Arctic MX-4 Thermal Paste

[thinman400]

Hey guys so I am nearing the start of building my first PC. After watching a couple tutorials I realized I was missing something! Thermal paste. So I went down to the local Microcenter store to find some. I sat there staring at the wall of thermal paste for quite some time, wanting to make sure I got a quality product.

I settled on the Arctic MX-4. This is for use with an i7-6700k and 212 EVO. If anyone has any comments or advice as to whether or not I made a good choice please let me know.

Thanks

 

[MeanMachine41]

Yes you made a good choice thinman400

 

[Shaun o]

Arctic MX-4 is a reasonable quality of thermal paste to buy, it does a good job of making a good contact between the cpu heat spreading cap on a cpu to the thermal cpu cooling solution you have chosen to run the cpu with.

However, a thermal paste in a lot of situations Thinman is only as good as it can be if you follow the correct procedure of applying it to the cpu die, between the cpu cooler you attach to the cpu it`s self to keep it cool when using the system you just built.

If you apply the thermal paste in the wrong quantity, or should I say too much of it Thinman it will act negatively in the cooling process between the cpu die, and the underside of the cpu cooler that makes contact with it for sufficient effective cooling.

There are a few ways you can choose, on how you apply the MX-4 thermal paste you just bought Thinman.
But to start with you want to, in the centre of the cpu apply some of the MX-4 paste about the size of a long grained bit of rice you see when it is cooked in water.

You can choose to then apply the Cooler Master evo 212 cpu cooler to the cpu after this.
Or some people prefer to spread the thermal paste in a thin layer about the thickness in consistency of a bit of A4 paper all the way across the Cpu heat spreading plate that covers the cpu die to aid the overall cooling size and area of cooling for the cpu die beneath the large flat cpu cap.

Depending on what cpu you have from an Intel based solution, to a Amd cpu.
And how many cores it has that run simultaneously during operation.
Will be how hot the cpu will get when for example at Idle sat in the bios options of your motherboard to configure the system board.
Or in windows just sat at the desktop with minimal cpu stress or load put on the cpu it`s self.

For Intel based chips, depending on how good the cpu cooler is, evo 212 being a fairly good solution Thinman.
You are looking at the cpu in the 25 C + range when mostly at Idle.

If you stress test the cpu. you can be looking at up to 60 C or a slight bit more.
Amd Cpu`s tend to run a bit hotter, due to Intel being better at cpu wattage consumption, lower cpu core default voltages set lower than Amd use for there line of Amd FX cpu`s.

Amd at idle can be from the mid 36c up, or close to 38c.
Again it all depends on how many cpu cores in total the cpu model number you bought contains, and also the default clock speed the cpu runs at in speed initially.

Any cpu tempreture range higher than the two values as a guide that you see in the 40c + range when at Idle can indicate that you may of applied to much thermal paste.

Where the thickness of the application of the layer between the cpu and the base of the cpu cooler contact plate is too thick and acting negatively in helping to cool the cpu it`s self Thinman.

Also pay close attention on how to fit the cpu cooler via the four screws used to hold the cpu cooler in firm contact with the cpu you fit to the motherboard cpu socket.

There is a set way and order you must tighten the screws and create tension between the cpu, and the Evo 212 cooler.
So even pressure is applied. To keep the flat cpu cooler base plate in good contact between the cpu die.

If you tighten the screws up in the wrong order you can create too much tension on on side of the base of the cpu cooler causing a very slight air gap, or firm seal between the cpu and the cooler.

The signs of this is you will see if a multi cored cpu is fitted that one of the cpu cores listed will be reporting it` tempreture much higher than the other cpu cores of the chip.
Up to about a 7c to 10c heat increase.

And that`s about it Thinman.

 

[thinman400]

Arctic MX-4 is a reasonable quality of thermal paste to buy, it does a good job of making a good contact between the cpu heat spreading cap on a cpu to the thermal cpu cooling solution you have chosen to run the cpu with.

However, a thermal paste in a lot of situations Thinman is only as good as it can be if you follow the correct procedure of applying it to the cpu die, between the cpu cooler you attach to the cpu it`s self to keep it cool when using the system you just built.

If you apply the thermal paste in the wrong quantity, or should I say too much of it Thinman it will act negatively in the cooling process between the cpu die, and the underside of the cpu cooler that makes contact with it for sufficient effective cooling.

There are a few ways you can choose, on how you apply the MX-4 thermal paste you just bought Thinman.
But to start with you want to, in the centre of the cpu apply some of the MX-4 paste about the size of a long grained bit of rice you see when it is cooked in water.

You can choose to then apply the Cooler Master evo 212 cpu cooler to the cpu after this.
Or some people prefer to spread the thermal paste in a thin layer about the thickness in consistency of a bit of A4 paper all the way across the Cpu heat spreading plate that covers the cpu die to aid the overall cooling size and area of cooling for the cpu die beneath the large flat cpu cap.

Depending on what cpu you have from an Intel based solution, to a Amd cpu.
And how many cores it has that run simultaneously during operation.
Will be how hot the cpu will get when for example at Idle sat in the bios options of your motherboard to configure the system board.
Or in windows just sat at the desktop with minimal cpu stress or load put on the cpu it`s self.

For Intel based chips, depending on how good the cpu cooler is, evo 212 being a fairly good solution Thinman.
You are looking at the cpu in the 25 C + range when mostly at Idle.

If you stress test the cpu. you can be looking at up to 60 C or a slight bit more.
Amd Cpu`s tend to run a bit hotter, due to Intel being better at cpu wattage consumption, lower cpu core default voltages set lower than Amd use for there line of Amd FX cpu`s.

Amd at idle can be from the mid 36c up, or close to 38c.
Again it all depends on how many cpu cores in total the cpu model number you bought contains, and also the default clock speed the cpu runs at in speed initially.

Any cpu tempreture range higher than the two values as a guide that you see in the 40c + range when at Idle can indicate that you may of applied to much thermal paste.

Where the thickness of the application of the layer between the cpu and the base of the cpu cooler contact plate is too thick and acting negatively in helping to cool the cpu it`s self Thinman.

Also pay close attention on how to fit the cpu cooler via the four screws used to hold the cpu cooler in firm contact with the cpu you fit to the motherboard cpu socket.

There is a set way and order you must tighten the screws and create tension between the cpu, and the Evo 212 cooler.
So even pressure is applied. To keep the flat cpu cooler base plate in good contact between the cpu die.

If you tighten the screws up in the wrong order you can create too much tension on on side of the base of the cpu cooler causing a very slight air gap, or firm seal between the cpu and the cooler.

The signs of this is you will see if a multi cored cpu is fitted that one of the cpu cores listed will be reporting it` tempreture much higher than the other cpu cores of the chip.
Up to about a 7c to 10c heat increase.

And that`s about it Thinman.

Wow, thanks for the detailed response! Well in the building tutorials I have watched they have typically went with the "pea" or maybe it was "half-pea" method for applying the thermal paste. I was thinking I might do something along those lines.

So from what I've gathered, screwing down the cooler is kind of like putting on a tire. You want to screw each screw down a little bit at a time to create an even connection and to also spread the paste evenly under the cooler. Is this correct?

 

[Shaun o]

Yes, you got it in one Thinman.

The Idea is exactly the same method you would use when putting a new wheel on a car, and the way you tighten each nut opposite to the one you tighten, until all are tight.