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Thermal Compound

HaloUK

HaloUK

HaloUK

Associate
Joined
6 Feb 2009
Posts
1,455
Location
UK
Hi guys, with new stuff coming out all the time, what is thought to be the best thermal compound for a CPU?

I think my thermal compound is drying up as my temps are now around 90 on my i7 3770k (running now at a boost of around 4.3). I have it air cooled by a huge Noctua HS & double fan setup.... I am thinking of maybe upgrading to an all in one watercooler.
 
+1 for the Grizzly just fyi pea method is fine with this stuff, you don't have to use the supplied spreader.
 
HaloUK said:
I have it air cooled by a huge Noctua HS & double fan setup.... I am thinking of maybe upgrading to an all in one watercooler.
Click to expand...

I'd just replace the thermal paste. You may well find that an AIO is noisier than your current HS, and that you don't gain anything in performance.
 
Safetytrousers said:
I think all thermal pastes spread well under the application of a heat sink. Thermal Grizzly in my experience is in fact one of the toughest pastes to spread manually (I've never managed to do it).
Click to expand...

Pea method is fine, I don't know anyone who's managed to spread it as they instruct with the supplied spreader.
 
I tried with that spreader maybe if u warm it up with boiling water but too thick. Pea worked fine. Before i moved to liquid metal stuff :D
 
HaloUK said:
Thanks for the tip Glanza.

That's good to know Dervious, thanks for that. :)
Click to expand...

No problem.

Seriously, unless you are struggling for room in your case or want to look at your CPU cooler quite often, I'd go with a decent HS/Fan. Temperature differences are not going to be a great as some might expect. Reliability of an air cooler should be better (no risk of pump failure or leaks). The only thing to consider is that the best air coolers are a bit large and heavy, so not such a good choice if you are moving your PC around a lot. Also watch out for RAM clearance.

https://************.com/forums/topic/171324-dark-rock-pro-3-vs-corsair-h115i
 
Oh, so this Grizzly kryonaut doesn't spread that well. Does the pea dot in the middle of the CPU work well then as when I have seen videos of people removing CPU coolers the footprint of the compound doesn't seem to cove the whole CPU surface?
 
Dervious said:
No problem.

Seriously, unless you are struggling for room in your case or want to look at your CPU cooler quite often, I'd go with a decent HS/Fan. Temperature differences are not going to be a great as some might expect. Reliability of an air cooler should be better (no risk of pump failure or leaks). The only thing to consider is that the best air coolers are a bit large and heavy, so not such a good choice if you are moving your PC around a lot. Also watch out for RAM clearance.

https://************.com/forums/topic/171324-dark-rock-pro-3-vs-corsair-h115i
Click to expand...

I remember when we first installed the CPU cooler the temps were pretty low. I don't have any windows on my PC so don't really care what it looks like inside. I have loads of room in this case (Lian-Li PC-P80N) and it has very good airflow through the case. The memory I use is the low profile Samsung Green DDR3 stuff so the size of the CPU cooler isn't an issue. I will probably stick with the one I have then. That Dark Rock Pro 3 is a MONSTER!!!
 
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HaloUK said:
Oh, so this Grizzly kryonaut doesn't spread that well. Does the pea dot in the middle of the CPU work well then as when I have seen videos of people removing CPU coolers the footprint of the compound doesn't seem to cove the whole CPU surface?
Click to expand...

It does I've used it on various CPU and GPU using pea and it's dropped temps over previous used paste.
 
HaloUK said:
Oh, so this Grizzly kryonaut doesn't spread that well. Does the pea dot in the middle of the CPU work well then as when I have seen videos of people removing CPU coolers the footprint of the compound doesn't seem to cove the whole CPU surface?
Click to expand...

Pea works well, but I've not had any issues spreading it manually either, I actually find it easier than most.
 
HaloUK said:
I remember when we first installed the CPU cooler the temps were pretty low. I don't have any windows on my PC so don't really care what it looks like inside. I have loads of room in this case (Lian-Li PC-P80N) and it has very good airflow through the case. The memory I use is the low profile Samsung Green DDR3 stuff so the size of the CPU cooler isn't an issue. I will probably stick with the one I have then. That Dark Rock Pro 3 is a MONSTER!!!
Click to expand...

The Dark Rock is a monster, but not quite the best air cooler is you want the absolute lowest temps. The larger Noctuas get very good reviews. I haven't had much experience with AIOs, but I did recently install a Corsair H100i for a customer. I can't say that i was greatly impressed to be honest. The one thing that surprised me was the noise. It wasn't loud, but I expected it to be quieter than it was. As far as temperatures go, I only did a quick check, but an overclocked i5K hit ~mid 60Cs under load, which is OK. I'm sure a good air cooler would have performed similarly, but with less noise and expense.
 
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