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

If it is durable and works well it may actually work out to be less expensive and be worth more than it costs when all is said and done. Using less costly thermal paste that peters out in a couple of weeks starts adding up to more money in addition to providing lousy thermals. It's also super inconvenient to have to frequently repaste.

 

thats what i'm talking about, this needs to be good, because the price is so damn high.

 

The price is oddly high on aliexpress, I got it for 8€ from Amazon.

 

Hey, planning to change pads on the 3080fe so was searching for best paste to use and ended up here just reading up seems the TFX is the one but pricey Also the SYY-157 gets high marks so I have ordered 8g SYY-157 mainly due to its price and not being much difference in performance . really helpful thread thank you

 

ya is very odd, last time i checked i didnt found in a good price,on amazon US still there for 20$ USD from coolermaster store, today i found one seller from shopee (Brazil) selling it for like 10$ USD, i can get it for like 7$ with coupons and free shipping, this is a wayyy better and a think the price in the future will drops a little eventually.

 

I finished a few OCCT 20min tests with my Cryofuze compared to SYY-157. I tried three applications, so this is fairly accurate in regards to my notebook. In all of them SYY-157 is the better one. Cryofuze is nothing like TFX/ZF-EX, it's much easier to spread and not as dry. Spreading with the spatula is more comparable to SYY-157, a little worse I would say.

OCCT AVX512

SYY-157 23.2
74/79/75/76

Coolermaster Cryofuze 23.2
75/80/76/77

OCCT AVX2

SYY-157 23.0
76/82/78/78

Coolermaster Cryofuze 23.2
78/83/81/81

 

To think they want $20 for 2 grams of this stuff...

And btw "grams" isn't how much you get in the tube. It's weight.
I got 30 grams of GD007 and it's almost overflowing the jar...
30 grams of Kryonaut Extreme was the correct weight but literally half the amount of actual paste...

 

3C worse than TFX on a 230W MXM GTX 1070 (73C vs 70C, 100% fan)

 

So after using the Deepcool EX750 for 2 weeks temperatures start to go back up again. There's like a difference of up to 10C with Core 0 and 2 now with the rest staying below 89C. Could it be because of the way I applied it? Did a X for the GPU and straight line across for the CPU.

Currently using a Gigabyte G5 with i5-10500H (6c 12t) and RTX 3060 at the moment.

 

Check heatsink pressure and balance. Unfortunately IC pads are out of stock and have been out of stock for ages.
https://www.innovationcooling.com/product/ic-contact-test-analysis-kit/

You can try to request a free sample from fujifilm's USA reseller sensorprod.com. Just be prepared to get bugged by them repeatedly after until you ask them to stop bothering you.
You probably want "Extreme low" prescale for laptops and Ultra Low for desktops. Extreme low is lower PSI than Ultra Low. The innovation cooling packs use Ultra Low prescale.

https://www.sensorprod.com/extreme-low-film.php

A 12" by 10" sheet is available for the highway robbery price of $105.
https://www.amazon.com/Fujifilm-Prescale-Foot-Extreme-Low/dp/B004TLNR7E

 

Tech Ingredients has some great chemistry and industrial engineering videos. Here's his take on DIY thermal paste. Interesting to see what he sees as key success factors.

 

Hey guys, are there any comparisons, from a site or channel, that include TFX, SYY157 and both Kryonauts? As well as MX4, Gelid, etc ? The Tom's Hardware one is weird.

Hell, or even from a forum user? Rooter1234, do you have like a spreadsheet of all your testing?

Lol, it's endearing though.

 

Albestech tested all except Kryonaut Extreme: https://albestech.com/migliore-pasta-termica-2021/

And except SYY-157 all of them are included in my old test: http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...and-liquid-metal.806840/page-48#post-11084441

SYY-157 would go into first or second place in this test, probably second place. Several of the newer high performing ones are missing there though, like FuzeIce Plus or Akasa T5 ProGrade Plus. I did a lot of tests in the summer time, unfortunately because of the different ambient temperatures I'm not making a spreadsheet of this. There is at least one reference paste in all of them, mostly SYY-157 because it's cheap and easy to apply.

