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


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Be Quiet! Releases Liquid metal and thermal paste.

 

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bequiet-v1671661434261.png

be quiet! 2023 Thermal Pastes and Light Wings White Fans Pictured

Also at the 2023 International CES, be quiet! showed off its new and upcoming thermal interface materials and new Light Wings lines of case/radiator fans. The DC2 PRO is an enthusiast-grade liquid-metal thermal interface material for high-performance applications, targeting overclockers who know how to handle liquid metal. The company wouldn't put out thermal conductivity numbers but mentioned that the DC2 PRO should be competitive with the best liquid-metal TIMs out there (north of 70 W/mK). The DC2 (non-PRO) is a conventional ceramic base TIM that's electrically non-conductive, and can be used with bare copper surfaces (such as coolers with direct-touch heatpipes). We expect this one's conductivity to be north of 10 W/mK.
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  • 2 weeks later...

Phobya lasted much longer than SYY 157 on my system (constant 250-270W load), but after about 6 weeks it needs to be changed as well. Pretty annoyed by this, as repasting is both a downtime and a hassle. Will try MX-6 next - not much of a rationale there other than Arctic MX-4's reputation for longevity, but both are silicone-based which is a worry.

 

The problem is that it's hard to find information regarding longevity, as reviews generally just cover the immediate results which are kind of meaningless anyway (very close to each other for top pastes). Failing that I am not sure it's worth trying anything else in the traditional department, perhaps the phase change TIM @Falkentyne suggested. Other options would include tried and true products such as AS5 or IC Diamond. Don't really care about curing time, just long term reliability with reasonable performance. In the end all roads seem to lead to LM, CPU markings be damned, or need to bite the larger bullet and upgrade to a custom loop, perhaps with a chiller. Would just need a CPU block, as GPUs are running very cool. Yeah, probably need to start shopping for that... 

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15 minutes ago, Etern4l said:

Phobya lasted much longer than SYY 157 on my system (constant 250-270W load), but after about 6 weeks it needs to be changed as well. Pretty annoyed by this, as repasting is both a downtime and a hassle. Will try MX-6 next - not much of a rationale there other than Arctic MX-4's reputation for longevity, but both are silicone-based which is a worry.

 

The problem is that it's hard to find information regarding longevity, as reviews generally just cover the immediate results which are kind of meaningless anyway (very close to each other for top pastes). Failing that I am not sure it's worth trying anything else in the traditional department, perhaps the phase change TIM @Falkentyne suggested. Other options would include tried and true products such as AS5 or IC Diamond. Don't really care about curing time, just long term reliability with reasonable performance. In the end all roads seem to lead to LM, CPU markings be damned, or need to bite the larger bullet and upgrade to a custom loop, perhaps with a chiller. Would just need a CPU block, as GPUs are running very cool. Yeah, probably need to start shopping for that... 

 

An option is to try that Honeywell  7950 Pad, it supposed to be made exactly for long longevity. I have some but didnt try it yet, i want to see first how the x3d chips from amd are and if i buy one next month then ill use it on that chip. dont want to waste it if i change my CPU.

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5 minutes ago, cylix said:

 

An option is to try that Honeywell  7950 Pad, it supposed to be made exactly for long longevity. I have some but didnt try it yet, i want to see first how the x3d chips from amd are and if i buy one next month then ill use it on that chip. dont want to waste it if i change my CPU.

 

Thanks, sounds like a great idea, the problem is availability - eBay looks like the only quick option here. The pad size is 31x50mm, which will just about fit the LGA1700 IHS ( 28.30x38.30mm). Sounds like a plan! I already have the MX-6 in hand so will try that first though.

 

 

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I got it from this chinese ebay: https://www.ebuy7.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=632208664079

 

It got in around 3 weeks to Germany, maybe US shipping is faster

 

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24 minutes ago, cylix said:

I got it from this chinese ebay: https://www.ebuy7.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=632208664079

 

It got in around 3 weeks to Germany, maybe US shipping is faster

 

 

Thanks, probably the best option. It's also on eBay UK for immediate delivery at 3x the price from a 14 star seller...

