The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Best Compound for CPU/GPU?

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by Voodooi, Jul 24, 2010.

  1. Voodooi

    Voodooi AFK for a while...

    Reputations:
    1,850
    Messages:
    2,874
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    55
    Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound on both CPU/GPU
    Arctic Coling MX-2 Thermal Compound on CPU/GPU
    IC Diamond 24 Carat Thermal Compound on both CPU/GPU

    I'm in the process of purchasing a new laptop but I was wondering what compound was ideal (gaming laptop)?
     
    Voodooi, Jul 24, 2010
    #1
  2. Fast34

    Fast34 Newbie

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    1
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    best is
    1) liquid steel
    2)artic silver
    3)normal paste
     
    Fast34, Jul 25, 2010
    #2
  3. mangbhoy

    mangbhoy Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    15
    Messages:
    257
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Depends on what you define as "best". As far as I've read, IC Diamond is relatively difficult to apply but gives lower temps overall. I've used AS5 and AC MX-2 before and, imo, the performance is roughly the same.
     
    mangbhoy, Jul 25, 2010
    #3
  4. sgogeta4

    sgogeta4 Notebook Nobel Laureate

    Reputations:
    2,389
    Messages:
    10,552
    Likes Received:
    7
    Trophy Points:
    456
    There is no ideal compound really since there are differences in each batch made, differences in your application, cost, etc. As stated above, define what YOU mean by best (ie. does price matter, have you ever applied paste before)? For the most part, differences aren't significant between the "top" thermal pastes.
     
    sgogeta4, Jul 25, 2010
    #4
  5. Nick

    Nick Professor Carnista

    Reputations:
    3,870
    Messages:
    4,089
    Likes Received:
    641
    Trophy Points:
    181
    The best I can think of is thermal paste.

    :D

    I use Antec Formula 5. It dropped my temps by 8C.
     
    Nick, Jul 25, 2010
    #5
  6. HTWingNut

    HTWingNut Potato

    Reputations:
    21,580
    Messages:
    35,370
    Likes Received:
    9,877
    Trophy Points:
    931
    IC Diamond isn't difficult. Just a rice-sized bead on the CPU or GPU and squish it with the heatsink. ICD is a bit thicker than AS5, but I've had better temps because of it.
     
    HTWingNut, Jul 25, 2010
    #6
  7. dero56

    dero56 Notebook Geek

    Reputations:
    1
    Messages:
    89
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    I think that mx-3 is the best, and the soon to be mx-4 which is coming out later this year hopefully. It has about the same temps as artic silver and ic diamonb but there is zero curing time and it's not conductive so it won't short circuit your board if you screw up.
     
    dero56, Jul 25, 2010
    #7
  8. crazycanuk

    crazycanuk Notebook Virtuoso

    Reputations:
    1,354
    Messages:
    2,705
    Likes Received:
    3
    Trophy Points:
    56
    I prefer IDC 7 as well for high temp or high load CPU/GPU's, not too hard to apply if you take your time and heat it up slightly in hot water beforehand and then as HTwingnut said put a rice grain sized blob in the center and then work your heatsink on nice and SLOWLY.

    I find it 5-10 C cooler than AS-5 or MX-3
     
    crazycanuk, Jul 25, 2010
    #8
  9. artompkins

    artompkins Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    18
    Messages:
    148
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    I have used most of the better compounds to include IC Diamond and Shin-Etsu X-23 has always consistantly been the best as far as cooling goes but its sometimes hard to find and its the most expensive of all the premium compounds.
     
    artompkins, Jul 26, 2010
    #9
  10. sean473

    sean473 Notebook Prophet

    Reputations:
    613
    Messages:
    6,705
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    IDC 7 is best from what i heard but a shin etsu one is better...
     
    sean473, Jul 28, 2010
    #10