Which Thermal Paste to buy and apply (Traditional and Liquid Metal)

Albestech tested a few top notebook pastes like SYY-157 and FuzeIce Plus on desktop CPUs (8700k and 2700x)

https://albestech.com/review-syy-157/
https://albestech.com/review-fuzeice-plus/

Very good results, only the Thermalright TFX performed a bit better. IONZ IZP14 is also quite good there, it's a bit too runny for a laptop though.


Luumi tested MX5 here:




I think 2-2.5 degrees is quite a big difference compared to Kingpin KPx considering he is testing on a desktop CPU. Of course 2-3 degrees shouldn't matter for most but same could be said for most of the pastes, a cheap GD900 would do the job as well:

 

NOTEBOOK REVIEW????

 

I wouldn't say 2-2.5 degrees is a big difference... especially on a desktop where temperatures would/should never really reach anywhere near critical levels where such margins would be relevant. Its good for testing purposes to see which pastes have better margins though... but 2.5 degrees C is more or less just above the margin of error.

For laptops... eh, it would be a good difference yes, but personally, I'd see 5 degrees reduction as a 'tangible' difference, and 10 degrees being 'big'.

 

It's the difference between a front runner and the midfield in many desktop tests because the gaps are a lot smaller for desktop chips.

And I have to disagree with you 2.5 degrees isn't margin of error unless the test is somehow flawed.

 

I did say 2.5 degrees is 'more or less just above the margin of error'... but we're talking a difference of maybe 1.5 degrees which is statistically speaking irrelevant... so, borderline margin of error.

Anything above that (such as say between 3 to 5 degrees) is statistically more relevant (still small, but 'noticeably tangible')... with 10 degrees being quite big of a difference.

This is looking at things from a notebook point of view.
I wouldn't want to tether at the edge of a system shutdown (but that also has more to do with colling designs present in laptops)... I'd prefer the chip is much cooler (about 10 to 20 degrees below that point) while fully stressed... otherwise, the intense heat from the chip would be affecting other components... and even in desktops this can result in problems down the line (what with RAM slots failing for example as they are usually placed right next to the CPU).

 

It also depends on the application. For example, in a SFF build, 2-3C is a very significant differance in temps! (As SFFPCs tend to very similar to notebooks for heat management requirements.)

Want to add some data to the discussion as well: I repasted a desktop GPU (RTX 2080ti FE) with SYY-157, and redid my XPS 15 with SYY-157. Unfortunately, I was a bit slow and forgot to screencap before temps. Since I haven't been traveling enough to use my XPS often, I only have a note here that states the temp differences I had seen. I'll be sure to grab screenshots when I swap the XPS over to the IC Graphite.

GPU:
------Stock:
--------------Idle: 49C (Hotspot temp was 64C)
--------------Load: 82C (Hotspot temp was 107C---at above 80C on core, fan 1 will ramp up to high RPM mode, irregardless of any custom fan settings.)
------SYY-157:
--------------Idle: 40C (Hotspot temp was 53C)
--------------Load: 74C (Hotspot temp was 89C)

XPS 15 9560:
Was using Cryonaut, which was now about 4 years old. A fresh application to SYY-157 saw a temp drop of 2 degrees at idle and 4 at load. So, not bad. Especially if the SYY paste pumps out less.

I also want to note that I repasted my desktop's CPU with fresh Cryonaut (the application on it was now 2 years old). The old paste had pumped out some and was very dry. After a repaste I saw a 4C drop across the board, so Cryonaut lost about 2C in effectiveness per year of use. I'll definitely be swapping over to SYY-157 on the next repaste to test differences between the two.

 

You only changed that value to achieve it? How many degrees dropped? Is your CPU undervolted? Did you have to change undervolt values to keep them stable?

 

That's very interesting.
You went from an idle hotspot delta of 15C pre to 13C post, and a load hotspot delta of 25C pre to 15C post
so idle to load delta post repaste increase was only 2C (13C to 15C) after repaste, rather than a 15C increase.