 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08BL3SCWH

So, I ordered these graphite pads for my server rebuild "12700K" from the ground up other than the HDD's for the NAS portion. I'd been using these on my current 8700K build for ~ 2 years now w/o nay hiccups. "idle" @ 90F / load up to 120F. Figured I would give them a shot in the laptop since they're cheaper in the 2-pack vs a single. I diced it up into 1/4's and stuck one on each BGA.

I haven't done any system tweaking to get the CPU higher like shown in the snapshot above. It seems since switching from Antec paste to the "pad" has boosted the CPU from 3-3.25Ghz to nearly 4Ghz. I'm also noticing a delta between cores now up to 15C under "idle" with Chrome open w/ tons of tabs.

.

Looking at the ARK page it seems there's a bit more under the hood to be reaped up to 4.5Ghz. I'll take the roughly 0.75Ghz bump though for very little effort and a quieter fan experience.

 

Since so many focus on the GPU temps as well and I'm more focused on the CPU someone reminded me to check the GPU temps as well. With these graphite pads it seems to be holding up well under a game load @ 80C / idle @ 40C





In this snap I boosted the fans to 100% to see how low both would go and this is the result. In a "silent" setting though with fans @ ~30% the temps are slightly higher but, very quiet.

 

So I changed thermal pads on the 3080 Founders Edition and used paste Sy 157 recommended as its thicker and better for GPU and not effect with pump out , thanks to @ Falkentyne that I found out about this paste , I havent really tested the card fully but quick benchmark it seems very good so far ran quick test below compared to stock will test more when get time GPU is now idling at 25c without the fans spinning I do remember this being 31c with stock paste

I did put the tube in boiling water also used hair dryer and still found it difficult to spread like it was mostly getting stuck on the spreader but I figured out technique with trial and error just need to apply more pressure when applying and slowly work across the chip

Also @ Falkentyne I've seen your posts about the thermal pads to use on founders cards, and I recently just got an 3080fe and the 2mm gelid extreme pads didnt work just gave high gpu and hotspot reading hitting 100c in few seconds starting benchmarks , so used 1.5mm gelid ultimate instead on all of the die side and seems to have solved it . I do feel nvidia has changed something in the recent heatsinks but no one confirmed either way what it actually is

Room temp for both was 25c and running card at stock

this is with stock pads/paste
I remember the vram was around 94c





This is with 1.5mm Gelid Ultimate pads with SY 157 thermal paste delta staying solid 10c difference GPU temp mostly stayed 71-72c with odd peaks to 73c. Vram stayed 82-84c
lower temps while the fans spin lower , will be fun playing with undervolting seeing how the results are at stock


Thanks Again

 

Thermalright Intros CFX Thermal Compound with Wide Temperature Range techpowerup.com

Thermalright today introduced the CFX thermal compound. The compound offers a wide temperature range of -50°C to 150°C, while being electrically non-conductive. Its conductivity is rated at 12 W/m-K, with a thermal impedance of 0.009 °C-cm²/W, and has a specific gravity of 2.3 at 25°C. The company didn't mention the composition or viscosity of the paste. It ships in 2 g syringes and includes a spatula, so it could be more on the viscous side. The company didn't reveal pricing or availability.


http://www.thermalright.com/product/cfx/

 

@Papusan Should I add TG Carbonaut or IC Thermal pad as potential alternative for apply and forgot thermal paste having downsides like LM?

 

You can add TG Carbonaut / IC Thermal pad but put in a note about worse thermal results vs. the better thermal pastes. The only advantage is longevity.

 

Also it only works best on lapped heatsinks and may not even produce contact on some really uneven heatsinks causing problems with hotspots.

 

Indeed. I had lapped my heatsinks previously. Let me check the results. Then again I can't lap the laptop heatsink too much even with little amount of copper available.

