Best Thermal Compound For Mobile CPUs

Hello
I just received the new CPU Core i7 2820QM and I want to know which thermal compound is best for mobile computers ?
I thought that Arctic Silver 5 is the same company as MX series but that is Arctic Cooling
I have some candidates here below :

 

Me personally Id go with AS5.

AC MX-4 is suppose to be good stuff and I read its runs slightly cooler (within a degree) I have personally never used it. You can't go wrong with AS5

 

ic diamond 7

 

Haha, obv IC diamond wasn't an option, the MX-4 or AS5 is good

 

where do you say obviously, i see no mention of him being limited to using as5, ic diamond 7 - good stuff, there is other higher quality thermal compounds but they literally are hard to remove

 

I have found some benchmark so I have purchased Arctic Silver 5
http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.p...k=view&id=150&Itemid=62&limit=1&limitstart=12
that ic diamond 7 is not there but IC Seven Carat Diamond it's probably same.
Arctic Silver 5 has grade A+ 37.55°C

Looks like Shin-Etsu G-751 is the best one as it's first on chart

 

The method of application is MUCH more important than the thermal compound itself, the actual difference between the top brand paste like ICD-7, AS5, MX-4 is minimal(within 1-2 C degree at best).

 

yea i7 carat diamond 7, and here is a review site which is highly respected then any other site in terms or thermal tests and data

2011 Thermal Compound Roundup – Results Compilation | Skinnee Labs

notice below ic diamond 7 and liquid metal pro being the last to be tested, unfortunately the review hasn't been completed yet, i recommend icdiamond 7, want to buy something else go ahead.


edit:liquid metal pro might be better but i dont know by how much, it however is not meant to be used on aluminum at all,and is hard to remove, it's literally like liquid metal.

 

Yeah I found similar and latest
Thermal Compound Roundup - September 2011

 

no ic diamond on your chart or liquid metal pro.

 

but why?
nobody knows it it's new to me as well
Artic Silver 5 is popular

 

cause there have been tests and also every major notebook reseller of clevo uses ic diamond7 as an upgrade, another indication of the quality it is, i believe liquid metal pro is the best there is, but it will kill aluminum and is very hard to remove, when using it

 

As stated, thermal compound application is much more important than the actual thermal paste itself. You can't go wrong with any of the thermal pastes in the top 5-10 of most lists or review comparisons. IMO since there are no consistent reviews where a single product is significantly ahead of its competitors, shows that the margin of error in technique is more than the difference between the top thermal pastes, so you can't really justify any single product as being the absolute best. So just get the cheapest one of the top 5-10...

My advice: look up how to properly remove thermal paste, clean your CPU, and how to best apply it. Some products prefer different techniques but for a small notebook CPU die, I generally put a little drop or rice-shaped blob and let the weight from the heatsink spread it out. After you have pressed down tightly, remove it and see the pattern to check if you have too little or too much (ie. are the corners untouched or is it spilling over). Both are not good, play around with the amount until you get the right amount.

 

@sgogeta4
What you saying about spreading compound , the best is if you put blob or two in the middle because it will spread to the edges by pressing anyway
second you can make 1cm line in the middle of cpu
But what I think it doesn't matter what technique you use main thing is that paste is there between cpu and heatsink ,it wil spread on all over the place by pressing heatsink but not too much and not too little
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 think you missed the point of my post. My final point about technique is that people are human and can not reproduce the exact same amount or identical way to get that thermal compound onto a CPU, hence results can vary by a few degrees even when using the exact same thermal compound. The margin of error basically counters the slight benefit that one thermal compound might or might not have over another and hence you can not definitely conclude that one product is significantly better than another within the performances of the top few thermal compounds.

 

There is not big difference between these compounds anyway
All will be working there is no need to worry that cpu will burn
it really doesn't matter about one degree +/- tolerance hm?

 

Not really sure what you're trying to say but I was just answering your original question regarding which thermal paste is best for your notebook. I don't think 1 degree makes any difference either.

 

My advice, take MX-4 over AS5 for the simple reason that there is no cure time and it's viscosity makes it slightly easier to apply in a dot or line. As others mentioned, the application method is much more important than the paste itself.