Did you also replace thermal pads at the same time? Because on Ampere, hotspot is the hottest of either GPU *and* VRM (not VRAM) temp sensors. No idea if that applies to Turing or not. (On Pascal, hotspot is useless as it's a nonchanging fixed value).

 

To be honest, I'm not sure if it pulls VRM with Turing either. I left the thermal pads exactly as they were, no new ones. It was definitely shocking to see the hotspot delta have such a dramatic difference (though the original paste job was perhaps the worst I've ever seen on any PC component.)

 

Another Kingpin KPx and MX5, MX4, Thermalright TFX, Noctua NT-H2 test on a Ryzen 9 5950X:

 

I found two ALSEYE T9+ and one ALSEYE T9+ Platinum tests. In all of them on top, it confirms my assumption this is a competent paste.

https://forum.adrenaline.com.br/threads/pasta-termica.588127/page-71#post-1075684201
https://quasarzone.com/bbs/qc_user/views/47739
https://blog.naver.com/wkkim79/222231761150

Even the T9 isn't bad here:

http://m.enuri.com/knowcom/detail.jsp?kbno=781025

 

You seen this paste?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09BVPWZBT/

Seems to have the same specs as TFX. But for 1/4th of the price (at least on Amazon)
For $11, might as well see what the hell is in this paste. Better than spending $39.85 on 6.2g of TFX if it's the same stuff.
But I'm still unsure whether even Thermagic ZF-EX and TFX are the exact same. I think @seanwee said that they feel and appear the same but they spread 'slightly different', yet I've seen two TFX syringes (both 6.2g) spread different--one was super dry and required to be boiled first, the other was definitely wetter and spread almost as easily as SYY-157. (between "hard to spread" TFX and easy to spread SYY), but still had the same unique TFX properties (you can tell the properties by how it coats your finger when you wipe compress it on your finger).

Going to guess it's either TFX, SYY-157 or ZF-EX relabeled from the same factory that supplies one of those. Guess I'll find out tomorrow.

 

I think I have seen this and my first thought was this is a TFX rebrand because of the specs. The seller is located in Shenzhen. If the Thermagic ZF-EX isn't the same it could be interesting because in some youtube tests ZF-EX performed a bit better than TFX. My next paste will be most likely the new Akasa T5 Pro-Grade+, it's available in some european countries.

 

I got the Zezzio paste and it appears to be 100% identical to SYY-157. I don't have any way to test it right now (Can't be bothered cleaning LM off my MXM 1070 and my 3090 already has TFX on it).
with the fingertip test, it is 100% absolutely identical in behavior, feel and wetting to SYY-157. So I'm 100% sure it's the same. Interesting that the same factory would have two different sellers in that case. Also I have no idea why Zezzio labels this as 14.3 w/mk (same as TFX) while SYY labels it as 15.7 w/mk.

I noticed that with Thermagic ZF-EX, the consistency is varied. Out of 6 tubes, some tubes were almost completely dried out (think of TFX in its worst state) and some were wetter like you'd expect from TFX, and of course thicker than SYY. May be something to do with the 2g tubes. Though I did have three 6.2g tubes of TFX and one of them was really dry (performed well once you pre-heated it), the last one was Nan's Gaming Gear was really fluid and almost the same consistency, but very slightly thicker, as SYY-157, and the first one (last year) was in between the two.

One thing I noticed with ZF-EX and the thicker TFX, compared to SYY-157, when you do the fingertip spread on your fingers test, ZF-EX and TFX leave a 'thicker' coat, which you can tell easily by looking at the edge of the paste on your fingers. SYY-157 and Zezzio leave a thinner coat.

Note that I didn't really pay attention to the wettest TFX, and I wish I did, but I could have sworn it left a thinner coat, similar to SYY-157, while still being slightly thicker. All I remember is that wettest TFX still felt a bit stickier than SYY (Just not as sticky as the dryer TFX samples).