 

@Mr. Fox @Falkentyne @Spartan@HIDevolution Do you belive in magic? Why haven't the big companies as Thermal Grizzly and Coollaboratory changed their LM recipe? Why not just print 150W/mk on the package and be done with it? https://periodictable.com/Elements/049/data.html

https://www.aliexpress.com/i/33013430921.html



Features:
Accord with RoHS and REACH environmental protection requirements.
LT-100 is a liquid metal thermal compound based on a eutectic alloy.
Our special mixture of metals like tin, gallium and indium make excel with a very high thermal conductivity and excellent long-term stability.

Specifications：
Model: LT-100
Application Temperature: -30 °C / +140 °C
Thermal Conductivity: 128 W/mk

You can even use it long term in low sub zero temps
https://www.walmart.com/ip/LT-100-L...1-5g-3g-Compound-grease-for-cooling/185478965

The real W/(mk) numbers for the different metals in the eutectic alloy....

66.8W/(mk)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tin

40.6W/(mk)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gallium

81.8W/(mk)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indium

See also.... http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...copper-heat-sinks.800890/page-9#post-10792399

 

Hey, if a new company can usurp the current dominant players then I'm all for it. Hows the actual performance look like?

 

Probably around +-2 C or equal vs Conductonaut. Aka not a major differences. The only difference I can see with this Alibaba LM is the flawed numbers on the package. If price matters, then try go with the cheaper LM you can find and call it a day. None will work magic (much better) vs all the other liquid metal variants out there.

 

Any update on pads for laptops? Most of what I have seen on forum is for desktop gpu's, meaning high mounting pressure for no risk of loss of contact with die.

 

If you use K5 Pro, pad density interfering with die contact will no longer be an issue. If you want to use thermal pads instead of K5 Pro, the best bet is to go with the squishy and wet/sticky silicon pads that are low density and easily compressed.

 

But how does K5 Pro work if you have to fill a gap of lets say 2 or 3mm? Simply put moar on it? If you're not familiar how much to put on it, it could get messy, right?

Gesendet von meinem LE2123 mit Tapatalk

 

From what one person told me, Laird works for that amount of gap. What I am curious however is how K5 pro stacks up against the best of thermal pads as I cant find much in comparison. If anything, people are saying that you shouldnt use it, but that is largely the desktop card community.

 

Okay, what do you recommend for pads? Supposedly Alphacool's are rebranded fujipoly, can you confirm?

 

Not a problem to use it in those places. The easiest method of application is to put it into a syringe and dispense the amount needed. That greatly simplifies things and reduces the messiness.

I don't really pay any attention to the thermal pad branding anymore, so I can't tell you. The only thing I ever accomplished by going with high-end name brand pads was making my wallet thinner. I never noticed a benefit. Just get cheap silicon pads on eBay and you'll be good to go.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/184868671799

 

and in reply

The original formula for K5 Pro worked better for me in the long run than the current (second) K5 Pro formula. Some of my gaps are over 1 mm. I read somewhere on the forums that the company that makes K5 Pro does not recommend it for gaps over 1 mm. I recently replaced my K5 Pro with TG-PP-10 putty, which its company explicitly states is "suitable to fill gaps from 0.25mm - 8mm":

https://www.tglobaltechnology.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/TG-PP-10-1.pdf

https://www.tglobaltechnology.com/product/tg-pp-10-silicone-thermal-putty/

https://www.overclock.net/threads/t...ermal-putty-any-experience-with-this.1792654/

https://www.digikey.com/en/products...-pastes/220?s=N4IgTCBcDaICoHEC0AFFBGADCAugXyA

 

I use (very soft and forgiven when the fits is problematic).

GP-Extreme Thermal Pad - GELID Solutions

Avoid the the highest W/mk ranked pads from Fujipoly. They are too stiff/hard. On top they are all too expensive.

Arctic Cooling thermal pads is very cheap and good/soft enough. Also Thermal pads from the laptop manufacturer is often good enough (very soft).

Yep.

