Arcitc MX-4 is the BEST!

Hi NBR.

For the last two months, temps have been tormenting me. I couldn't even play my favorite games because CPU would reach 90C after 15 minutes of gameplay!

So I bought Cooler Master Essential E2 thermal paste , repasted about 3 times but FAILED. temps would rise to 90C before I even finish one misson.

I thought why wouldn't I give a shot for silicone thermal paste ( I know I'm dumb ), and of course you know how the results was.

The problem is Arctic MX-4 is very hard to find in Egypt but I searched and searched until I found it, I bought it. Opened up the laptop, cleaned the heatsink, repasted by using the three dots method for the CPU ( Thank you SlickDude80 ) and the dot method for the GPU.

GPU load temps :



66C max load!!!! I couldn't believe the readings, I know guys it's not a powerful GPU but anyway I'm not an hardcore gamer. 1 day ago, GPU would hit 90C after 30sec of Furmark

CPU load temps :



I'm not going to comment on temps , but just to let you know, I couldn't even dare to open Prime95

At the end , I want to thank everyone in this forum because without you I would have failed.

Sorry if I was a bit zealous or exaggerative but I'm extremely happy. Oh and excuse my English

 

Its good but the best is Indigo Xtreme.

 

Prolimatech PK-3 worked better than MX-4 for me, thermal conductivity is 2.7W/mk higher than MX-4 too. And yes Indigo Xtreme is the best, 20W/mk.

 

But Indigo Xtreme is not for the feint of heart lol. Getting ready to do the G75 i used it on a bunch of systems with no problems but most people don't like the instal at all.

 

I didn't mean to say it's better than other thermal pastes, since it it decreased my temps alot I said it's the best, maybe for me
Arctic MX-4 is sold in only one place in Egypt, do you think I'll find Indigo Extreme or Prolimatech PK-3 ?

 

You didn't apply the thermal paste properly 3 times in a row.

 

Actually, more than 3 times. I think either the Cooler Master thermal paste was not good or I didn't clean the heatsink well.
Anyway, All is good now so nothing to complain about.

 

So you really think that a different thermal paste lowered your temps by over 20 degrees? I honestly doubt it, tbh.

 

I'm glad you got your temps under control. I think it was a combination of properly cleaning, properly applying, and using a good thermal paste. MX-4 is good, but I don't think it was the single thing that contributed to a 20C drop. Although I have dropped temps 10C simply by getting rid of the factory paste and using a decent one.

 

I'm looking for a paste to repaste my quite hot MSI GE60 as well, and the better ones I've found that are available in my country are the Noctua NT-H1, the Arctic Silver 5 and the Arctic Cooling MX-4. Which one of these do you think is the best?

 

The MX-4 is considerably better than Arctic Silver 5. But I'd have to say that these guys are right on the money about the bad paste job. realistically speaking, I had my 6970M overheating due to a crap paste job by me and when I repasted with some crap TIM that came with some heatsink my temps were well in order. I've left it alone since then. A good paste job will generally outweigh a particularly good TIM choice.

 

Maybe he got a bad tube the first time around. I find it hard to believe that he would screw up 3 times in a row and then apply it properly afterwards. Or CM just uses cream cheese as their TIM.

 

Well I think CM thermal paste is not as good as Arctic MX-4. I agree with HTWingNut " it was a combination of properly cleaning, properly applying, and using a good thermal paste. ". Anyway, I'm glad I solved this disturbing problem, now I can enjoy some gaming.

 

MX-4 may not technically be the best, but it is wicked easy to use and really really good. You just glob it on there, don't worry about getting too much, it is non-conductive. Then tighten down and bam, it just works. I have never had trouble with an application of MX-2 or MX-4. It generally just works and carries almost no risk unlike other products that can short out your system, scratch your die, etc.

 

Actually Indigo Xtreme is not for laptops as the pad doesn't fix, so your best bet is only paste type. However the difference you might see between the MX-4 and the PK-3 is only 1C.

 

Okay, I'll try to get some tomorrow (and if I finally get the permission from MSI to break the warranty sticker that prevents me from opening the laptop.. -.-) I'll try to apply it. I'm getting like 10-15C higher temps on my GE60 than in GenTechPC's video, so I suspect it's bad paste. The chip surely can't be so crappy to run 15C hotter after all..

 

Congratulations.

Either way a awesome result. I might test my MX-4 on my Clevo to check the results versus Artic Silver

 

i am surprised noone has mentioned ICD 24. Also fantastic stuff. Nasty to clean off but it does the job well.

 

Not for it but you can get it to work I used it on a few delidded cpu's and gpu's when i use to benchmark. The hard part is getting it to sit there and flow without the laptop shutting down and that's when data sheets and programming knowledge come in handy lol.



