#113 - Question/Answer: Thermal Compound & Remover I Use

[qw3rtyui0p250]

Indigo Xtreme FTW!

[xbeforea]

Tuniq, Arctic or any other compound will work fine, providing that it is good quality, not the cheapest one. There is no magic, they all have more less same thermal resistance and all dry out, therefore must be reapplied after certain time. Avoid conductive compound if your chip has visible metal connections.

Funny is that even toothpaste has similar thermal resistance, however it dries out quite fast, so do not use it :) until you plan to reapply daily.

[WizardNumberNext]

I don't any silicon based Thermal Compound! I use liquid metal! Its Collaboratory Liquid Pro. It can't be used with aluminium. Throw out all silicon based thermal compound and use Collaboratory Liquid Pro - its thousands times better then any silicon based thermel compound.

[poopoosmashers]

i have a core 2 duo overclocked to 3.6 ghz and its between 34-40ºc im going to use the Cooler Master Hyper tx-3...

[Rapagangsta]

U still use TX3?

[turbotonic27]

can you make a vid on how to conect a sys temp sensor ?

[49Moody]

Tuniq TR1, do i apply it direct on cpu or colth???? and Tuniq TX4 is out is that better than 3

[851995STARGATE]

artic silver is beast

[thebestkid13]

can any thermal compound last 8 years or more

[emilang]

:O shaved

[DuyAnh1]

can u use regular alcohol to clean the old thermal grease?!!?!?!?!!?

[airsoftguy85rocks]

I have used TX-3, it is almost IMPOSSIBLE to use, it just refuses to stick to the heatsink or the CPU -_-

[LFCforEver12341]

si arctic silver 5 good|?

[Johny40Se7en]

nice, I've used Arctic Cooling MX-2 when I had my overclocked athlon and now using akasa 450(MX-2 was out of stock =P) but even on my overclocked Phenom 955 it sometimes only just touches 50ºC while playing GTA IV for a while(very CPU intensive) so I'm quite happy with it.

And someone said in a comment below about wiping off the thermal compound that's already on a CPU cooler, I do this just to be sure.

[bodunchar]

oh my hero I just ordered some tx2 cos tx3 out of stock.

oops forgot to order the stuff to remove the old stuff with.

[xMExHKSx]

Which of the thermal compound is better? Tuniq TX-3, Tuniq TX-2, Arctic Cooling MX-2 or Arctic Silver 5?

[J05H101]

For value its deffinately MX-2 but if you want like only 0.5C cooler then Artic Silver 5 which is about £5 more.

[Vortex1988]

Asked Rodney on his site, and according to him Tuniq TX-3 is the best. I've seen a video too where TX-3 beat the hell out of Arctic Silver 5.

[martinhiebert]

i use artic cooling mx-2 paste - used it on my over clocked pc cpu and heatsink - works great

[xMYDxHelios]

Do all CPU's when you buy one come with heatsink/fan and do they all have compund already on them?

[zomgbbqwth]

not ALL cpus come with the thermal shit~ mine doesnt~

[xpocx2]

Generally, yes. There are always exceptions, though.

Many people remove the cheap factory compound, and use a high performance aftermarket brand

[cisco760ca]

artic silver ceramique is the best for me so far. Its a bit better than artic silver 5 . tested both on a overclocked i7 3.3 and i get 33c on ceramique and 38c on silver 5.

[silversRAY]

I got the TX-3 tuniq.. its cool

[NpManny]

the reviews on newegg said that that stuff is so thick, and it can possibly fry your cpu lmao wither way i use artic cooling mx 2 pretty good or as cremique

[silversRAY]

yup.. it is so thick.. i couldnt even spread it all around the cpu. cpu getting hot at idle so i went back to TX-2

[doughnutriot]

Hmmm I use Artic Cooler MX-2. It's pretty good.

[b98154]

MX-3 is out but I can't find it on market.

[ganymedeIV4]

oh but, that AS Ceramique is expensive as shit. so its not for the people who are concerned with spending a extra 5$

Just so you know. Think its 13$ for 8 grams.

[cisco760ca]

4 bucks for 2.5 grams but its worth it on overclocked cpus.

[ganymedeIV4]

But that thermal paste Phase changes from a semi solid to a liquid and back. that stuff tends to leak and move its way to one side of the processor over heat/cool cycles.

You all need to learn About AS Ceramique.

Surpasses every other TMI i've used or read about.

It's a mixture of Ceramic,Boron nitride, Zinc oxide,aluminum and silver.

