I´ve always used Noctua paste because it comes with their coolers so i can save some euros... But the only paste that stands apart from the others is the Thermal Grizzly Conductonaut, powerful stuff! But the fact that it can "destroy" MBs leaves me uneasy... I think i will continue with Noctua even if it´s worse. Nice article!

Thanks for this, nice article. I'd also be curious to see some thermal pad results like the others have mentioned.

It's a pity not to see the Thermalright Chill Factor 3 that comes with the "Le Grand Macho RT" heatsink to see if it's worth changing or not.

coth:

MX4 is pretty bad nowadays. Loses all its properties in just weeks. And doing even worse. Nice temps you are only getting for a short term, but eventually you can end up with temperatures much higher, than before MX4. A lot of thermal pastes are actually drying out pretty quick and losing thermal properties. So longevity tests would be much more useful, than thermal.

This. Those test is what I’m looking for all these years. Unfortunately, no one have the time nor exact hardware for doing it simultaneously for each thermal paste, and it’s sure costly. For now I’m sticking with kryonaut, and always keep an eye for any thermal degradation.

TheDeeGee:

I have the same experience with MX4. After 2 weeks the Temp went up by 10C, and it looked all watery. I'll stick to Noctua NT-H1 on my CPU and GPU like i have been doing for the past 10 years. It doesn't dry out either. I recently applied new paste after 2 years and the temps were the same.

I believe this can happen if you've not pushed out some of the loose/watery paste from the end before applicating it, the mx4 i've seen in video's is not a watery/thin substance by any means, but i can only comment on the MX4 i have used personally, it never turned watery. I will concede that Artic may have fudged the product to sell something more expensive though 😕

Thank you very much for this review. Would been nice to see in the review: KINGPIN KPx thermal paste. Wasn't surprised that Thermal Grizzly Kyronaut standed at the top. What as very interesting is that cpu on load @ 5ghz/1.35v, that coolermaster maker, took the crown as the best paste during that particular session, very interesting results. Thanks again.

Kool64:

me too I've been using AS5 for so long that I don't remember but it's way more than 10 years.

AS5 is good for normal use, if your into extreme overclocking, Thermal Grizzly Kyronaut is the way to go, especially for the gpu, at least 10c difference, well from my own testing that is, there is a BIG difference between the two while under extreme overclocking situations, absolutely yes. For instance, While doing my 4-way Sli Project, gtx 970's. I wanted to see the difference on the first gpu, in a NON AC room, very hot room, wanted to see the difference. I had AS5 for quite some time on the first gpu, It went so high, it went over 90c+, I stopped, AS5 was not fully broken into yet but still even then, Kyronaut would still win by a large margin, temp went to high, so I changed, absolutely big difference. After cleaning out everything, Used Artic Clean kit(Remover/Purifier), Applied fresh paste of Kyronaut, it went to like upper 70's to around 80c/81c. And that's with Blackplate removed, Extreme cooling, etc. If you are all interested looking into the project I been doing for some time, have a look: https://forums.guru3d.com/threads/my-experience-with-4-way-sli-thus-far.425674/ One thing I love about the as5, very easy to spread, doesn't seperate while applying on the actual die of Gpu, don't need to use that extra piece to spread out the paste like the Kyronaut has, that one you have to use that shovel looking piece that you attach to the actual syringe, AS5 no need.

Richard Nutman:

I'm surprised Arctic Silver 5 does soo poorly when it has a very respectable thermal conductivity figure. That's been my paste of choice for years. Time to switch up!

The problem is companies are quoting thermal conductivity values under no pre-defined standard that is to say there's no industry standard for the testing methodology used. Company A could be measuring thermal conductivity at a stabilised temperature of say 40°c whilst company B could be doing so at 20°c and then company C could be measuring at a compounds most efficient temperature. This is a problem as many compounds have different conductivity based on temperature (some perform poorly at high temperatures whilst others at very low temperatures etc). This is why you need to consider the application the thermal compound will be used in and why we need tests like these ones performed here on Guru3D as the manufacturers ratings can easily be misrepresented to show ideal circumstances and not normal use as shown in the results we see today.

A M D BugBear:

AS5 is good for normal use, if your into extreme overclocking, Thermal Grizzly Kyronaut is the way to go, especially for the gpu, at least 10c difference, well from my own testing that is, there is a BIG difference between the two while under extreme overclocking situations, absolutely yes. One thing I love about the as5, very easy to spread, doesn't seperate while applying on the actual die of Gpu, don't need to use that extra piece to spread out the paste like the Kyronaut has, that one you have to use that shovel looking piece that you attach to the actual syringe, AS5 no need.

AS5 held up nice on my i7930 and then the eventual i7980 in the old days of BCLK ocing. Can't really complain. It also got me through the years of using an Opteron 144 at a 40% OC many many moons ago. I don't really OC any more having since switched to the Ryzen platform but I do miss the good ol days.

I had hydronaut it crappedout after 1year not in use.. when I tried to apply it was all solid threw away new paste.. useless. Then bought quick mx4 2019 replacement, but my old noctua nth1 acted way better. Then went for coolermaster maker 11w/mk and it rocks.. I see I made a good choice it's in the top by non conductive. 🙂

Currently using liquid Ultra on the CPU die and Gelid GC Extreme on the IHS, for me they work perfectly, I'd like to swap out the Gelid for Grizzly but for the price/performance difference it's just not worth it. I have tons of Gelid left, it's really easy to apply and performs really well and I can pick it up locally which saves on delivery time.

Nice review,I was going to buy some more paste today,great timing for me.My Coolmaster Mastergel Maybe got one application left with all these Ryzen switches between CPU's.Darn checked local store stock they only have Arctic silver stuff No to that one and Cosair TM30 and Coolmaster High performance which was not in the list.Off to look for more Coolmaster Mastergel.

Got conductonaut under my IHS and GC Extreme on top I've got great temps. I have used GC Extreme for years.

bought thermal grizzly kryonaut before I even knew DerBauer had money into the company (they talk about it in a video with gamenexus) 9900k 5.0Ghz@1.264v corsair H150ipro 75-85°C that's in aida64 stresstest average of 80.x just like in this review (I don't check numbers I keep screenshots of the graphs) very happy with it I recommend, I bought the large syringe because I've tried various coolers on it and waiting to build a ryzen too

Nice review guys , good to read something different for a change ,very interesting 🙂

Awww no Cryorig CP7 http://www.cryorig.com/cp.php

RIP Arctic Silver 5. Gelid GC Extreme has been by go to for about a year and a half now moving from AS5.

I still mostly use mx-4 I use NT-H1 thermal compound with my current 6700k build cause the NH-D14 came with it, the 2 are basicly the same performance so

Hilbert Hagedoorn:

Chris made all the work on this test, but we can certainly add some new TIMs and pads for a future update article. Just post them in this thread and we'll keep an eye out.

I would second the request. The natural off-trade of the graphite pads is that they generally perform a bit worse than TIM but have 0 degradation so they last forever and can be re-used. I switched to the IC Graphite pad for all my computers this year and have zero regrets but would love to know how much potential thermal efficiency I lost. Thank you.

PolishRenegade:

I would second the request. The natural off-trade of the graphite pads is that they generally perform a bit worse than TIM but have 0 degradation so they last forever and can be re-used. I switched to the IC Graphite pad for all my computers this year and have zero regrets but would love to know how much potential thermal efficiency I lost. Thank you.

exactly im currently using a ic graphite pad on my ryzen 3900x, was using noctua before, at first sight i dont think im getting higher temps to be honest, but the idea of not having to repaste and no degradation was appealing to me so i gave it a try, im happy with it so far