Arctic MX-2 vs Silver 5

Hey

Sorry another question before I start ordering some bits

Whats the difference between these two considering i'm not overclocking, the processor is an AMD 965 BE 3.4GHZ

Thanks

Temps wise, will be virtually no difference.

AS5 takes 200 hours to cure though, so you will have to wait that time to get its best performance, MX2 dos'nt need curing time, and works instantly at its max level.

So basically id just get MX2.

I dont understand why they make so many! Thanks

Curing time I would say as the Silver 5 is great but needs many hours, as for the MX-2 just few hours.

MX-3 is the way to go.

Surveyor said:

MX-3 is the way to go.

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Why? Whats the difference?

I'll tell you why I asked the question, the cooler that i'm looking at buying comes pre-applied with MX2, I wondered if it was any good because if not I was going to replace it with AS5

Relentless81 said:

Why? Whats the difference?

I'll tell you why I asked the question, the cooler that i'm looking at buying comes pre-applied with MX2, I wondered if it was any good because if not I was going to replace it with AS5

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MX-2 will be perfectly fine then. If it were a choice of buying new paste, MX-3 or MX-4 would give you slightly better temperature.

UnworthyBean said:

MX-2 will be perfectly fine then. If it were a choice of buying new paste, MX-3 or MX-4 would give you slightly better temperature.

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AS5 is electrically conductive and even if used sparingly it can squeeze out from below the heatsink and contact things it shouldn't. MX-2 isn't electrically conductive, it's just as easy to apply as AS5, doesn't need 200 hours to bed in, and comes in a decent size syringe - not like the piddling thing used for AS5. Have I forgotten something?

ftpols said:

AS5 is electrically conductive and even if used sparingly it can squeeze out from below the heatsink and contact things it shouldn't. MX-2 isn't electrically conductive, it's just as easy to apply as AS5, doesn't need 200 hours to bed in, and comes in a decent size syringe - not like the piddling thing used for AS5. Have I forgotten something?

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Nope. AS5 isn't electrically conductive.
Regardless, only MX-3 is officially electrically safe.

I ended up with MX-4 and its awesome

PanMaster said:

Nope. AS5 isn't electrically conductive.
Regardless, only MX-3 is officially electrically safe.

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There are plenty of pastes that are 'electrically safe' - AS ceramique is perhaps one of the more popular choices. AS5 is not conductive but slightly capacitive, so should be kept away from electric circuits etc.

Oh and don't believe some of the garbage being posted here that MX-4 will drop your temps by a huge amount. I have no doubt it is good stuff but thermal paste is only as good as the heatsink mounting method used . That said. mx-4 is perhaps the flavour of the month atm.

I have been a AS5 fan since the beginning and recently decided to try out some MX-2. I have to say I was little impressed... Temps remained similar to the stock paste preapplied and even had an increased in temps on my GFX.
But I do commend how easy it is to use. I might try some MX-4 but tbh you can't really expect miracle temps unless you were using actual ear wax!

Ive recently used as5, prolimatech pk1, mx3, and chillfactor 3 the difference between them all was miniscule.

setter said:

Ive recently used as5, and as5, the difference between them all was miniscule.

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Liked it so much named it twice ?

Must get eyes tested.

ch3333z said:

<snip> you can't really expect miracle temps unless you were using actual ear wax!

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Would this work well then?

*starts picking at the ears*