Arctic MX-4 thermal paste results...

[user11464]

Had to change motherboards so naturally I had no option but to go for an aftermarket thermal paste. Results with the stock Intel cooler on an i5-7500 are 1-2 degrees celsius warmer at idle and light load over the pre-applied Intel paste. With that small of a margin it can obviously be attributed to application, but you would think that it would perform cooler if even just a little, seeing as how highly it's praised. Just posted to share my personal results. I kind of had the feeling that those paste test charts we see were to be taken with a grain of salt.

I haven't tested it under a heavy load (kind of scared) lol so maybe it performs better in that regard???

 

[gasaraki]

Could be application issue. I would let the paste cure if it wasn't already and if same issue after a few days of use maybe reapply. Remember you only need a thin layer of paste to fill microscopic gaps between the cooler and the cpu heat plate. Too much paste WILL hinder cooling.

 

[geofelt]

Possibly your remount was not done as well as the original.

----------------how to mount the stock Intel cooler--------------

The stock Intel cooler can be tricky to install.
A poor installation will result in higher cpu temperatures.
If properly mounted, you should expect temperatures at idle to be 10-15c. over ambient.

To mount the Intel stock cooler properly, place the motherboard on top of the foam or cardboard backing that was packed with the motherboard.
The stock cooler will come with paste pre applied, it looks like three grey strips.
The 4 push pins should come in the proper position for installation, that is with the pins rotated in the opposite direction of the arrow,(clockwise)
and pulled up as far as they can go.
Take the time to play with the pushpin mechanism until you know how they work.

Orient the 4 pins so that they are exactly over the motherboard holes.
If one is out of place, you will damage the pins which are delicate.
Push down on a DIAGONAL pair of pins at the same time. Then the other pair.

When you push down on the top black pins, it expands the white plastic pins to fix the cooler in place.

If you do them one at a time, you will not get the cooler on straight.
Lastly, look at the back of the motherboard to verify that all 4 pins are equally through the motherboard, and that the cooler is on firmly.
This last step must be done, which is why the motherboard should be out of the case to do the job. Or you need a case with a opening that lets you see the pins.
It is possible to mount the cooler with the motherboard mounted in the case, but you can then never be certain that the push pins are inserted properly
unless you can verify that the pins are through the motherboard and locked.

If you should need to remove the cooler, turn the pins counter clockwise to unlock them.
You will need to clean off the old paste and reapply new if you ever take the cooler off.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[ahnilated]

You state "Had to change motherboards" did you do any testing after you changed motherboards? Every motherboard is different and will run your system different. Without testing on the new motherboard all temp's you had from the old one aren't valid.

 

[user11464]

same exact motherboard model(replacement) and same exact settings. same processes running(fresh windows install with only motherboard drivers.). I know how to apply paste and did it correctly. I'm probably going to clean and reapply it just for the heck of it and see what happens, but I expect the same result.

 

[James Mason]

Here's a nice little article about paste application methods and the differences between them:
https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/Thermal-Paste-Application-Techniques-170/

A lot of your problem is the intel stock cooler, it's not super great at dissipating heat.

 

[synphul]

It's not so much taking thermal paste test results with a grain of salt, they actually reveal there's very little difference between most common brands of paste. Typically a margin of 1-3c difference. That much variance can happen from one install to the next. Outside of a few premium pastes, maybe grizzly kryonaut or liquid metal pastes like coollabs liquid pro (need special application and precautions to avoid corrosion), there's no real thermal paste 'magic'.

A decent cooler with proper mounting, making sure both cpu ihs and base of the cooler are nice and clean (lint free cloth and isopropyl alcohol), a small amount of thermal compound and so on will have larger effects on the cooling.

The stock intel cooler with the plastic pushpins for retention aren't my favorite. They function 'good enough' but not much beyond that. The plastic tabs can wear from pressure constantly exerted on them and once they stop locking down as tight as they once did new out of the box, there's no much that can be done. Not like a threaded cooler that mounts via screws/nuts.

By the same token, using a fancy K&N high performance air filter on a daewoo isn't going to magically give it horsepower it doesn't have. It can add up in the 'every little bit helps' category but it won't be a night/day difference. Great paste and a mediocre cooler won't outperform a better cooler and mediocre paste.