which thermal compound should i get?

[Nate 10160]

trying to decide between the arctic siver 5 and mx4 thermal pastes for use with a Cryorig H7 cooler + i7 6700k processor. Which one should I get and why? both have similar reviews. i think someone said the mx4 is thinner so its better to get the silver 5 for use with a large cooler like that but i could be wrong.

 

[elbert]

I only use the AS5 because it never needs reappling. Most dries out between 6 months ~ year. AS5 lasts for seems like a decade before needing reappling.

 

[synphul]

Most well known brands of thermal paste are similar, within 1-3c of each other so very little difference. Size of the cooler doesn't make a difference either, coolers mount with tension as they're tightened to the retention brackets. The paste just gets a dab on there to spread between the ihs on the cpu and the base of the cooler to fill in any voids for optimal contact between the two. Meaning a large cooler vs small cooler (the h7 isn't that big really) should both clamp against the cpu with similar force.

If choosing between those two I'd probably opt for the mx4. The as5 had a curing time of around 200hrs with several on/off warm up/cool down cycles before the paste was working 'optimally'. Not really sure how much it improves once cured but there's no fooling with cure time with mx4 or most other pastes. For that matter why not just use the cp9 paste that comes with the cooler?

In this review of it, the cryorig paste did better than the as5.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBUd1CD3iRI