 

So I tried to register on that portuguese forum site thing and then it said i was 'banned for spam' even though I never was even able to post anything to begin with, as it said my account was awaiting administrator approval. But instead of being approved, I was banned.

Trash site...I was even able to register on hardwareluxx and even Russian sites before...oh well.

 

Strange specifications for a SYY-157 clone paste but it explains the cheap price.

Did you get banned immediately after the registration or some time later?

 

Like an hour after I registered, as I was "waiting for moderator approval for account activation". I wanted to comment on tubes of "ZF-EX" inconsistency. Never even got a chance.

 

TFX is about 10 bucks for 2g for me, ZF-EX half that. And yes they spread slightly diferently with TFX being a bit more sticky iirc

 

Did you see any performance difference between the two?

 

Just ran 3DMark to test temps on GPU (SYY157, still doing well 6 weeks later!) and the CPU actually broke 8000 TimeSpy CPU score with the lower ACLL setting (Vcore offset in XTU used to be -0.130v and now it's -0.050v, which isn't exactly equivalent and achieves a slightly lower resulting voltage than before, but it runs at it stable whereas it couldn't before). That's about a 150-200 avg increase and puts it in 8950HK range.

The graphite pad is also still holding up, temps are stable.

I should probably oc the GPU as well but I've got the habit of trying to wring every ounce of performance out of my CPUs as possible and babying the video cards (I had a string of them go bad, back to back in the early part of last decade).

By the way guys, I know this is a notebook forum but which paste do you think would be best for a desktop CPU? Specifically a high temperature application that is routinely 80+? I put Kryonaut on my OC-ed 9900K but I don't stress test it often so it stays cool during normal use. But let's say it was to go on a 5900X or 5950X which routinely get hot as hell because of the way they boost. I remember reading Kryonaut, despite being so runny, is resistant to pump out (and a desktop CPU is obviously going to be way flatter than a laptop's) but degrades over 80 C. So is there something that performs as well as Kryonaut and is also resistant to pump out, and will also not degrade at up to 90-95 C? I had IC Diamond 7 on my 9900K but that lasted for about 1.5 years before degrading, possibly because the paste was a very old tube that was opened several years ago. Will SYY157 be a good candidate? Or should I stick with Kryonaut?

 

Probably Kryonaut Extreme, if you enjoy throwing money into a bonfire. It doesn't seem to have the same problems as Kryonaut did at 80C+ and is much more stable under LN2. There's no problem with SYY-157, Zezzio or Thermalright TFX either on air or water, and Kryonaut Extreme is only like 2C better than SYY. SYY is absolutely horrible under LN2 (Elmor from Elmor's labs tested it). He didn't test TFX. Kryonaut Extreme seems to be the favorite of people with 3090s with waterblocks. You get results like this:

 

That's interesting. What makes a paste do better or worse on LN2? Is it because the temps are too cold? Is that a specific range, like lower than room temp or ambient temp?

And overall do TFX and SYY157 perform the same? And how are they at high temps like 80-95 C?

 

I wouldn't know but I saw no problem on a desktop (IHS) with either TFX or SYY-157 at 80-90C when I was still doing 5.2 ghz Realbench 2.56 runs on a 10900k. None of my video cards come close to that unless I'm pouring 600W into an air cooled shunt modded 3090 FE and tipping the scales at 83C. (Managed to pull that out in Path of Exile with Ultra GI Shadows, and even with High GI, at a certain part of Hellgate, hotspot reached 95C (not sure if it was hottest VRM section or Core as both report to the hotspot). Surprised I didn't get a black screen + 100% fan when I did that.

