU. I found the following 3 brands at local shops. Thermal grizzly kryonaut could also be an option but presently they do not have that in stock. I am in kind of hurry. So I can't wait much longer. Therefore, I have narrowed down to 3 options. Which would be the best among the 3 compounds in my case? Please suggest.

Besides, what I have learnt so far that, there is no universally correct application methods for all thermal compounds. For ex: a thicker paste like TG-kryonaut is better applied with spread method. It may not cover the entire surface if we do it with 'Pea' or 'Line' method. So, please let me know the best suited methods for these 3 thermal compounds.

1) Cooler Master CryoFuze Violet
Viscosity: Don't know
Conductivity: 12.6 W/m.K

2) Noctua NT-H1
Viscosity: Don't know
Conductivity: Don't know

3) Arctic MX-4
Viscosity: Not much thicker & easy to spread (as per my best knowledge)
Conductivity: 8.5 W/m.K

Thank you


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[In2Photos]

We used the Noctua on my son's build recently (R5 5600X using the pea method). It's fine. I doubt with the system specs you listed that you will have a problem with any of the pastes you listed.

 

[Tech Junky]

I use graphite pads on my laptops and systems. $10/machine or less and it never dries out since it's a solid. A single pad covers 2-3 laptop CPU/ GPU.

 

[Muadib]

What are the temps like on your desktop setups? Tech Junky

 

[Tech Junky]

What are the temps like on your desktop setups? Tech Junky

Room temp most of the time since it's a headless server and when it's transcoding files it might get up to 50c. Laptop runs hotter as that's the space constraints but, it runs cooler than the OEM paste was. I started using the pads a few years back on everything and haven't switched to a paste since.

 

[Muadib]

Room temp most of the time since it's a headless server and when it's transcoding files it might get up to 50c. Laptop runs hotter as that's the space constraints but, it runs cooler than the OEM paste was. I started using the pads a few years back on everything and haven't switched to a paste since.

I tried a pad back when I was setting up my 3900x desktop. The temps I got were really bad, so I went back to paste. Now it could have been the brand I used, so I'll ask you, whose pad do you use?

 

[Tech Junky]

This is what I'm using since ADL is a larger CPU https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08BL3SCWH There are other options from the company though that come in different sizes or quantities. Make sure you thoroughly clean the chip you're putting them on. I scrape them with an old CC and then swab them several times with a q-tip and isopropyl alcohol before clamping them between the heat sink.

They're not icy cold like a liquid metal can be but, they're consistent which to me is more important than maintaining a 40C cap on temps. When there's a lot of fluctuation in temps there's going to be issues with the solder cracking prematurely from all of the flex. Paste works fine if you're diligent about replacing it every 6-12 months as it tends to degrade or pump out and need to be reapplied. With the pads you just do it once and move on with life and don't need to monkey with it.

You're not only leaving it alone but, you're also not spending another $15-$20 a year on new tubes of paste either. Considering most people hold onto a PC setup for 5-10 years that's $100+ in savings on paste. It just makes more sense to me to do it once and not have to deal with it again.

 

[Muadib]

This is what I'm using since ADL is a larger CPU https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08BL3SCWH There are other options from the company though that come in different sizes or quantities. Make sure you thoroughly clean the chip you're putting them on. I scrape them with an old CC and then swab them several times with a q-tip and isopropyl alcohol before clamping them between the heat sink.

They're not icy cold like a liquid metal can be but, they're consistent which to me is more important than maintaining a 40C cap on temps. When there's a lot of fluctuation in temps there's going to be issues with the solder cracking prematurely from all of the flex. Paste works fine if you're diligent about replacing it every 6-12 months as it tends to degrade or pump out and need to be reapplied. With the pads you just do it once and move on with life and don't need to monkey with it.

You're not only leaving it alone but, you're also not spending another $15-$20 a year on new tubes of paste either. Considering most people hold onto a PC setup for 5-10 years that's $100+ in savings on paste. It just makes more sense to me to do it once and not have to deal with it again.

Thanks for the info! I probably won't try this until my next build, as I never replace my paste, and my PCs last for 10 years of more.

 

[mindless1]

Heh, TJ you are doing *something* wrong. While I no longer build systems for others, the several personal systems I have, get at least a decade out of a decent synthetic base, thermal paste (just not the old school crappy zinc oxide in silicone oil type).

I think what I'm still using is a tube of Arctic Ceramique, 25g bought a decade ago for $10 and is now $15. Still not used up so over ten years out of $10 of paste, nowhere near $100+ savings.

