best thermal paste?

[manowargr]

Hello, i have an i7 960, witch is the best thermal paste ?

im using megahalems rev.2

i want to know with what thermal paste i will have the best tempatures.

and i want and one link from video how to apply it better.

thanks 

[Wonderwrench]

Well that's really hard to say for sure. Take a look at this review and decide for yourself. Keep in mind that do to the extremely high number of products tested the results my not be accurate. Reason being some products take many hours of operation before they work their best. Other products need many heat cycles before they work their best. If the review took this into account it would take months, possibly years to complete. If it were me I would pick one of the better performing products from the review that is easy to apply and is readily available in your area and call it good.
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Thermal-Compound-Roundup-May-2011/1249

Bill

[manowargr]

mx-4 is better than arctic silver 5?

[Wonderwrench]

mx-4 is better than arctic silver 5?

Where are you seeing that? AS 5 is 2C better than MX-4 in the chart.
I have used AS 5 for years and it has always worked well for me. Its a bitch to apply and a bigger bitch to remove.
Seems a tube of the stuff lasts near forever. Once its gone I'll most likely switch to another product that's easier to use.

Bill

[Dark Mantis]

I would agree with Bill that the Arctic Silver 5 is probably the best on the market although I have been tempeted to try the Coollaboritory's Liquid Metal as that seems excellent from the media. I don't find it that much of a pain to apply and remove to be honest and it is only once in a while on each machine.

[manowargr]

i think i have apply it perfect, but these days i have idle arround 40-50 temps, and on game or full load 60-70
the winter my temps are perfect.
btw i using only push not push pull..
if i use the settings on bios for voltage and mhz to lower when i dont use the machine the temps are 7-8 lower. this is normal i think.

is this temps ok ?

[Dark Mantis]

Hi

The temps look fine dependent on the ambient temperture in that situation which I take it is quite warm at the moment. You wil also find that after several days the temps will drop a further couple of degrees as the Arctic Silver 5 reaches it's optimimum performance.

[WarYur]

Hiya, Hey have you guys taken a look at what Skinnee Labs has on for thermal compounds for 2011.  Even above the Prolimatech PK-1 is Indigo Extreme and I am actually trying to get my nerve up to use it this time around. I read where Skinnee said the same thing about being intimidated by it at first so now I don't feel so bad.

http://skinneelabs.com/2011-tim-results/2/

I've had it for about a year but I am sure it's still just fine to use.  I had been using Tuniq TX-2 because I bought a bunch of it back when and just hadn't ran out yet but I have also used the Artic Silver and know that to be a great performer as well.

DM would you still try the Prolimatech and if so, why?

[Dark Mantis]

To be fair the Promlitech is excellent and yes I would use it for the obvious reason that it performs so well. However after a bit of reading up on it all the fairly new Indigo Extreme has surprising results. I saw it when it first came out and it was company blurb and marketing and I assumed that a lot of it was just hype. It would seem as if I did it an injustice. I will have to try and get some to test myself.  If anyone from Enerdyne is around please send  some for me to test!

[manowargr]

it would be great to know witch paste the year 2011 is the best for air.

[WarYur]

Yes, if what Skinnee came up with is any indication Indigo is really impressive.  Also DM when Enerdyne Solutions sends said Indigo Extreme you first need to tell them which CPU you are planning on using it for because it is different for each one. Their product isn't for the GPU yet either, just the CPU alone.  I asked them back when I bought it and they got right back to me with their answers to all my questions too I might add. 
Here is a [place in the UK that has it FYI  http://www.kustompcs.co.uk/cgi-bin/ss000003.pl?page=search&PR=-1&TB=A&SS=indigo&ACTION=Go  It's fairly expensive too...

http://www.indigo-xtreme.com/about.html

@ Johnz  I am definitely not the resident expert(s) around here but I believe a TIM is  TIM is  TIM regarding whether you are using it for water or air.    The TIM won't discern between air and water another-wards, it only "sees" heat which is why we use it.  Of course the product we are talking about from Enerdyne Solutions is kindof a different one and as I mentioned is only for specific CPU's.

[Dark Mantis]

Yes you are quite correct WarYur. In effect the paste has no idea what cooling medium you are using and it makes no difference at all. The important part is that it makes the best thermal bond between the two surfaces. From what I have seen recently the Indigo Xtreme is top dog! Hopefully I will get a chance to test it and see for myself soon and I will report to the forum then.

[F5BJR]

*
I use Standard Industrial White Thermal Compound > 40 years

The same for all electronics power components

Pierre

[Dark Mantis]

The thing is that any thermal paste will do the job but it is just how well it will work. If you only want to run at stock speeds and are not trying to run programs that will stress the system out then the standard silicon grease will do. If however you want to overclock and use things like Prime95 and IBT or run heavy number cruching all day then you will appreciate the benefits of a top quality TIM.

[soarwitheagles]

The thing is that any thermal paste will do the job but it is just how well it will work. If you only want to run at stock speeds and are not trying to run programs that will stress the system out then the standard silicon grease will do. If however you want to overclock and use things like Prime95 and IBT or run heavy number cruching all day then you will appreciate the benefits of a top quality TIM.

Interesting comments by many here on the subject of thermal paste...

I would venture to say all TIM's are definitely not equal.  In fact, as you look at the following charts you can clearly see there are many differences such as the material they are made of, the viscosity, and the temps.

I like the following website because it shows you nearly every TIM know to mankind [well, at least up until 2009]!

http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=150&Itemid=62

I cut and pasted the benchmarks from the low/top performers.  There are also many that fall in-between.

Hope this helps!

Soar

PS Keep in mind, Arctic Silver 5 Polysynthetic Thermal Compound requires up to 200-hours recommended curing time!!!