I remember all too well when I was using hard Thermalright Odyssey 1.5mm pads on VRAM and front VRM's (this gives rather weak contact on the core, causing TFX to degrade slowly and Kryonaut Extreme to degrade FAST, too much expansion/contraction for it), and (unbeknownst to me at the time), VRM's, I got black screen + 100% fan at 78C unless I lowered core offset to +120. That was before GPU hotspot (hottest of GPU/VRM sensors) could be monitored in HWinfo yet. After I switched to softer pads which allow better core AND VRM contact (Gelid Extreme 1.5mm VRAM front, Gelid Extreme 2.0m VRM's front), I was able to get the core hotter. So possibly way back with the Odyssey pads, I was skyrocketing past 95C hotspot (pads too stiff) and not even knowing it.

TFX and SYY-157 seem to be within 1-3C of each other on a laptop 230W GTX 1070. Oddly enough the super thick 6.2g TFX tube performed better than the wetter 6.2g TFX tube (maybe 2C better). The wetter TFX seemed identical to SYY. My ZF-EX applications have been inconsistent. On the GTX TDP mod 1070, one time I had it performing 1C worse than the super thick dry TFX, then I forgot if it was the same or a different tube, but whatever it was later, it was the same as SYY-157.

On my typically convex 3090 FE, TFX scored the best. Last application lasted 2 months before I noticed weird stuff with the hotspot (especially at >480W TDP) and noticed that 1.5mm Gelid Extreme VRAM pads were not sufficient, especially on the right side of the card. (Oddly enough, ZF-EX only lasted a month before I had to wonder why the temps weren't the same anymore, I have no idea why, as I replaced it with TFX, with the exact same pad thickness (1.5mm Extremes on front all) and it lasted 2months. Part of the temps may have been due to the front of the filter on my Fractal 7 XL having too much dust on it, which I've been cleaning now regularly (since the first ZF-EX to TFX switch). Anyway....took the card apart and noticed this:

https://i.imgur.com/QvbiKD4.jpg

Compared to the left side VRM's which looked like contact had deeper imprints and no 'melt marks':

https://i.imgur.com/FswbeCK.jpg

This seems to line up with an old OCN post about the original 3090 FE VRM pads being "1.8mm-2.0mm" despite that guy not specifying which SIDE he was referring to. But then looking at THIS post, it looks like the right side is 2.0mm and left is 1.8mm.

https://i.imgur.com/oVrb1EE.jpg

Looked at Igor's picture (flipped) and looks like all 5 (out of 6) pads with "melt marks" on the pads are for NVVDD.



So I tried 2mm Gelid Extreme pads on both left, right and that fbvddq solo chip and that seems to have done the trick, which I've been testing for a few weeks now.

I don't know what's up with SYY on a 3090. Maybe it hates my shunt mod but it only lasted a week before temps reached 78C (at 520W) at the same ambients and load that TFX was reaching 75C on. So I went back to TFX (For the last two above tests, the 2 month test, then VRM 2mm repad).

I have no idea how Zezzio Paste will do. It feels 100% identical to SYY-157 in a finger test. I guess I'll throw it on my r9 290X and look, as my laptop has LM and I cbb changing it, and I'm not opening my 3090 (if I ever open it again, it will be to try Kryonaut Extreme (which I never tried with the squishy pads yet) or direct LM after insulation. And I really don't want to bother.

 

So I removed the FuzeIce Plus and put on Zezzio on my 9900k. Got the exact same temps with 1C variance. I'm almost entirely convinced that SYY, FuzeIce Plus and Zezzio are the exact same base materials (with Zezzio and SYY being 100% identical in viscosity) and the only difference between any of these pastes is the wetting components used for viscosity. FuzeIce starts off wetter and stickier, but after it cures, it's literally the exact same when in the "dried" state as SYY-157. The final performance is the same.

TFX is probably the same as these pastes. Just a lot thicker, but I don't know if TFX is as bad as SYY under LN2. I don't know anyone who tried it (Everyone seems to be using either KPX, Gelid GC Extreme, Kryonaut or Kryonaut Extreme (which is better than Kryonaut)).

 

Fresh application the two are the same. Not sure about the longevity as I've never used ZF-EX long term.