 

thermal compound doesn't matter? you do realize each compound is rated at different w/mk, the higher the better the transfer rate, if you get low rated transfer rate it will be a bottleneck,all compound is meant to do is cover micro gaps for full transfer and obviously in the cpu/gpu world it makes that much of a difference, i wouldn't recommend buying cheap sh!t, your money.

 

I didn't say thermal paste doesn't matter, but that among the most common highly rated pastes, there isn't much difference and hence you should consider the cheapest among those. Lab values are fine and dandy but they don't necessarily translate into better performance in real life. Anyone can twist numbers around...

 

consider the cheapest one of those, hence, then when ambient temperature fluctuates you'll end up regretting that your cheap thermal compound isn't able to handle a higher load. my recommendation ic diamond to OP, bye.

 

@lzykocp1002
yeah but i have bought the cheapest ''sh!t'' on ebay £4 and that is AS5
But that is the one of best

 

He didn't pointed at you but at me

 

Yeah I wanted buy that one but I thought they already made MX-5 but that AS5 is different company So I realised after purchase

 

LOL @ chart: chocolate, toothpaste, pink lipstick...

Application method is important, but another aspect that I find more important is its electrical conductivity. I used to use AS5 for everything, but since it has some electrical conductivity, not the best thing if you glop some unknowingly, even a tiny amount, and it bridges circuits. Been there, done that. IC Diamond and MX-4 at least are non electrically conductive so it's less of an issue. I actually saw a 3C difference at load on my desktop CPU between AS5 and IC Diamond. 1C or so could be due to application, but I think overall it's just a better paste.

 

ic diamond is the best but leaves micro scratches, but it doesnt affect cooling even after 20 repastes

 

Get ic diamond 7 bro, i promise its the best.
You will idle around 28-32c(me) and max out at 51c
although i have a cooling pad too lol.
but the ic diamond gave me 32c no cooling pad and 69c full load no cooling pad
so yeah its not good stuff its the best

 

Yeah I never re-applied compound more than 2x
And if you have laptop more than 3 years it's good to re-paste

OK Guys Thank You Very Much for advices and help all of you will get + rep

 

No surprise, the bulk of it is made of diamond and that can scratch everything.

 

While AS5 might have a degree or two higher temps, it will be able to handle pretty much any load that the IC will take on any reasonable notebook configuration.

 

What is going one here.... please read posts thoroughly before responding.

sgogeta4 just said, and he's right, that proper application of your paste is more integral to thermal performance than just having the "best paste"

AS5, MX-4, ICD7.... theyre all good enough products that the difference in temperatures between them isnt a big enough of a difference to be worth fretting over. Does thermal paste not matter at all? No, because toothpaste vs real thermal paste yields a significant difference. But by the mere fact that you're reading and posting on this board, I'm pretty sure you're not planning to use toothpaste.

Just be informed about w/e paste you end up using and apply is properly and you'll be fine.

 

I hate it when people say that IC Diamond is the best paste. It isn't. There is no best paste there; are a handful that all perform at the top.

 

Personally I would stay away from AS5, because I fried CPUs with its not-so-desirable capacitive ability when I first started out with this kind of stuff. If you know how to apply it, then go for it but if you spill something, there's always a chance of it screwing everything up.

 

@too456
OMG don't scare me please
One says this,another says that vrrr!
Somebody says that is worst another says good
Oh dear more people more opinions I knew it

I just replaced CPU with fresh AS5
Now am running i7 2820QM
Here are temperatures :

 

every few months someone starts a thread like this. and then there are arguments because some people are quite passionate about the brands they use. and then someone will say AS5 is conductive, then someone else will try to debunk that.

bottom line is, as long as u choose one of the "popular" ones, it wont matter. they're all fighting over fractions of a *c which method of application would affect too.

personally i use MX-3 (MX-4 is out now though) because it was cheaper when i bought it, and i like the fact its more liquid so i dont have to spread it risking bubbles. just put a blob the size of a grain of rice and carefully re-install the heatsink.

 

Colgate toothpaste with mint favorite