Best thermal paste for CPU & GPU for longevity on laptops?

Hello I have an MSI GS73VR laptop.


I was informed by people on these forums that using some aftermarket thermal pastes like IC Diamond while great needs to be reapplied every 6-12 months in order to keep the paste effective.


I was wondering then if there was any thermal paste any better than the stock thermal paste that MSI used with just as long longevity or if not more that cools any better or slightly better?

 

The quick answer is that just about all of your high end pastes perform within a margin of error of each other. That means you don't really need to worry about specific brand.

Having said that, people tend to like Arctic Silver 5 and IC Diamond. Both are excellent, and will likely perform better that the stock thermal paste.

If you apply the paste correctly, you do not need to reapply it every 12 months. A proper application of thermal paste should last you for the life of the laptop.

Keep in mind that most of the benchmarks on thermal paste performance, and urban myths like rr-apply every 12 months, come from the desktop CPU over clocking world, where you are dealing with 90W+ CPUs that get over >100W TDP because extra voltage is pumped into them. A laptop CPU doesn't output anywhere near that amount of heat.

So, if you want to rr-apply paste, just pick a high end paste and go for it. Just keep in mind that it probably won't make any real-world difference. Your laptop won't run faster or longer; and you won't notice the laptop "feeling" cooler. The only difference it will make is when you specifically run a program that measures CPU temperatures, and you get to see that number drop by 3C. The only reason to re-paste your CPU is to scratch that obsessive-compulsive itch that so many of us have, to tweak our hardware so it is "maxed out.".




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@jjp I personally use Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut. Last time I checked, it was the best electrically non-conductive thermal paste according to reviews.

 

In my experience, the reduction in temperature due to repasting can sometimes be significant. The person assembling the notebook is probably allowed 10 seconds to apply a dollop of paste and screw down the heat sink and tends to err on the side of too much paste whereas the objective is to have the thinnest possible layer which fills all gaps between the chip and heatsink. Therefore, as noted above, scratch that itch and repaste with a good quality paste (I use NT-H1) after making sure that the surfaces are completely clean. Before repasting run some standard load tests and note down the temperatures, then repeat after repasting. If not happy with the difference do another repaste with more or less paste depending on what you see when you remove the heatsink - a standard tube of paste is good for many repastes - then retest again.

John

 

Not by person, everything is automated incl the screwdown process.

Only manual is maybe the thermal pads.

 

Well how long does NT-H1 last for?


The biggest reason why I'm asking is because I'm giving this laptop to someone who lives far away from me and isn't going to bother or know how to try and reapply thermal paste. So I'm looking for thermal paste that will last the longest amount of time while providing decent or better than stock thermal paste performance

 

This review mentions 3 years which is also indicated here (I haven't been using it that long). I would consider 3 years to be plenty long enough as any notebook where cooling efficiency is a concern deserves a good clean to remove dust and fluff much more frequently than 3 year intervals.

NT-H1 has been available for about 8 years so problems with rapid degradation in cooling performance sensibly would have resulted in replacement with something better.

John

 

I'd recommend Arctic MX-4 or Gelid GC Extreme.

 

Artic MX-4 can be recommended highly.

This just reminded me to repaste again.. temps are causing a sauna underneath my desk!

 

friends don't let friends use mx4

 

Yeah it's not the best, but better than dried out cream or toothpaste.

I will post results after the repaste today did a few benches for comparison (it's alright...)

 

Prolimatech PK-3 Nano Aluminium. Gelid GC Extreme is not the best in the long term.

 

Surprised nobody has mentioned CLU. If you have a good fitting copper heatsink, definitely CLU all the way. I'm still on the original paste I did 2 years ago on the M18x R2, highly overclocked with no degradation in thermal performance.

 

most laptop heatsink is crooked

 

Use CLU on both GPU & CPU with CPU. My CPU heatsink has a broken screw so I am just screwing that with only 3 screws, I am a university student who move around and travel a lot with the laptop. CLU never caused me problems and the performance is insanely good.