 

Hard to judge ZF-EX since two tubes are never the same consistency. One tube can be as dry or even dryer than the worst TFX (meaning there's no way you're going to spread it) and another tube can feel just a tiny bit thicker than SYY-157, just a bit more sticky on the spatula and otherwise feel like a great paste. The paste's main conductive component in TFX and ZF-EX is probably exactly the same between them, as they both leave the 'thick' coat on your fingers when you rub it on your fingers, while SYY-157 leaves a very noticeably thinner coat, but the color is identical. Maybe being in 2g tubes affects the stability of the dryness when the tube is stored long term, as some people saw Kryonaut completely dried out in the 1g syringes quite often (yes I know it could also be fake kryonaut too but I don't know, not if it was sold by the same seller (MemoryC), but never in the 5g or 11.1g syringes).
My TFX did last longer than ZF-EX on a 3090, but there were too many variances that could have hurt the ZF-EX tests, like dust on the front intake vents of my case, etc).

Still would be nice if TFX wasn't so expensive. Even ZF-EX at $8 for 2 grams is $24 for 6 grams, and the cheapest TFX on Aliexpress is $27 for 6.2 grams.
And Zezzio puts the same stats on the back of their package as TFX but is 100% identical (and I mean completely identical) to SYY-157 so it clearly comes from the exact same factory as SYY-157.

LOL I paid $10.99 for 6 grams just three days ago now it's $17.99.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09BVPWZBT/

Meanwhile 10 grams of SYY-157 is $14.88...um...

Oh and they have a 4 heatpipe RGB air cooler.
Yes I said RGB heatsink.
@Papusan @Mr. Fox

https://www.amazon.com/SYY-Heatpipes-Premium-Hydraulic-Bearing/dp/B0998F9RNY

Pretty sure the 5 heatpipe non RGB one cools better.
Probably bad contact uniformity though. Direct touch heatpipes never do well.

https://www.amazon.com/SYY-Heatpipes-Premium-Hydraulic-Bearing/dp/B098JHS395

 

More for less pipes but you get RGB. How Stupid can that be? Or better say darn disgusting. The RGB hype have/has go bananas. Yep RGB in all shape and form is for kids.


Regarding all different paste. Just buy TFX regardless if its more expensive. Or use liquid metal (cheaper in the long run). I don't need have a huge loads (of 1, 2 or 3 different) thermal paste lying unused in the drawer. If I spend 20-25$ a year on good paste/liquid metal I won't be ruined or go bankrupt.

 

I spent easily $100 a year on thermal pads/paste/liquid metal XD

 

I think there is only one real desktop CPU paste roundup which included a few of the best notebooks pastes (TFX, SYY, FuzeIce Plus) and they did really good there: https://albestech.com/wp-content/up...shuriken_3_stock_fan_paste_termiche_delta.jpg

Deepcool G15 on the other side isn't performing as good there.

 

Seems to be identical to me comparing SYY-157 and FuzeIce Plus.
Not surprised they don't have Kryonaut Extreme on there since it's highway robbery prices. But just from looking at the LN2 results with KE not cracking so easily like Kryonaut does when it gets cold, it has to be more durable long term (as long as contact pressure is fully uniform and decent!).

Like this

 

Maxtor CTG8 performed very good in the russian desktop CPU test. It's nice to see that some of the best notebook pastes performing top-notch in a desktop environment.

The new Akasa is available on Amazon and I ordered both.

Akasa T5 Essential
Akasa T5 Pro-Grade+

 

Have you ever tried this?
https://www.microsi.com/solutions-p...ace-material/tim-2/thermal-grease-x23-7921-5/

can't find it for sale.

 

Shin-Etsu thermal paste is hard to get outside of Japan or Asia. I could only try out G751 and X23-7783D. On overclock.net there was someone who compared X23-7783D with X-23-7921-5. Another interesting paste to me is Wovibo WB-4 and ALSEYE T9+/Platinum. Available on aliexpress only unfortunately.