Are the temps as good as day one of application? Don't care, nothing is anywhere near overheating. Come to think of it, I have never had to reapply thermal paste, unless for some reason I was removing the heatsink anyway, like dismantling and rebuilding a system, or clean or change heatsink or something, never because the grease used to work but degraded too much.

I've thought about doing it on PSU, largely because I suspected they did use the old school, crappy zinc oxide in silicone oil type paste, but by the time PSU get that old, I've demoted them to uses where they have an even greater margin below rated output than they did on their first tour of duty.

 

[In2Photos]

Built my PC in Feb 2009. I changed the thermal paste 1 time since then and it had nothing to do with overheating. I needed the cooler out of the way to work on the northbridge heatsink.

Also, if you are using the pads be careful, they are electrically conductive! I would avoid them with the new AM5 socket due to the external SMDs.

 

[BoomerD]

I built my last PC in early 2011. I used the Noctua "goop" and haven't replaced it. Temps remain where they should. Upper 20's to low 30's at idle, rarely over 60 during gaming.This PC has been packed up and moved 3 times...once nearly 1000 miles In the back of a Uhaul truck.

 

[Tech Junky]

Keep in mind I swap PCs like candy every couple of generations. When I'm building though I might move the air cooler a few times to tweak things and paste gets annoying and expensive unless you buy it by the case. Paying upwards of $20-30 for the really good stuff it adds up quickly.

Traditional PCs aren't as temperamental when it comes to heat compared to laptops. More space in the case to passively disipate heat helps a lot. However when I was running dual GPUs it was an issue as there was some what soak from the GPUs. Pads work for me and what I'm usually doing. For someone holding onto gear for a decade and old CPUs that don't hit higher temps normally paste is a fine choice.

I've tried all the regular suspects and just got sick of dealing with it. As to the conductivity issue. It's not an issue when sized correctly to fit the die. I've cracked open GPUs as well to reapply paste because they run hot and it's easier to use paste on them because of all the points of contact you need to make.

It just comes down to a preference.

 

[aigomorla]

The higher the conductivity the thicker the paste is, and more clump up it tends to do.

Going by that list, id probably pick Noctua as first, then MX-4 as second, and coolermaster last, because coolermaster always fudges their numbers, and do not know how to tell the truth in regards to anything but MSRP.

 

[Fallen Kell]

I am in agreement with aigomorla. Really both the NT-H1 or MX-4 are good pastes. Tom's has a decent breakdown on many of the pastes out there (I think NT-H1 came out at their best budget winner):

Best Thermal Paste for CPUs 2025: Over 50 Compounds Tested and Ranked

The right thermal paste will improve performance.

www.tomshardware.com

I think the only test missing in that review is a longevity test (which is understandably harder to capture). It would be nice though for a 1 week, 2 week, 4 week, 8 week after applying test showing if any are changing performance over that timeframe. If I recall, some pastes like Ceramique don't even show their full potential until 2-4 weeks after being applied, but others test well initially after applying and degrade a week or two later. But as I said, I understand why that doesn't exist as it would take ages to capture that information if attempting a shootout style review without having a couple dozen test platforms.

 

[Tech Junky]

1 week, 2 week, 4 week, 8 week after applying test showing

I've had one fail in 4 days from some no name brand that had good thermal numbers. Other though tend to last a bit but, from a long running thread on another board typically those of us running hot all of the time 6-12 months is about the period in which things get cleaned off and redone. It really doesn't matter which paste you use they all degrade over time. Some like you indicated do need time to break in though thermal cycles before they hit their optimum performance.

There's so many different issues with paste it's had to really nail down a "best of" since they're being applied by different people in different systems with different needs. Local ambient temps for some might be 90F constantly, someone might be using a system that has heat soak issues from multiple GPU's running in the system, others might not have clamped down the cooler plate completely causing some air to get in between the CPU / plate.

Some paste is just junk to begin with in a bad batch. Other pastes could be electrically conductive while some are ceramic and non-conductive.

It's all trial and error for your particular system though. Find one that works well and has some durability in your environment. In the past these devices weren't constantly hitting these sustained temps and thus some of the mentions of 10 year old paste jobs make sense. There was a day when it wasn't even a consideration to paste a CPU or put a cooler on it. Passive cooling was enough to keep things running.

Today's designs though are high power consumption to get the blistering speeds we like. More power = more heat. There's always two camps though when it comes to keeping things running.. air vs liquid. The thing is though liquid only works best in a cooled environment where the ambient temps help chill the liquid in the radiator. It's not going to perform any miracles in a sub tropical environment with sustained temps.

 

[DasFox]

None of the above...

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