See also http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...e-recommendations-update-thermal-pads.796820/


If you absolutely want the highest ranked pads from fujipoly then instead buy Alphacool 14W/mk pads. Or already mentioned GP-Extreme Thermal Pads.


http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...feedback-thread.806161/page-236#post-11005574

 

Out of curiousity, can you comment on the longevity alphacool's? You know, it probably doesnt matter. A review of them here showed they crumble. I only ask this in the event I will do a repaste and I dont want to have to redo pads each time as I have seen pads crumble from that. You might find this interesting, sure its rtx3090, but it does show that the gelids and fuji's do well in heat removal at a max fan setting, so heat saturation isnt a problem. A contributing factor to 8 core overheating.





So if compression squish is a factor, does that mean I should use say 1.5mm on a heatsink that would use 1mm pads? Or might I be better off using a 1mm pad with a higher k/wh pad due to the lack of heatsink pressure? Im not sure how this works since just about all pad reviews I have seen are for desktop cards with high mounting compression, and they often use say a 3mm pad where 2mm is required because that extra pressure works far better even if the k/wh is less. Certainly of course I want to avoid uneven die contact.

In general most any pad works fine, however some of these rtx3090 cards are so clocked they need better pads. My only interest in all of this is simply because just about all 8 core in mobile overheat. One can get away with just about any pad with lower clocks and a far better heatsink, but few excel in that area with notebooks as your aware and as a method of compensating, better pads, LM, and faster fan speeds seem to compensate for heatsink quality.

Update: grammar corrections. Will probably just do Gelid as I was kind of oblivious to the cost of all the others...

 

I have a very big collection of thermal pastes and wanted a last big test, over the last couple of days I tested over 40 thermal pastes on my notebook. I have to double check some of them and then I can share my results in 1-2 days.

I decided to use OCCT 30 minutes SSE instead of Prime95 AVX, and 50% fan speed instead of 100% fan speed. 50% (2500rpm) fan speed SSE is some degrees hotter than AVX 100% fan speed and to me SSE results are more consistent, core 1-4 temps are very similar. 50% fan speed AVX doesn't work due to thermal throttling and I can only set a fixed fanspeed of 50% or 100%.

So it's not directly comparable to my previous results but unsurprisingly the pattern is the same, low viscous pastes are not great. No doubt they will work better with a better heatsink contact but it's how it is on my laptop. However a high viscous consistency is no guarentee for great results either.

 

If you can consolidate all testing results into one post I can add the link to OP if everyone is okay with it.
I ordered 38x38x0.2mm Carbonaut pad for testing.

 

So here are my results. This is the average degrees of 4 cores+ambient temperature correction (between 0.0-1.0 degrees). I will add detailed core and ambient temperatures later on. Too much for now