 

Alseye T9+ is on Amazon US, it's just not labeled like that in the header.

https://www.amazon.com/Compound-ALSEYE-High-Performance-Insulation-Processor/dp/B085DP1ZZT/

"
Thermal Compound Paste High Performance Heatsink Paste CPU Paste Thermal Compound Paste Heatsink Extremely high Thermal Conductivity Thermal Paste for All CPU Cooler"

Yeah right...

I'm 99% sure it's going to turn out the same as SYY-157, Zezzio or FuzeIce Plus, or any of these group of pastes coming from the same factories. All those companies are just resellers anyway. SYY seems to at least post the website of the factory supplier but if you go to that site, you can't find any paste named "SYY-157"...

There's no way this can be better than SYY-157 unless it's TFX and it definitely isn't TFX from the chart you posted earlier. Those charts have too low temps to separate something like TFX from SYY-157 and FuzeIce Plus, since MX-4 is only 1C worse on those low temp results.

Maybe I'll waste more money and buy one but I know already what's going to happen.

 

ALSEYE is probably a customer from one the big Shenzhen paste factories but they have a higher background, they are selling various thermal pastes for years unlike SYY, Zezzio, iceberg-thermal, all of them are fairly new in the paste market. Wovibo seems to be a customer from Halnziye, they are saying it's in collaboration with Halnziye but in the end it comes from a Halnziye factory.

 

Who makes TFX, then (or which factory does it come from?)

 

There is a Thermaltake plant in Dong Guan City, although I have no info if there is a paste manufacturing. It's very close to Shenzhen city, so it all comes from the same area anyways.

 

Ok I gave up. Bought a tube of T9+ Platinum so I can have even more SYY-157 nuomi chemical paste stockpiled If this is actually the exact same as TFX however I'll buy Papusan a beer.

Thermaltake has no relation at all to Thermalright, though.
In fact there was a lawsuit at one time relating to Thermaltake stealing Thermalright's heatsink designs like way back in the stone age.

I just want TFX without paying $40 for 6.2 grams, that's all :/

 

I got the alseye T9+ platinum and with the fingertip test, it's definitely wetter and thinner than SYY-157 / Zezzio. Seems to be identical to FuzeIce Plus here. Can't test it since it's only 2g.

 

Damn, no beer Oh' well, maybe better luck next time

 

If it's the same as FuzeIce Plus it's a great paste and then it's not surprising it's on top in every available test. The T9+ non Premium might be the FuzeIce non Plus in this case.

 

Testing both new Akasa and a few more done. Essential T5 is not thick enough to handle the heatsink from my laptop. Akasa T5 ProGrade Plus is much thicker and works fine, very close to SYY-157 and Deepcool EX750 performance, the small gap could be margin or error. These three are very very similar in consistency and performance to me.


Akasa Essential T5
75/87/79/83

Akasa T5 ProGrade Plus
70/79/73/75

SYY-157
69/79/72/75

Deepcool EX750
69/79/72/75

OSGEAR TC128-2
74/83/78/80

EZDIY-FAB A180
86/92/86/88

Gelid GC-PRO
74/85/78/81

 

Coolermaster launched a new higher rated thermal paste recently called CryoFuze.

https://www.coolermaster.com/catalog/coolers/thermal-grease/cryofuze/

The old MasterGel Maker is rated 11 W/m.k and CryoFuze is rated with 14 W/m.k. It's listed on Amazon but not yet available, this paste is really expensive: 2g for 21€


I wonder if they are a customer from a big paste manufacturer, I mean it could be also based on some of the newer 2021 pastes (SYY-157, EX750, T5 ProGrade Plus , FuzeIce Plus). Not sure about it, the old MasterGel Maker was unique as far as I know.

edit:

They have two factories in China:

https://www.coolermastercorp.com/aboutus/milestone/

 

Gelid Solutions is unfortunately not only exchanging the packaging at the GC Extreme igorslab.de September 25, 2021

The trademark of the quite cheap, but really recommendable Gelid GC Extreme was a slightly more viscous, but very high-performance paste in a yellow-green labeled syringe and with a spatula that helped with spreading and more than just a one generation of screwdrivers and PC hobbyists happy made. But we know it: Gelid is not a manufacturer, but a pure bottler. The advantage is at least that Gelid can still influence what really ends up in such a tube.