No paste run, No turning Liquid, 100% non conductive, no seperation, no bleeding and takes a additional 1-5 degrees off vs The best "Silver" paste.

[aerowinskthx]

Tuniq TX-2 is better than Arctic Silver 5.

Cools better, Cures faster, Spreads better, and Costs less.

It's a win, win, win, win situation lol.

[CaliSurferzz]

Tuniq tr-1 thermal compound remover bahahah..... ever hear of the cheaper and readily available rubbing alcohol?

[oddha]

im using the same "NT-H1" but its expensive like hel 10~ dollars for one tube "8euro"

[gabeherb345]

i use sperm =))))

[entyceit]

what exactly does this do??

[MILLZ713]

where can i buy thermopaste and please dont say online i need help

[Lvaneede]

just go to a local computer shop and see if they have any, its not hard

[dewatandas]

can find it in hardware shop?

[b1iuzw39]

like tigerdirect

[workensmart]

radioshack sells artic silver 5. they have it for about $10.

[popiq90frost]

tuniq says that the tx-2 is 2~3°C lower than as5

[leodj29]

and that's a fact, i used them both on my core contact freezer, and tuniq was 4 ºC lower than AS5 on Max Load on my Q6600 at 3.6 GHz

[AWmaxxbass]

Hey, watch this review again but swap the word questions for 10-inch Grizzlers

[Computenator]

today i bought a expensive (17$) zalman thermal paste, there's very small amount of grease for that kind of money :) though i can't find any removers from my country's stores but they aren't really that nessecary...

[masterjaniuk]

Heyyy dude, lol i always find you on here, i cant find the tuniq TX-2 anywhere in my country at all :) but i have the remover :S

[Computenator]

but actually i wouldnt even use the remover cause thermal paste can be easily removed with tissue :)

[unsoundmedia]

this compound is great I received a tube when I purchased my Core Contact Freezer from sunbeam. Cools my q9450 at 3.6mhz to 32 degrees

[Do0dMaN4K]

you sure its 3.6 mhz and not ghz? lol cuz win 2000 cant even support a 3.6mhz cpu!

[unsoundmedia]

Yes it's 3.6 ghz and 3600 mhz. I think that makes sense.

I use Vista Ulti x64 bit

[Do0dMaN4K]

i know lol its just that you said 3.6 mhz in your original comment. and i know that 3.6 ghz=3600 mhz (im not that dumb XD)

[maxmoxan]

hm wich is the best welches kann man empfehlen oder ist caseumbau das beste ^^

[maxmoxan]

oh sry a mistake.

which is the best for cpus an gpus in ure mind?

[leodj29]

i now its four months after but anyways:

The best thermal compound is indeed the Tuniq TX-2 and then is the Artic Silver 5.

PS: the TX-2 is better and cheaper tho

PS2: i would like to learn german XD

[Teamkilling4ever]

the MX - 2 is the best

[drunken88]

You shouldn't try spread the thermal compound, just put a little in the middle, then put the heatsink on and screw it there well, then the compound spreads perfectly, and never put too much.

[ChIkEnAtEmYdOnUtS]

Then it doesn't go over the entire CPU almost 100% of the time...

[AparoidX]

I got some thermal compound on my hand today

[drunken88]

I lol'd so hard.

[Lvaneede]

I work at an Apple service centre, the thermal compound we get from Apple is terrible. It is way too thick and just about impossible to spread.

[sirfatalx]

You can just use rubbing alcohol as well with a clean cloth to remove the compound.

[3DGAMEMAN]

Yes, but depending on the strength of the rubbing alcohol you might want to dilute it. Watch my Q&A #85 to find out more.

[Diegog5]

@sirfatalx

You can also use gasoline and a match.

[K42i]

so this is better than arctic silver?

[ams2990]

Yes, TX-2 is indeed better. MX-2 is a better deal, though, because it's cheaper and easier to apply. If you're going to go for something high end and hard to apply, get the IC Diamond. It's a PITA to apply, but you get much better temps, on average.

[suimasen1]

Great QA I will purchase this now.

Funny how half the stuff you do on your QA is relevant to present issues I have with computers.

[shaurz]

AS is crazy thick.

[HomlessEddie]

You should do a review on the Ultra M923.

[DeadlyFury16]

how does he put the website on the side of the movie????

[3DGAMEMAN]

Using Sony Vegas Movie Studio 9.

[FalconNeko]

can you use ky-jelly iv a big tub of that ?

[sometube123]

Rodney, you should try AC MX-2 thermal compound, or shin-etsu. :) You'll see that they're superior.

[guncore]

You got a cold Rodney?