[SOLVED] Which version of ARTIC MX-4 should i buy ?

[Korayaydemir]

So, i need to buy a new thermal paste, for the first time. After reading a lot of reviews and getting recommendations i decided that artic mx-4 is the best for my laptop. But there are products with exact same name on amazon, with different prices and different tubes on the photos. Which one should i get ? I don't want to waste my money on a worse version of the product.

1- That is "amazon's choice" but has very little reviews. And its tube is much different.
2 - That one has a different tube, and its 8grams but it is cheaper than the 3rd one, altough the third one has 4grams.
3- That one is best seller in heatsinks, has tons of good reviews, and is 4 grams, but is more expensive than 2nd one which is 8 grams. Only this one has tool for spreading.
4- That one is best seller in silicon grease, has tons of good reviews again. Looks almost the same as 3rd one, both are 4 grams, but this one is much cheaper and doesnt have tool for spreading.
( I dont care about spreading tool )

So, which one am i supposed to buy ? I guess 3rd and 4th one are the same, but just 3rd one's seller decided to sell it for higher price ? All these are confusing to me, and im scared of buying bad product, or paying more money for no reason, please help me decide which one i should buy. Thanks.


That is kinda like amazon shopping question but i decided thats still the best place to ask, since its about thermal pastes. Sorry if question doesn't belong to this forum. But i need help from someone knowledgeable about thermal pastes :c

 

[logainofhades]

They should really all be the same formula. Whichever gives you the most for your money is what I would buy.

 

[geofelt]

Why do you think you need new paste for your laptop cooler?
Only if the initial pasting was faulty or the laptop is very old should you ever need to re-paste.

Any of the products will work the same.
4g is enough, You really want to use as little as possible for best heat transfer.
Buy yourself some isopropyl alcohol to clean off the old paste.
91% is best, but 70% would be ok.
Also, use a paper coffee filter to clean off the old surfaces. Such paper will not have lint.

 

[Korayaydemir]

Why do you think you need new paste for your laptop cooler?
Only if the initial pasting was faulty or the laptop is very old should you ever need to re-paste.

Any of the products will work the same.
4g is enough, You really want to use as little as possible for best heat transfer.
Buy yourself some isopropyl alcohol to clean off the old paste.
91% is best, but 70% would be ok.
Also, use a paper coffee filter to clean off the old surfaces. Such paper will not have lint.

Okay thank you. I will buy the 4g one with most reviews. Thanks for recommendations on cleaning it too, there are many resources about it. I'm doing my homework before doing the job of course so i don't damage anyhing.

But what does that mean ? What percentages ?

91% is best, but 70% would be ok.

 

[geofelt]

Okay thank you. I will buy the 4g one with most reviews. Thanks for recommendations on cleaning it too, there are many resources about it. I'm doing my homework before doing the job of course so i don't damage anyhing.

But what does that mean ? What percentages ?

You will see a purity % on isopropyl bottles.
It is cheaper than paste cleaning kits.

You are correct in that taking a laptop apart is not easy and damage can easily occur.
What is the make/model of your laptop?

Before you start, run hwmonitor.
It will tell you the current, minimum, and maximum cpu temperatures.
For an intel processor, you should see a minimum in the 10-15c. range over ambient. Only if that is much higher should you possibly need to reseat the cooler.
Under load, verify that the cpu cooler fans are operating normally.

If you do not have a heat problem, do not try to fix a problem you do not have.

 

[cryoburner]

The first two are sold direct by Amazon. The second two are coming from random third-party sellers, though Amazon is handling the shipping for them. Really, they're all going to be the same product in different quantities, assuming the third-party ones are not counterfit, or really old stock or something. MX-4 is supposed to hold up a long time, so being potentially old stock might not be much of a concern though.

It looks like Amazon is not selling them under the second two listings at the moment. They may have switched to the new listing for newer packaging, as I think the tube was was packaged inside a hard-plastic "blister pack" before, while now it appears to be in a softer plastic envelope. I see some pictures with a cardboard box too, so they may have changed it more than once. No matter what listing you get though, you may get different exterior packaging than what's shown. They should all be the same product though. I wouldn't pay more for a lower quantity just because it's under a listing with more reviews. Again, the latter two are from third-party sellers who probably weren't the ones selling it when most of those reviews came through.

And if you don't think you will need a lot, there's a smaller 2-gram tube for $6 as well, which you can switch to on the second listing. That one's default buying option is from a third-party seller as well, but in that case the seller is Arctic Inc, who actually makes the product. You can see the seller listed to the right below the "buy it now" button.

 

[Korayaydemir]

The first two are sold direct by Amazon. The second two are coming from random third-party sellers, though Amazon is handling the shipping for them. Really, they're all going to be the same product in different quantities, assuming the third-party ones are not counterfit, or really old stock or something. MX-4 is supposed to hold up a long time, so being potentially old stock might not be much of a concern though.

It looks like Amazon is not selling them under the second two listings at the moment. They may have switched to the new listing for newer packaging, as I think the tube was was packaged inside a hard-plastic "blister pack" before, while now it appears to be in a softer plastic envelope. I see some pictures with a cardboard box too, so they may have changed it more than once. No matter what listing you get though, you may get different exterior packaging than what's shown. They should all be the same product though. I wouldn't pay more for a lower quantity just because it's under a listing with more reviews. Again, the latter two are from third-party sellers who probably weren't the ones selling it when most of those reviews came through.

And if you don't think you will need a lot, there's a smaller 2-gram tube for $6 as well, which you can switch to on the second listing. That one's default buying option is from a third-party seller as well, but in that case the seller is Arctic Inc, who actually makes the product. You can see the seller listed to the right below the "buy it now" button.

Thats actually very helpful and i learned a lot about, you know what to look at when buying from amazon. Thank you so much!

Umm how much applications does a 2 gram tube contain ? Or a 4 gram one ? (pea sized drops per application) I think i can afford 4 gram anyways so i will buy it to be safe. But i'm curious, i can go for 2gram too if it's more than enough.

 

[HappyTrails]

I just by this on the amazon. Turn out I not needs it. Motherboard came with grizzlies