Question Please suggest the best thermal grease among the 3 choices.

[grandgalaz]

Hi friends, I need to repaste my CPU and GPU. I found the following 3 brands at local shops. Thermal grizzly kryonaut could also be an option but presently they do not have that in stock. I am in kind of hurry. So I can't wait much longer. Therefore, I have narrowed down to 3 options. Which would be the best among the 3 compounds in my case? Please suggest.

Besides, what I have learnt so far that, there is no universally correct application methods for all thermal compounds. For ex: a thicker paste like TG-kryonaut is better applied with spread method. It may not cover the entire surface if we do it with 'Pea' or 'Line' method. So, please let me know the best suited methods for these 3 thermal compounds.

1) Cooler Master CryoFuze Violet
Viscosity: Don't know
Conductivity: 12.6 W/m.K

2) Noctua NT-H1
Viscosity: Don't know
Conductivity: Don't know

3) Arctic MX-4
Viscosity: Not much thicker & easy to spread (as per my best knowledge)
Conductivity: 8.5 W/m.K

Thank you 😊

 

[lvt]

Same conductivity, you can use what you like among those three products.

 

[grandgalaz]

Same conductivity, you can use what you like among those three products.

Okay, but I found the conductivity numbers are different in case of those 3 compounds. Also, I need one more help-- what I have learnt so far that, there is no universally correct application methods for all thermal compounds. For ex: a thicker paste like TG-kryonaut is better applied with spread method. It may not cover the entire surface if we do it with 'Pea' or 'Line' method. So, please let me know the best suited methods for these 3 thermal compounds.

 

[lvt]

Okay, but I found the conductivity numbers are different in case of those 3 compounds. Also, I need one more help-- what I have learnt so far that, there is no universally correct application methods for all thermal compounds. For ex: a thicker paste like TG-kryonaut is better applied with spread method. It may not cover the entire surface if we do it with 'Pea' or 'Line' method. So, please let me know the best suited methods for these 3 thermal compounds.

Ok so you edited the conductivity of the list, it's not a big deal, just remember that the higher is the better.

For applying the paste, just put a drop in the center if the chipset and you are good to go. The size of the drop depends on the size of the chip, for a Core2 Quad CPU I usually use a "corn grain" drop. For smaller chip like the North Bridge I used half that amount.

 

[grandgalaz]

just remember that the higher is the better.

It leaves me with only one option- Cooler Master CryoFuze Violet but this is a new product and I could not find any statistical data of test results or any experience shared by anyone. Also, my doubt still stands the same about thicker pastes. A small pea/drop of a thicker paste at the center may not cover the whole surface.

P.S: What is the conductivity of Noctua NT-H1 ?

 

[lvt]

It leaves me with only one option- Cooler Master CryoFuze Violet but this is a new product and I could not find any statistical data of test results or any experience shared by anyone. Also, my doubt still stands the same about thicker pastes. A small pea/drop of a thicker paste at the center may not cover the whole surface.

Just take the Cooler Master, it's a good one.

Two pea-like drops of thermal paste should be fine for most of CPUs on the market.

P.S: What is the conductivity of Noctua NT-H1 ?

Noctua has stopped disclosing conductivity and resistance info of their products, if the conductivity is important to you, stick with other brands like Cooler Master.

 

[CountMike]

It leaves me with only one option- Cooler Master CryoFuze Violet but this is a new product and I could not find any statistical data of test results or any experience shared by anyone. Also, my doubt still stands the same about thicker pastes. A small pea/drop of a thicker paste at the center may not cover the whole surface.

P.S: What is the conductivity of Noctua NT-H1 ?

Conductivity numbers are largely irrelevant unless there is big difference as they are tested in ideal conditions which are not same from case to case.
Better way is to chose best for your application.
Noctua NT-H1(H2 for instance is good for rough surfaces and high pressures. Also disregard those pompous names like"Freezing, Arctic, extreme etc" that's just marketing.

 

[lvt]

Also disregard those pompous names like"Freezing, Arctic, extreme etc" that's just marketing.

I actually love the word "CryoFuze" from Cooler Master 😀

 

[grandgalaz]

Just take the Cooler Master, it's a good one.

Do you have any real life experience with the CryoFuze ? Or, any statistical data?

 

[lvt]

Do you have any real life experience with the CryoFuze ? Or, any statistical data?

No, I usually used ThermalTake, the latest product I used from them was the TG-30, the conductivity is 4.5 W/m.K and it works great for my CPU and GPU.

So with the Cooler Master with 2.5x better conductivity, you have nothing to worry about.

 

[grandgalaz]

Noctua NT-H1(H2 for instance is good for rough surfaces and high pressures.

This is the CPU cooler I am using. Cooler Master Hyper 412s with copper heat pipes and aluminium body. Not sure of the "rough surface" and "high pressure" parameters.

 

[CountMike]

Rough surface = just that not very smooth contact surface, that CM would qualify for that because of space between heat pipes,

 

[Old Molases]

I would side with Arctic MX-4 . I've heard really good reviews about it on reddit and other forums too.

 

[geofelt]

Any of the candidates will do.
Do not get overly picky about this.
I use whatever I have on hand; usually the noctua which comes with their coolers.
Any method will do; I use the pea method, but any will do.
The differences in cooling are not great.
If cooling is what is important, look to a better cooler in the first place.

 

[grandgalaz]

All the replies pointed towards 3 different choices. Unanimity is too much to wish for, I guess 🙄

 

[Phaaze88]

All the replies pointed towards 3 different choices. Unanimity is too much to wish for, I guess 🙄

It was. You were asking for too much.
It does not matter much in the scheme of desktop cpu applications. I'd even go so far to say that there are way too many paste options out there.
Paste is just a bridge, and said bridge is not the culprit of poor cooling unless it is broken.

 

[CountMike]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0pNHTiNOrs

 

[ohio_buckeye]

Personally among those I prefer Arctic MX-4. I’m using a ryzen 5900x with a vetroo v5 cooler (similar size to your hyper 212 but with 5 heat pipes instead of 4), and I’m using 2 fans on it for push/pull configuration. For paste I’m using the mx4. Just a drop in the center of the cpu and personally I use my finger to spread the paste over the entire cpu surface. Under full load of Intel burn test or cinebench r23 the highest my temperatures go is 71-72. Usually idles in the mid 20s to 30s.

Personally I like Arctic because I used to always use Arctic silver 5 previously, which always did a good job imo, the mx4 has been good as well so I say stay with what you know. I’ve used cooler master paste and others when putting systems together over the years as well, probably even a couple off of brands. Those 3 are all well known companies so any of those pastes I’d expect will perform similarly.

As a side note, I tried thermal grizzly once which seemed to be a pain work with. Didn’t care for the method they wanted you to use to spread etc. immediately went back to the other products.