1. Thermalright TFX-----------------------------83.65 (83/83/83/84 ambient 24.6)
2. Coolermaster CryoFuze-------------------83.85 (83/83/84/83 ambient 24.4)
3. FuzeIce Plus----------------------------------84.10 (83/83/84/84 ambient 24.4)
4. Deepcool G40-------------------------------84.30 (83/83/84/84 ambient 24.2)
5. SYY-157---------------------------------------84.45 (83/84/84/84 ambient 24.3)
6. Akasa T5 ProGrade Plus------------------84.65 (85/83/84/83 ambient 24.1)
7. Alpenföhn Permafrost 2--------------------84.90 (85/84/85/84 ambient 24.6)
8. Coolermaster MasterGel Maker------------85.00 (85/84/85/84 ambient 24.5)
9. Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut------------------85.25 (85/84/85/85 ambient 24.5)
10. Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut Extreme--------85.45 (85/84/86/84 ambient 24.3)
11. Deepcool Z10---------------------------------85.50 (85/84/84/85 ambient 24.0)
12. Deepcool EX750-----------------------------85.55 (85/84/85/85 ambient 24.2)
13. Noctua NT-H2--------------------------------85.65 (86/84/86/85 ambient 24.6)
14. Phanteks PH-NDC--------------------------85.65 (85/84/86/86 ambient 24.6)
15. Thermalright TF7---------------------------85.95 (85/86/85/85 ambient 24.3)
16. Thermalright TF8---------------------------86.15 (86/86/86/85 ambient 24.6)
17. IC Diamond 24-----------------------------86.35 (86/86/86/85 ambient 24.4)
18. Cryorig CP5---------------------------------86.60 (86/86/86/86 ambient 24.4)
19. Maxtor CTG8--------------------------------86.85 (87/86/87/85 ambient 24.4)
20. G-MOTIONS GM-850----------------------86.95 (86/86/86/87 ambient 24.3)
21. Genesis Silicon 851-----------------------87.50 (87/87/87/87 ambient 24.5)
22. Prolimatech PK-3 Nano------------------87.65 (88/87/87/87 ambient 24.6)
23. KRYO 33--------------------------------------87.70 (87/87/87/87 ambient 24.3)
24. Be Quiet DC1-------------------------------88.10 (87/87/88/88 ambient 24.4)
25. Zalman-STC8------------------------------88.10 (88/87/88/87 ambient 24.4)
26. IONZ IZP14---------------------------------88.15 (87/87/88/87 ambient 24.1)
27. Akasa 5026---------------------------------88.30 (88/88/88/88 ambient 24.7)
28. Gelid GC-Extreme blue-----------------88.35 (88/88/89/88 ambient 24.9)
29. MARS Gaming MT1----------------------88.40 (88/88/88/88 ambient 24.6)
30. Akasa 5022--------------------------------88.50 (89/88/88/87 ambient 24.5)
31. Shin-Etsu G751--------------------------89.20 (89/88/89/88 ambient 24.3)
32. Arctic MX-4---------------------------------89.25 (89/88/90/90 ambient 25.0)
33. Gelid GC-PRO---------------------------89.35 (89/88/90/88 ambient 24.4)
34. JunPus JP-DX1-------------------------90.00 (89/89/89/91 ambient 24.5)
35. Phobya NanoGrease Extreme-------90.25 (90/89/90/90 ambient 24.5)
36. Thermal Grizzly Hydronaut-----------91.10 (92/89/92/91 ambient 24.9)
37. Arctic MX-5---------------------------------91.20 (92/90/91/91 ambient 24.8)
38. Gelid GC-Extreme yellow---------------91.35 (92/90/92/91 ambient 24.9)
39. EVGA Frostbite 2--------------------------91.45 (92/89/92/90 ambient 24.3)
40. OSGEAR TC128-2-------------------------91.85 (92/90/91/92 ambient 24.4)
41. Halnziye HY-A9------------------------------91.95 (93/90/91/91 ambient 24.3)
42. Akasa Essential T5-----------------------92.25 (92/92/91/92 ambient 24.5)
43. Antec Formula X--------------------------92.80 (93/92/92/91 ambient 24.2)
44. Shin-Etsu X23-7783D--------------------93.15 (94/92/92/91 ambient 24.1)
45. Foshan GD900----------------------------93.75 (94/94/92/93 ambient 24.3)
46. Zalman-STC9-----------------------------94.40 (94/94/94/94 ambient 24.6)
47. Halnziye HY883----------------------------97.25 (99/95/99/96 ambient 25.0)
48. Halnziye HY810------------------------------99.75 (100/98/100/99 ambient 24.5)

Dell Inspiron 15 7506 2-in-1 (ultra performance mode, 50% (2500rpm) fan speed, tablet mode on a desk)
i7-1165G7 @2800 Mhz (Turbo Off)
30 minutes OCCT SSE
ambient temperature: 24.0-25.0 degrees

 

I'm using Cryofuze for now and will see how it performs in the longer run. We know that TFX has superb temps initially but we also do know that there are quite a few reports about degrading performance in laptops, for example here is another one: http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...rheating-in-games.835314/page-4#post-11126854

I hope Cryofuze does better in the longer run. Another paste I liked was the Alpenföhn Permafrost 2, it is really nice to spread. It's not thick but still great performance, the first 6 are a lot thicker. Could be also a good choice for desktop CPUs, in this desktop test it matched the Kryonaut.