The recently available blue tube comes without a spatula, but with a rubber applicator, which already suggests the worst. And yes, the new paste is much thinner and a little stickier, which the target group of the old GC Extreme should certainly not like. With 8.5 W / mK, Gelid attests the same thermal conductivity in the specs of the new paste and the price has also remained the same, but the advantage of a slightly more viscous paste, which was able to score particularly on curved and / or uneven surfaces, is thus unfortunately past.

If you are looking for a replacement in the future, for example on a vapor chamber that is not quite flat, you should use a different, slightly more viscous paste. What confuses the end customer, however, is the fact that the paste is sold under the same manufacturer code (TC-GC-03-A). This is misleading and unfortunately a bit dishonest, because I am sure that some shops have not yet replaced the old product images, but are already delivering newer products. You can only warn here, because it is no longer what you knew (and really appreciated) until the beginning of this year. As soon as there is a little more air, a test should of course also be carried out. Maybe this paste has other benefits as well.

Gelid have with this move distanced away from be an ok option for laptops (If you are looking for a substitute in the future, e.g. for use on a vapor chamber that is not quite flat, you should rather go for another paste that is a bit more viscous).

Yep, this is quite common in today's tech (dishonest and/or want to please the {noobs} average Joe with an easier application - the thin trend). @Mr. Fox

 

Ouch this is indeed dishonest and a shame. However even the original Gelid GC Extreme wasn't a thick paste, that's why it didn't work for me. I was trying out the Gelid GC-PRO yesterday because it is (according to their spec) more viscous than the Extreme. Unfortunately it isn't a viscous paste either, I would describe it as medium viscous paste.

edit: my GC Extreme package already had this rubber applicator included. I wonder if the Gelid Extreme in my hands is the new worse paste.

 

This depends on the different laptop cooling solution (whats not work for you doesn't mean it will be the same for other laptop models). But thinning down the thermal paste will affect all with jokebooks/laptops forwards. In the love for the noobs or average Joe that struggle applying the paste. Yep, the tech trend (look also the way at coming Win 11) is discouraging but very expected.

Whats the color of the tube?

 

It's a blue tube, exactly like this package: https://www.amazon.de/-/en/Solutions-Extreme-Performance-Compound-3-5g/dp/B002P5W4RU

 

Blue tube + rubber applicator=bad paste one.

 

Shocking. I've just ordered a yellow GC Extreme from ebay (according to the picture at least), hopefully it's yellow.

 

GELID GC-Extreme was never very good for me on heavily overclocked laptops. It would perform admirably for a few days, then the temps would soar out of control due to it being too thin and not staying put (pump-out). Sounds like this new crap is going to be even worse.

It has been nice to not have to put up with laptop nonsense for the past 5 or 6 years. Since I shifted my attention entirely to desktops I have found that there is almost no difference in my experience with one thermal compound to the next. Most of them work almost identically regardless of the thermal conductivity rating they claim to have. Of course, the exception (as expected) is liquid metal. Nothing works as well. If applied correctly, it performs better for me than any of the comparisons I have seen showing only a minor benefit. For me it is usually at least a 10°C improvement in load temps, sometimes more. The more voltage and watts I run through a CPU, the higher the margin of improvement with liquid metal. I've seen it mean the difference between a successful Cinebench run under a severe overclock without any thermal throttling using liquid metal and a thermal shutdown using normal paste. Nothing is capable of transferring the heat from the CPU to the heat sink as fast and effectively as liquid metal does.

I do not use it on GPUs because the GPU die never gets hot enough to need it.