Excess material can be siphoned off using a special extraction tip (by pulling the syringe plunger to withdraw excess liquid metal). We do have new testing equipment for our updated tests, such as a more modern CPU, motherboard, and coolers for our tests, but we adhered to the same test methodology employed in these prior tests. But because of the tiny gaps between your CPU and the heatsink, thermal paste is necessary to create contact between the CPU’s heat spreader and the heatsink, allowing for heat to transfer.

Application and spreading of the liquid metal are made easier with cotton swabs and generous pressure for even distribution. I currently have gc-extreme on my 7980 after kryonaut scratched my coldplate and it's temperatures have been very good for me. Choosing the best thermal paste is also important if you plan on overclocking your rig to its fullest. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience.If you're hunting for more exotic pastes off the beaten path, we also have plenty of historical data below covering 90 different pastes (and yes, we've even tested toothpaste). Not every system will need the most expensive compound, so even the most budget-minded system builders can rest easy knowing that even lower-cost pastes can still prove very effective. Liquid metal can cause reactions with some metals, such as aluminum, and some reports of reactions with copper are also documented by end-users. Here's a breakdown of our recent testing, and we'll be adding new pastes to this list over the coming weeks and months.

Thermal Grizzly Conductonaut offers superior thermal conductivity compared to other types of thermal paste, and is perfect for when you want to do some extreme overclocking with a liquid-cooled system. It dries out a bit quicker than other thermal pastes, requires 10 minutes of drying time before you re-attach the heatsink to the CPU, and will take about 2 hours or so of priming to reach peak cooling efficiency.In the tube, it’s 92% diamond powder, and after it’s applied and properly dried, constitutes 94% of the total paste, making it a rich choice for cooling.

Even though a dizzying array of different thermal pastes is available — some blends have been around for over a decade — new formulations still come to market at a surprising pace. We tested each thermal paste with a low-tension air cooler mount, high-tension air cooler mount, and a high-tension AIO liquid cooler mount. Overall, if you’re looking for a standard thermal compound, then you’ll definitely want to grab a tube of Thermal Grizzly’s Kryonaut. This site is a free online resource that strives to offer helpful content and comparison features to its visitors. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform.Choosing the best thermal paste may sound simple, but a dizzying array of options can turn this seemingly easy choice into a time-consuming and confusing task. This, in turn, can cause your CPU to run hotter, which can lead to thermal throttling, thereby decreasing your CPU’s performance. That’s why when it comes to keeping your CPU cool, the absolute best option you have is a liquid metal thermal paste, like Thermal Grizzly’s Conductonaut. In addition to its excellent performance, it’s also beginner-friendly, and comes with extras to make the job easier. W/mk, it’s among the most thermally conductive thermal compounds on the market, with few others edging it out.

And while it’s no longer sitting on the throne as the best in class, this diamond in the rough is still a solid choice with the IC Diamond 24 Carat Thermal Compound. Also, repeated tests are not consistently possible with push-pin mounted coolers: The pins can degrade after several mount cycles, which meant we needed to simulate these to maintain consistent test results. A compound with relatively ‘normal’ viscosity known to thermal paste application as well as good stability during application.It does not conduct electricity and has a "wide range of operating temperatures" that the manufacturer does not specify. Thermal compounds might always be compared and debated over, but the simple fact remains: PC system building needs thermal compounds to effectively dissipate thermal loads.