#BEST THERMAL PASTE FOR CPU PRO#
#BEST THERMAL PASTE FOR CPU PC#

However, Phobya LM bucks this trend as it shows you can get good liquid metal compound performance at bargain pricing. When we look at each compound in terms of unit cost-per-gram, liquid metal compounds are generally more costly, making their overall performance value more of a luxury than a necessity. Interestingly, the difference between the top and bottom of this chart is less than 4C. Liquid metal compounds make their way to the top of the temperature chart with slightly cooler values than the traditional pastes.

We’ll look at the overall thermal load averages for each, as well as the relative performance value of each in terms of price-per-gram. We've also included value charts in the album below as well.Īs shown in the slides above, the outcome of the different testing scenarios resulted in some interesting comparisons among the compounds. High-tension mounting with an all-in-one (AIO) liquid coolerīelow you'll find the temperatures we measured on our standardized test bench, and as always, lower temperatures are better.High-tension Noctua NH-D15 mounting to model higher-end air coolers with a backplate.Low-tension Noctua NH-D15 mounting to model an air cooler without a backplate (like an Intel stock cooler, or push-pin coolers).To cover all the bases, we've tested every thermal paste with three variables: We'll go into our breakdown of how we test these thermal pastes below, but the key takeaway here is that a single thermal compound can perform differently based upon several variables, such as what type of cooler and mount you use. That should give you a good idea of how other pastes that we haven't retested yet would compare to the newer pastes. A bit further down, you'll find our original round of testing with 85 different pastes, some of which we've revisited in this new performance hierarchy. Here's a breakdown of our recent testing, and we'll be adding new pastes to this list over the coming weeks and months. Can cause reactions with aluminum and other metals. Spreading the compound is made easier with cotton swabs and generous pressure to develop a consistent coating on the CPU IHS. Liquid Metal Compound LM ships as a syringe with a capillary applicator tip.

#BEST THERMAL PASTE FOR CPU PRO#

Best Premium (Standard) Thermal Pasteįor a compound that costs less than half as much as leading competitors, Phobya's Liquid Metal Compound LM offers impressive performance, often besting the the CoolLaboratory Liquid Pro or Thermal Grizzly Conductonaut in our tests. Remember that you don't always get what you pay for as some budget pastes come awfully close to or overtake their more expensive competitors. Here are the best thermal pastes, along with our complete test results. These pads can be used as TIM and come as a single sheet you simply apply to your heatsink, with Thermaltake's Heilos Pad being the first new thermal pad entrant to see our test bed in the coming weeks. We're also putting a new take on an old approach to the test - thermal pads. We'll keep the MX-5 listed, but be aware that stock could disappear in the future, and then this favorite will no longer be available. Arctic will retire its ever-popular MX-5 paste, one of the staples in our recommendations below, as it makes way for the new MX-6 that just launched with claims of up to 20% better performance. Cooling mainstay Corsair also has a new XTM70 blend that will be heading to our test bench soon, and Gelid has recently released its GC-4 Thermal Paste, showing that the TIM market is still thriving.Īs new pastes arrive, older pastes also get retired. Cooler Master introduced a new purple CryoFuze, and Alphacool unveiled its Apex thermal paste.

#BEST THERMAL PASTE FOR CPU PC#

Long-time PC cooler maker NZXT recently entered the market with its first paste, the not-very-excitingly named NZXT High-Performance Thermal Paste. Most, but not all, traditional pastes are electrically non-conductive.Įven though a dizzying array of different thermal pastes is available - some blends have been around for over a decade - new formulations still come to market at a surprising pace.

In contrast, traditional thermal paste compounds are relatively simple for every experience level. They are very hard to remove if you get some in the wrong place, which would fry your system. Liquid metal compounds are almost always electrically conductive, so while these compounds perform better than their paste counterparts, they require more focus and attention during application.

Best thermal paste for cpu