I could also get things like TFX (from some low rank Chinese seller on Amazon), Alphacool Apex, and Corsair XTM70, but the TFX seems to not be holding up too well according to some anecdotes (probably another short term OC product), and the other two have no track record, but probably the same "great but short life" category.

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So far so good with the MX-6, it's not mind blowing, but temps and system performance have been restored to the expected levels (around 30C on idle, and only sometimes hitting 100C  at 270W). Well, frankly, it feels a bit less effective than fresh Phobya, but acceptably so.

 

Additionally, I may have had an issue with some of the screws on the LGA1700 contact frame not being tightened evenly. We will see how it all goes over the next weeks, but will source the Honeywell pad as backup.

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OK, MX-6 doesn't really cut for me. Even if it's reliable, despite being silicone based, the performance out of the gate is insufficient, the CPU throttles under heavy load with a 360 AIO and like 11 fans.. I couldn't resist and ordered the Alphacool Apex, as this seems to be an improved Phobya NGE, with focus on reliability... 

"We're rushing towards a cliff, but the closer we get, the more scenic the views are."

-- Max Tegmark

 

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7 hours ago, Etern4l said:

OK, MX-6 doesn't really cut for me. Even if it's reliable, despite being silicone based, the performance out of the gate is insufficient, the CPU throttles under heavy load with a 360 AIO and like 11 fans.. I couldn't resist and ordered the Alphacool Apex, as this seems to be an improved Phobya NGE, with focus on reliability... 

I think you might want to try TG carbonaut or even ICD High Compressible graphite pad. For me both of them are lasting quite long on laptops. I'm unsure about the performance or reliability with 300W+ and those pads quickly fall out of line from LM and traditional pastes. I thought Linus Tech tips kept a stock of Honeywell Phase change pads but I couldn't find it on their store page.

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Yeah, I don't think a graphite pad is going to cut it. There is one more thing to do which is forgo silence and upgrade fans to 3000 rpm., at least on the AIO... Would prefer to keep the LM card up my sleeve until the last moment. 

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On 11/30/2022 at 3:28 AM, Etern4l said:

Looked legit, in fact the packaging was excellent, although who knows. Bought this on Amazon from an outfit called ZBXC-UK on which the following details are provided:

 

Customer Services Address:
shenzhenshilonghuaqulonghuajiedao
yucuishequjianhuilu21haoxinweidasha11ceng116fang
shenzhenshi
guangdongsheng
518000
CN
Business Address:
Shenzhenshi longhuaqu longhuajiedao yucuishequ
jianhuilu121hao xinweidasha11ceng1116fang
Shenzhenshi
Longhuaqu
Guangdongsheng
518000
CN

 

For what it's worth, I grabbed an 8g pack of SYY-157 back in Nov. 2021 off of Amazon from ZBXC-DE. Same business address and everything by the looks of it. I repasted my P775 a week ago using that and thermals have been pretty great, so I think I'll be saving that paste for my laptops. It was a little bit of a pain to spread because the laptop has copper shims on both the CPU and GPU. 

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9 minutes ago, a.Techie said:

 

For what it's worth, I grabbed an 8g pack of SYY-157 back in Nov. 2021 off of Amazon from ZBXC-DE. Same business address and everything by the looks of it. I repasted my P775 a week ago using that and thermals have been pretty great, so I think I'll be saving that paste for my laptops. It was a little bit of a pain to spread because the laptop has copper shims on both the CPU and GPU. 

 

It may be good enough for a laptop, but would urge caution with heavily utilized high-end desktops.

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Update on Honeywell7950SP (Paste):

 

After almost 8 months it finally degrade as my temps was hitting in the 90c's repeatedly and over 100C at times when playing games like Cyberpunk even with the laptop elevated. My laptop fans was pretty dusty and even cleaning the fans my laptop temps didnt change so i was forced to repaste. After removing my heatsink the paste was almost dry and had a lot of gaps where the my CPU and GPU die was exposed. This time when i repasted i used the spatula that came with the honeywell 7950 package to spread the paste, like i said before its a thick paste almost like putty and covered my CPU and GPU die completely with a thick layer.

