Best way to apply Thermal compound?

[R.C.Anderson]

Most solidy liquidy things conduct better than air, it's just that they either dry out or create smells under heating.

Yea, they were just doing it to see how much difference the expensive thermal compounds compare to the cheap household items. For the price we pay for thermal compound I would have thought the difference would be greater!

 

[Mr Krugga]

Yea, they were just doing it to see how much difference the expensive thermal compounds compare to the cheap household items. For the price we pay for thermal compound I would have thought the difference would be greater!

If you're using any kind of high-end watercooling, spend £75-150 on it and aim to get 20c delta, then getting the best thermal paste really matters.

Add to that longevity, ease of use, non-conductivity, etc, you get the picture.

You can get good thermal paste that will last you for several builds for £3 after all.

 

[R.C.Anderson]

I wasn't meaning don't buy TIM, I was just saying, for a tube of TIM, that can cost £1-£4 per gram, would give more than a couple of degrees difference than say toothpaste which costs around 1/100th of the price. But I guess it's a combination of people will pay it anyway (me included ), it being in such small quantities, and that it's only really required once every couple of years. I also suppose there's a limit to how good it can actually be, as I wouldn't be surprised if they're already in the 80%/90% efficiency range.