Maximum PC

The sheer amount of thermal compounds available is mind boggling. I have it down between three of them:

• Tuniq TX-3
• Prolimatech PK-1
• Maingear T1000


Which one would you buy if it were you?

I'd look at:

Tuniq TX-2, 4.5W/mK, 3.5g tube ($6.79 shipped @ ebay)
Tuniq TX-4, 6.53 W/mK, 3.5g tube ($11.99 shipped @ ebay)
AC MX-4, 8.5 W/mK, 4g tube ($7.98 shipped @ ebay)
IC7 diamond, 4.5 W/mK, 1.5g tube ($6.15 shipped @ ebay)

Honestly, anything will work just fine, even the old AS 5 (8.7 W/mK, 3.5g tube for $6.95 shipped on ebay) would work just as well, but if you don't have AS 5, I'd stick to the top four I listed above. It's more about how you apply your thermal paste, than what paste you use really and even then, it can be how even/smooth your contact patch would be along with no air bubbles.

Personally, if I didn't have my huge tube of AS 5 still, I'd probably pick the AC MX-4 for a good price/performance ratio with more paste. It may not perform as good as the IC7 or the TX-4, but we are talking only about 1-2C difference; for my purposes, I don't overclock insanely high (at least not yet, need a liquid setup first).

This brings up an interesting question i have. The Corsair H80 liquid cooler comes with thermal compound pre applied.....would you suggest taking this off and applying your own?

I wouldn't get the H80 I would get the Antec Kuhler 920 it keeps the temps lower, or go with an actual water cooling kit http://www.frozencpu.com/products/11743 ... _-HOT.html

But I would most likely change the thermal paste out for one of the ones listed.

YES, take it off. Apply your own.

I'd only recommend the H80 if you get them at a good price, instead of the current $90. FYI, the Noctua NH-D14 air cooler beats it for around $80ish. But if you want to spend $100ish, yeah, the 920 or the H100 would fit the bill... but you would be very close to the kickass RS750 proper LC setup linked above for $130... And it provided enough cooling capacity to expand the loop to a gpu easily. Can't do that with the AIO LC's.

I didn't realize there were so many choices. Do they really differ? I know that ceramic vs metal-based grease is the biggest difference.

I just got the AS Ceramique from the Radioshack since I didn't want to wait for the shipping times.

I guess you get more compound for the money with the OP suggestions

As long as you stick with a good paste, they really won't differ too much in performance from each other, but you stick them against oem or other crappy paste/thermal tape, you can see a huge difference.

I prefer chocolate, mayonnaise or cheese normally. Figured it was time for something different. lol

Mayo is ok as a thermal paste, but chocolate and cheese aren't that great.

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/ ... 012/1490/5

actually cheese didn't do so bad. I hear peanut butter and jelly are good as well.

Looking around, you find that the pre-applied is Shin-etsu paste. That's like the rolls royce of pastes.

Not really it gets beat by all of the mentioned thermal pastes. If you really want the best you should get Indigo Extreme but that is expensive and each pad is a one time use.

The thing is you don't need to reapply the paste for the H80.

According to that benchmark sure. Check out the Geek Tested Benchmark, and from that you should grab the Tuniq TX-4.

from 2009. On par with AS5

http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?o ... itstart=12

Don't ever link me to the maximumpc thermal paste review... such a joke. They tested 17 products and DIDN'T EVEN TEST MOST OF THE TOP PASTES OR INDIGO EXTREME!

Hey, have you seen this review.

Maingear T1000 is Indigo Xtreme re-branded for those unaware. Choosing either or you would get the same animal. I chose to go with that.

I looked at that article before creating this thread. It surprised me food items were on the list. I wonder what mayonnaise would do to a person's system in the long run? That would be weird smelling burnt food while on it. lol

Now who is trolling

It's called counter-trolling sir

or counter-strike if you will