Arctic Silver - Still the paste of choice?

[Gipo]

Been a while since I've bought thermal paste - and I can't find my old tube of AS3 from around 2004

Is this still the stuff to go for... or anything 'better'?

[vrykyl]

To be honest theyre all much of muchness these days - AS5 is still very highly spoken of, as is Arctic Cooling MX-4.

Personally I used 'IC Diamond 24-Carat', but only because it was on cheap one day. Its at least as good as the AS5 I've used in previous builds - as far as thats a recommendation!

[mikeo01]

They are pretty much the same, thermal difference is not much.

I personally use MX-2, does the job. Managed to knock 30 degrees down on my graphics card, so it must be alright

I use MX-2 because it does not have any conducting metals

[Golden Dragoon]

They all seem to be much the same these days, I personally use akasa 450, simply because it is available locally at a good price from maplin

[aidanjt]

Still have a fairly well filled tube of AS5. See no reason to depart from a good thing.

[DanceswithUnix]

I also went for MX-2 on the grounds it was non conductive and got good reviews.

As is always the way, once purchased and used my missing tube of Arctic Silver then turned up

[KeyboardDemon]

I remember reading an article some time ago about the differences in thermal compounds, I can't remember where I read it, but they decided that the differences in the pastes were not as important as the differences in the application methods or something along those lines. Either way it was a little inconclusive about which paste was better and they tested the different methods by applying paste and then mounting glass over the paste to observe how many air holes were left once pressure had been applied.

I tend to look for non-conductive pastes just to avoid potential disasters with spillage etc... but I would suggest that you just go for a good reputable brand with an acceptable price point at the time of purchase. I got my tube of MX-2 as a gift following a demo at last years Gadget Show Live.

[CivilDrone]

paste of choice was replaced by mx-4 a while back. Not even sure who still uses that

[8 Pack]

Yeah MX4 gets my vote just for its ease of use, performance and relatively low cost. Its also non conductive which is amassive bonus if it accidently goes where it should not!!!!

[Voronus]

I have a 6 year old tube of AS5 lying around somewhere. Does that stuff go off?

I might get a new tube of MX-4 in any case, its not like it costs much!

[KeyboardDemon]

I have a 6 year old tube of AS5 lying around somewhere. Does that stuff go off?

I might get a new tube of MX-4 in any case, its not like it costs much!

I once found a really old tube of AS5 in one of my tool boxes, but this had pretty much congealed into a solid lump which made it unusable. If you can squeeze the paste out of the tube and it looks normal then as far as I'm aware it should be good to use. I don't think they have an expiry date on them, just be sure to keep them in suitable conditions to ensure that they don't end up like my old tube.

[watercooled]

Happy with MX2 myself, as mentioned there's not much in it now but I prefer to play it safe and use a completely non-conductive paste.

[Krono5]

Mx-4 or usually whatever comes on the heatsink already.

[watercooled]

Yeah there's usually no point in cleaning off any pre-applied TIM, again the difference will be small, but thermal pads/wax (the sort of thing you get on stock heatsinks) can be a pain to clean off in future. That's when proper 'TIM cleaners' like arcticlean come in handy, while IPA is fine for most pastes, it can take ages to deal with pads.

[pipTheGeek]

I usually go with what ever is cheap. I think (although I have no evidence) that some of the cheaper goops dry out quicker than the expensive ones, so they may end up not working so well after a while.

Speaking of the differences in thermal performance, dansdata (http://www.dansdata.com/goop.htm) has an article comparing various substances performace as thermal compound, including vegemite and toothpaste, it is well worth a read.

[konrad13x]

I'm still using AS5 which I bought 2 years ago. I just store tube in the fridge, pointing down, and it's working fine.

I think TIM brand it is not that important - better to focus on correct application method. Personally like Zalman ZM-STG1 because it's easy to use (brush applicator attached to the cap), still usable after 4years in air and doesn't dry on CPU.