 

A member in the msi discord also reported their TFX degrading after a month and have switched to mastergel maker.

 

Yes there are quite a few reports and therefore I can't recommend this paste anymore, also it's expensive and hard to spread. I hope SYY-157 is not in the same way affected considering this paste is most similar to TFX. I have a feeling my 6 months old SYY-157 tube dried out a bit and spreading is not so nice anymore. I have older tubes from other pastes like the Mastergel Maker and consistency didn't change compared to my brand new Mastergel Maker. I hope there is no coincidence between TFX and SYY when it comes to longevity but so far I haven't noticed degrading complains.

 

I am using Cryofuze on my desktops and so far it seems really good. I take them apart to mess with them a lot, so I cannot speak to longevity at this time. What may be happening with TFX is possibly related to a flimsy chassis with flex. It is very thick, and if it tends to get thicker, picking up the laptop by the front corner of the base of something similar that causes it to twist can break the bond between the die and heat sink. I have personally experienced that. IC Diamond was famous for it, and it is thick enough to do a good job of plugging gaps in sloppy fitting parts of shoddily manufactured trashbooks. It would be working well, and then suddenly not, because of that happening. The best thing to do with a laptop that you can't get to run cool due to incompetent engineering is get rid of it (RMA if possible) and never buy another pile of trash from the same brand.

I think we are all having issues with the forum. Their servers seems to be on the fritz.

 

This is with Cryofuze on chilled water.

 

I am using Phobya NanoGrease Extreme with 16W/mK. Well.. using it for a year on my gpu and cpu, and till now its the best thermal paste I had. (Thermal Grizzly,Gelid,CoolerMaster etc..) I do not know any termal paste that has the same specs as this one, I think 16W/mK is the higest thermal conductivity that the paste can offer in our days. When I'm playing games GPU is around 65-67C max and CPU 60-70C. Temps on idle here:

 

The highest rated as far as I know is the Wovibo WB-4 which is rated with 17W/mK. JunPus JP-DX1 and Alphacool Subzero (same as Phobya NanoGrease Extreme) are also 16W/mK rated. These thermal conductivity ratings don't tell much though, they are pretty much meaningless actually.

 

I have had very good results with it. Some people have not.

 

I'll stick to Phobya NanoGrease Extreme (Alphacool Subzero) since I tryed it by my own and I can compare with other paste that I mention in the previous post. Well maybe Wovibo WB-4 has 17W/mK but its chinese the same as Maxtor CTG8 that has better thermal specs than Thermal Grizzly... but I really doubt about its quality. I agree that the specs means nothing if u did not test it by ur own, coz u can put anything inside and writhe anything on the cover package.

 

How do you know it's the same as Maxtor CTG8?

 

Its not the same if we are talking about the specs coz its more similar to Thermal Grizzly but with better consistension for laptops, I mean that its less liquid and its more stable for any mechanical movements and its more sticky. What I mean by word ''the same" that its most popular pastes with high W/mK from aliexpress. High W/mK specs there its just marketing unless u test it by ur own.

 

C-C-C-Combo-Breaker!!!

 

@Rooter1234
I never knew CryoFuze was released! Is the consistency same as CM Maker just like cotton candy which had to be flattened with a cotton swab. Added your testing results to OP.

@Papusan Have tested Carbonaut on my 2020M Ivybridge which had core differential issue and was panicking about shorting the mobo and so far temps wise, the core differential is 1-3C on peak and stabilize to same temps on both cores.
I've cut the cloth and left little space on all 4 sides and it looked like mini rectangle within BGA bare die.


EDIT: Same temps as CM Maker no difference in carbonaut aside from operating temps in Windows being 5C lower. On Linux no difference.

 

Viscosity/consistency is roughly similar to CM Maker I would say, so it's definitely a higher viscous paste. There is one big difference in spreading, CM Maker is a sticky paste when I spread it unlike Cryofuze which is easier to spread imho. There is a spreading video from Coolermaster on youtube.