Question Artic MX-6

[Exz0sT]

Hello. I decided to change the thermal paste for my CPU. I bought Arctic MX-6 because of YouTube reviews.

I had pre-applied Be Quiet’s paste. I tested the temperatures by running Cinebench for 30 minutes, with all fans at 100%.

After the first test, I removed the old paste with the wipes that Arctic’s paste comes in. I applied the new paste and spread it across the whole CPU.

Then I did the second test, also 30 minutes of Cinebench with all fans at 100%.

The results were a bit disappointing.


Be Quiet (pre-applied): Min: 76.9 Max: 79.9 Avg: 78.9
Arctic MX-6: Min: 76.1 Max: 79.0 Avg: 78.0
Difference: Min: -0.8 Max: -0.9 Avg: -0.9

The question is whether Be Quiet’s pre-applied thermal paste is so good, or if I did something wrong, or if choosing a "premium" paste almost doesn’t make a difference?

I tested it on a Ryzen 7 5800x and an air cooler Be Quiet Pure Rock 2 (150 W TDP).

 

[Lafong]

Differences of less than 1 degree?

That's margin of error stuff.

I wouldn't give it a second thought.

I have no idea if you had realistic expectations.

 

[Exz0sT]

Differences of less than 1 degree?

That's margin of error stuff.

I wouldn't give it a second thought.

I have no idea if you had realistic expectations.

Well, I expected to get at least 2 degrees of improvement. Some people said in the comments that they had 5 degrees over MX-4.

 

[Lafong]

If you apply the same paste 10 times, you will get 10 different results.

Room temperature alone can make noticeable differences.

If 2 degrees would be significant to you, then you may have problems that paste can't cure. But you may be highly interested in 66 degrees rather than 68 for whatever reason.

Not sure what problem you are trying to solve other than seeking lower temps for their own sake, possibly as part of "hobbyist" fiddling.

Are you operating on such a ragged edge that 2, 4, or 6 degrees is a big deal?

Do you have performance issues?

 

[Exz0sT]

If you apply the same paste 10 times, you will get 10 different results.

Room temperature alone can make noticeable differences.

If 2 degrees would be significant to you, then you may have problems that paste can't cure. But you may be highly interested in 66 degrees rather than 68 for whatever reason.

Not sure what problem you are trying to solve other than seeking lower temps for their own sake, possibly as part of "hobbyist" fiddling.

Are you operating on such a ragged edge that 2, 4, or 6 degrees is a big deal?

Do you have performance issues?

I mean, you had to realize that I'm new to the PC universe if I'm asking that kind of question. Thats why i'm here. It doesn't matter if it's a big deal or not.

I'm only seeking to get a simple answer such as "Yes, it's possible to get these results" or "You possibly messed up". Or as your position "Here is good reason why not to get -5 degrees of your CPU temps".

There are no issues in performance. It's just curiosity and trying to squeeze everything of my PC to the maximum.

In this case, I'm confused if pre-applied paste performs similarly to "premium" paste. That's it.

 

[Eximo]

be quiet! isn't exactly a low end brand, no reason they wouldn't include decent thermal paste.

The paste that is often deployed with stock coolers has a long service life, which is why it isn't great in terms of thermal performance. But it also doesn't need replacing every 2-3 years, but can last nearly as long as the expected usefulness of the system.

 

[Lafong]

I mean, you had to realize that I'm new to the PC universe if I'm asking that kind of question. Thats why i'm here. It doesn't matter if it's a big deal or not.

I'm only seeking to get a simple answer such as "Yes, it's possible to get these results" or "You possibly messed up". Or as your position "Here is good reason why not to get -5 degrees of your CPU temps".

There are no issues in performance. It's just curiosity and trying to squeeze everything of my PC to the maximum.

In this case, I'm confused if pre-applied paste performs similarly to "premium" paste. That's it.

Similarly.....yes. As I would define similarly.

"Premium" paste is standard marketing lingo to entice buyers. You'll notice RAM is marketed as "Dominator" rather than "Adequate"


"I'm only seeking to get a simple answer such as "Yes, it's possible to get these results" or "You possibly messed up"."

Both of those outcomes are possible. Hard to say without having watched over your shoulder.

You could try once or 5 more times. One of them will be the best of the lot, but you'd never know if yet another attempt might give a slightly better result. Then you'd have to decide when enough is enough.

 

[Math Geek]

What you are seeing is that overall paste does not make much of a difference. So yah I'm not surprised at all.

Check out toms review of pastes

Best Thermal Paste for CPUs 2024: Over 50 Compounds Tested and Ranked

The right thermal paste will improve performance.

www.tomshardware.com

You'll see other than the top end most fall within a small window of temps.

 

[Exz0sT]

Thanks for your answers.

 

[Zerk2012]

I mean, you had to realize that I'm new to the PC universe if I'm asking that kind of question. Thats why i'm here. It doesn't matter if it's a big deal or not.

I'm only seeking to get a simple answer such as "Yes, it's possible to get these results" or "You possibly messed up". Or as your position "Here is good reason why not to get -5 degrees of your CPU temps".

There are no issues in performance. It's just curiosity and trying to squeeze everything of my PC to the maximum.

In this case, I'm confused if pre-applied paste performs similarly to "premium" paste. That's it.

They come with decent paste already applied.
Going from the best you can get to just the cheap stuff you might get about a 4C difference then you can allow about a 1C difference in the way it was applied.