 

J8y5bZ5.jpg 

 

Not the cleanest job as it was late at night but very effective especially when you see my temps and cinebench score below:

 

NCKeoEd.png

 

After running cinebench 3 times not only i got my highest score but my CPU temps never went above 88C and games stayed in the 70Cs range!. Im still not sure how long it takes for it cure but the results took effect very quickly this time!.

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I evaluated MX-6 and it's a "not really" for 280W workloads. Testing Alphacool Apex 17W/mK now. It's probably the thickest paste I've ever used, quite difficult to apply, it "peels off" easily, the temps however, were a markedly better than with MX-6 (thanks to @Papusan for the tip). I also have tubes of TFX and XTM70 waiting in the pipeline. My assumption now is just that I will just have to repaste often given the load.

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Actually that kind of makes sense. Alphacool doesn't really specialize in laptop products, and if the paste is very thick, it requires high heatsink pressure, which laptops typically lack. Anyway the paste is holding up so far (in conjunction with a serous cooling upgrade) which is always good.

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Apex on the CPU should be no problem the contact pressure is good enough for this with the GE76 Raider.

For the GPU was it not enough so i used TFX on the GPU.

 

But since Honeywell I don't wanna use somehting else 😄

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On 2/4/2023 at 10:59 AM, JeanLegi said:

Apex on the CPU should be no problem the contact pressure is good enough for this with the GE76 Raider.

For the GPU was it not enough so i used TFX on the GPU.

 

But since Honeywell I don't wanna use somehting else 😄

 

Once you go Honeywell you aint going back 😎.

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For those who tried Corsair XTM70: did you use their applicator lattice sticker, and was there any curing time? I gave it a go, but I'm not too impressed so far. I used the applicator sticker on the coldplate as per instructions....

"We're rushing towards a cliff, but the closer we get, the more scenic the views are."

-- Max Tegmark

 

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OK, so XTM70 wasn't bad - it kind of matched the performance of Alphacool Apex after it deteriorated a bit over the last two weeks. I used the suggested "easy" application method, but this almost surely resulted of overapplication of the paste. The paste is quite dry, almost clay like, so not sure how easy it would be to apply without the sticker mould. I would try a traditional application before dismissing this though.

 

Not being quite happy with the result, I then tried Thermaltake TFX: instant fail - 2-3C worse than than XTM70, CB23 crashed, went in the bin. Sourced from a Chinese seller on Amazon so could have been fake. 

 

Lastly, used CoolerMaster CryoFuze (as recommended by @tps3443 if I recall correctly) and actually this improved noticeably over the XTM70 so running with it now - hopefully it lasts. Application method could matter as well, in the last one I used a card to ensure the thinnest and most even spread possible. Will see how it goes. I haven't ordered a PTM 7950 pad yet, kind of loathe to order from ebay or ebuy7, but I guess there is no other way.

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TFX degraded spectacularly fast. Testing PTM7950 now, hope I won't need another paste (short of going with direct die). Initial results were phenomenal, although have fallen off after a couple of days (still good though). Wonder how long it will last.

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50 minutes ago, Etern4l said:

TFX degraded spectacularly fast. Testing PTM7950 now, hope I won't need another paste (short of going with direct die). Initial results were phenomenal, although have fallen off after a couple of days (still good though). Wonder how long it will last.

 

So you got the paste or the pad? How long was the delivery?

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7 minutes ago, cylix said:

 

So you got the paste or the pad? How long was the delivery?

 

The pad. I paid off a local ebay scalper so delivery was quick - shame on me :( Tricky to apply, glad I ordered a 80x40mm sheet, I ruined the first half. The application kit was helpful. Performance was poor initially (275W max power in CB23) and then the magic started happening, each CB23 run the max power draw started climbing - went up to 335W, which is the highest I can remember. Now fell off to 320W which is still good compared to other pastes after a few days. Fingers crossed. I have to note that the pad I received was not Honeywell branded, just a generic PTM7950. Have another one coming from China just in case. I don't really see a reason to try the paste, however, might do if this fails.

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-- Max Tegmark

 

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13 hours ago, Papusan said:

Cool, pardon the pun.  I will stick with my NT-H2. a degree difference is not going to make or break a system at all.  

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