But to be honest most paste is extremely close 80-way Thermal Interface Material Performance Test | Thermal Interface Material,Thermal Paste,Heatsink Compound,80-Way Thermal Interface Material Best Thermal Paste Heatsink Compound Cooling Performance Comparison Benchmark Tests I only seens a 1-2c lower temp with ICD vs AS5 its nothing really unless your benching needing every hz of the cpu and gou and in that case your looking for paste that work well at -30c and lower because your useing LN2, Cry ice and Liquid heilum if your leet enough to be able to get it.

 

you inspired me to no hammer my 15xpz .. it take less than 10 min to reach 95c in any stress .. WITH disabling auto turbo !!!
so guys tell us is Indigo Xtreme can be applied for laptops CPUs or not? before I order it

 

Welcome to the club. MX4 cut temps on my lappy pretty great too.

 

Not without a hard time placing the pad and reflowing it.

 

thanks .. I ordered Prolimatech PK-3

 

Just be careful when you dismantle the laptop.

 

oh another miraculous thermal paste drop !

Now from 90 to 66°C how fabulous !

Funny thing is that changing thermal paste never gave me more than 5°C improvment. And i did it a lot of times in my life.

Stop making people believe that they will get a 20°C drop just by changing thermal paste thanx u in advance.

Also nobody tried Phobya Hegrease ? thought it was the best last time i checked reviews.

 

If the stock paste is applied badly then more than 5C is quite possible just by reapplying it correctly in my opinion .

 

This review is great as it compares TIMs with poor, moderate and great contact with the heatsink.

EVGA Frostbite, Phobya HeGrease, and TIM Consultants Quantum Review | Skinnee Labs

And we can see that Phobya Hegrease is da best in the worst cases scenarios aka poor and moderate contact. Which is probably the case in many laptops.

I've seen in another review that MX-4 wasn't even better than MX-2.

 

What's Phobya Hegrease's w/mk tho? Its specs aren't even listed on the Phobya site.

 

@DaCM

What ever is easier for get. Most websites find maybe 2-3C between PROPERLY applied TIM's. What is your temp probe calibrated for? Cleaning is probally the most overlooked or not performed step in repasting. That said, Artic Silver's ArctiClean is an outstanding surface cleaner.

..and LOL, AS5 does NOT conduct voltage. The '"silver" is in suspension, not physically connected as in a circuit..use your OHM meter! I have had good luck with ICD7 and AS5 being local and somewhat cheap. AS5 is really easy to apply and matched IC7 before any "cure".

Of course, YMMV

 

I'm not trying to convince people that their temps will drop 20C or anything, I'm just writing my experience.

 

What's with the rage?

If stock paste is applied terribly it can result in amazing things once you get hands on some good paste and actually paste like a BAWS

 

After reading your post and the guy above, stock paste is pretty damn good.

If you repaste because the manufacturer did a poor paste job, repasting feels just as good as reinstalling windows. Everything is "fresh".

 

The point is that the most important thing is doing it right. The OP would likely have gotten similar results just applying the stock TIM correctly since it was probably misapplied at assembly. The original post seems to be hailing MX4 as a miracle, regardless of intent.

 

Thus the "actually paste like a BAWS" meaning that one applies it correctly, but yes ofc.

My point is just a mixture between badly pasted stock paste versus correctly pasted high quality paste; Is unfair.

 

All I'm saying is "MX4 is the best, my temps dropped by over 20 degrees!" implies causation, when in reality, the drop from 90 degrees to 66 degrees is due to more factors than just the switch in paste brands.

 

Well, I'm not lying to you

All I did is repasting and cleaning the heatsink which is normal. I didn't add copper shims or anything, I even cleaned the heatsink with a toothbrush.

My sister bought the same laptop, I opened Furmark and temps would rise instantly to 80C. ( Same GPU )

I overclocked the GPU from 600MHz to 810MHz and the GPU maxed out at 68C after a session of 3DMark11.

I apologized at the end of the post about being exaggerative, I was happy because I never thought I will get this low temp.

 

You're not lying, but the temp drop wasn't completely due to the fact that you specifically used MX4.

 

I've repasted my MSI GE60 with MX-4 today and - while this was my first laptop repaste ever - it yielded significantly better temps. CPU load temps dropped around 10-15C (in the low 80's now) and max GPU temp dropped 8C to 85 in Furmark. I think this is still a bit hot, but it's probably because my application was not perfect and the GE60 also doesn't have a stellar cooling system..

I didn't spread it, just put a blob on the GPU and a line on the CPU and let the heatsink spread it.