What is the best thermal compound and why?

[Caveman]

I've heard that Arctice Silver 5 has to be reapplied annually. Is that true?

If yes, what are some longer lasting, better performing pastes and please back up with data if possible. Thanks.

 

[Idontcare]

NT-H1 made me pretty happy.

 

[masteryoda34]

One of my considerations is electrical conductivity. One accident with the AS5 and you might have shorted something without even realizing it.

 

[volcane]

NT-H1 made me pretty happy.

Yup, me too. Not electrically conducive and claimed to last up to 3 years without reapplying.

 

[poohbear]

I've heard that Arctice Silver 5 has to be reapplied annually. Is that true?

If yes, what are some longer lasting, better performing pastes and please back up with data if possible. Thanks.

no that's not true. U apply it and u pretty much forget about it.

 

[Caveman]

How about MX-3? It appears it edges out the Noctua paste and gets another degree or so of margin...?

 

[BrightCandle]

They all seem pretty close to each other in a lot of tests.

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Thermal-Compound-Roundup-December-2011/1445 have been rounding them up for weeks and might be of interest.

 

[soccerballtux]

One of my considerations is electrical conductivity. One accident with the AS5 and you might have shorted something without even realizing it.

it's not conductive.

it is, however, capacitive. Get it on capacitors and then you have problems. I fried two 9800GTs this way.

 

[Oyeve]

One of my considerations is electrical conductivity. One accident with the AS5 and you might have shorted something without even realizing it.

If you dont know wtf you are doing. I mean really, how can you have an accident with this stuff unless you have hooks for hands?

 

[Idontcare]

How about MX-3? It appears it edges out the Noctua paste and gets another degree or so of margin...?

I haven't tested it, Aigo has some master list of the thermal paste performance. I know Indigo is at the top, and I tested it and agree.

There is about a 4°C improvement to be had above and beyond what NT-H1 gives you. (think about that, this means AS5 puts you about 10°C higher than you need to be)

So there is room there for other TIM's to improve over NT-H1, MX-3 is probably one of them but we need that list from Aigo to confirm (unless someone else here has apples-to-apples data of their own?)

 

[Idontcare]

They all seem pretty close to each other in a lot of tests.

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Thermal-Compound-Roundup-December-2011/1445 have been rounding them up for weeks and might be of interest.

Not sure why their tests showed up that way but they are showing AS5 to be better than NT-H1 which is the first time I have ever seen that result in a review (of the probably ~dozen other TIM reviews I have seen which showed AS5 to be inferior to NT-H1).

Something seems amiss there.

But I did like how they tried all those other unconventional TIMs.

 

[Nemesis 1]

Hands down the best thermal compound on the market

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvemuIPi9rQ