Does what Thermal Paste you use, REALLY matter?

People still argue over which Thermal Paste is the best... today I test 5 different Thermal Paste brands to see if the more expensive TIMs really make a different... Spoiler... yes it matters... BUT probably not for the reasons you may think!

○ Join this channel to get access to perks:

○○○○○○ Items featured in this video available at Amazon ○○○○○○

••• Follow me on your favorite Social Media! •••

[Falcon_Northwest]

We switched to Kingpin KPx about 2 years ago after conducting our own similar shoot-out, with similar results to Jay's findings. We have thousands of systems in the field now with it and have been very pleased. No dry outs so far. Definitely more expensive than some of the bulk stuff, but we can happily vouch for it.

[jeremymarsh]

FYI Jay, Arctic Cooling GmbH and Arctic Silver Inc. are two different companies

[tundrabooking]

Data scientist here: when presenting data like this and comparing multiple instances of noisy data that has many peaks and valleys I would consider two charts. Recalculate your data using a weighted moving average of 3-5 data points in the time series data you are presenting and it will show you a much clearer picture of how the pastes are preforming over time. You could also Use your raw data from what you showed to do a box and whisker plot and show the range of spikes/drops, average, and the range of the average(1 StDv from mean). Showing the data this way would give you a much better picture of performance.

[Michael-diss]

"Butt plug that shoots out of there, craps all over your CPU like Taco Bell." -- Shirt worthy quote right there

[falldownandgoboom]

Arctic Silver 5 is made by Arctic Silver, Inc. They make several products. None of them are coolers although they did originally make a cooler when the company was founded in California. The company that makes MX-4 is Arctic, original founded as Arctic Cooling, a German-Swiss company. They make coolers, fans, monitor mounts, a lot of other stuff, and MX-6 thermal paste - their newest and best - which is the product you should have included in your comparison along with MX-4.

[dougkoski]

I've been using MX4 because of the combination of price & longevity. Glad to see it holds up fairly well all things considered!

[gabrieleilts]

I love this video I own a computer repair shop and I get this question a lot when it comes to new builders!

[RyanRave-hk]

Something that probably should have been in that lineup would be Noctuas NT-H1/2 because Noctuas coolers are extremely popular and most people probably use the thermal paste than comes with them

[megachonk]

I replaced a cooler in 2022 that had never been so much as loosened since 2013. I still had the tube of Arctic Silver 5 that I had used to apply it. Neither the paste in the tube (which I did not use again) nor the paste on that old I5-3570K were dry. It had spent those 9 years in a vertical orientation, overclocked to its limit, and spent at least 75% of the time powered on. I've used AS-5 on other applications and it doesn't run or somehow leak out. My current PC uses whatever Corsair applies on the H150i Elite Capellix 360mm AIO. Full coverage with no mess.

[GT_PC_Gaming]

ArcticSilver 5 isn't difficult to get out of the tube... It's actually one of the easier ones to squeeze out and to spread... If your ArcticSilver 5 is difficult to squeeze out of the tube or to spread, then it means it's dried out, and won't perform as well.

[MusashiOfRings]

One thing Roman (Der8auer) noted in an interview is the cost difference between the Thermal Grizzly pastes (Kryonaut isn't the only TG paste) is that the more expensive ones get more machine time to grind the particles of the primary interface material smaller and smaller. The smaller the particles, the better the thermal transfer. Also, TG pastes are manufactured in Germany, which is why those prices are so high.

[rexdomi]

Regarding the pricing of the Thermal Grizzly paste. It is that expensive on Amazon true, but he also sells through his partner caseking in Germany where the Price for a 11, 1g Tube is 24, 9€/27, 8$ which comes down to 2, 24€/2, 5$ per gram which is definitely more realistic. Unfortunately they only ship inside Europe but for every fellow European out there dont buy the paste on Amazon but rather on caseking.

[bland]

What I want to know is if I have thermal paste sitting in my cupboard for say three or four years is it still good?

[zlid]

@JayzTwoCents Wish you had included some of the "new" thermal sheets in this. They are supposedly lasting forever, and no messy application.

[tooter]

I used the thermal grizzly kryonaut on a 13600k OCed to 5.4GHz about two years ago and it's still running well and pretty cool using only a 240 aio. I had forgotten which paste I had used, and after watching this video, I checked, and lo and behold, it was the grizzly. For years I used only AS5 and never had heat issues on various ICed AMD and Intel chips from 2002 to 2026. A Tom's Hardware review pointed me to the grizzly when I built the 13600k system in early 2023, and it continues to work well. I would use it again. Thanks for this review and the explanation of the various aspects of thermal paste. I use the frosting method.

[jucerz]

Recently switched to PTM7950, so much easier to apply and I am getting better thermals as well

[KristianNormand]

I would've loved to see Noctua's paste in this test. It's the one I've used for the last 10 years, but it would be awesome to see it compared to others.

[_PITBOY]

“it's almost like a butt plug that just shoots out of there and then it craps all over your CPU like Taco Bell.”
First, I wanna know why we are using a butt plug,
and 2 ... I can die now. At least I'll die laughing.

[TheSaabClinicUK]

Dell, HP, IBM / Lenovo certified Server hardware engineer here. All of these manufacturers teach you the same thing during training. Thermal paste is to be spread thinly across the entire CPU die using an old store card or similar spreader. The paste only needs to be Microns thick. There is no point putting it on thickly. Doing so can actually make matters worse and reduce conductivity. I personally have tested some Noctua H2 against some cheapo no name paste off ebay. And there was a big temp difference over a long time of high cpu load.

[Blackrhyme]

Been using Arctic mx4 for years, might be a bit warmer than other ones, but can confirm it lasts for a quite a while after application.