Warning: I used to think all thermal paste was basically the same

A client brought in a gaming rig I'd serviced six months ago, complaining about random shutdowns under load. I opened it up and the paste I'd used was completely dried out and cracked. He pointed at it and said, 'You know, the cheap stuff cooks off faster. My last guy only used Arctic MX-4.' I argued at first, but after three more similar jobs in a week, I switched. Now I keep a tube of MX-4 on the bench and the callbacks stopped. Anyone have a different brand they swear by for high-heat systems?

3 comments

3 Comments

vera19521d ago

Maybe it's just me but I've seen cheap paste fail that fast on older chips. The heat cycles from gaming just bake it out quicker. Good paste makes a real difference on those systems.

hayden_ramirez21d ago

Wait, dried out in six months? That's crazy fast even for cheap paste. Are you sure the cooler wasn't mounted with uneven pressure or something? I've seen bargain bin paste last a year before it turns to chalk. The MX-4 is good stuff, but that sudden failure makes me wonder if there was another issue hiding under there.

moore.beth21d ago

Man, I feel this. I had a batch of those little pre-filled syringes from a bulk buy do the exact same thing. Pastes turned to dust in months on some hotter chips. @hayden_ramirez has a point about mount pressure, but I checked that. My fix was switching to Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut for the real heat monsters, like overclocked rigs or small form factor builds. It just seems to handle the constant high temps better without drying up. That stuff is pricey, so I only use it where it counts. For most normal builds, I'm with you, MX-4 is the go-to now.