i use atic alumina thermal adhesive, its an epoxy but works real well. I've also put thermal paste in the middle and super glue around the edges of a chip and that works also.

Yeah I've had Arctic Silver's thermal epoxy turn into gum too with age. The stuff is great before it deteriorates though. Note that it's probably a permanent bond.

I have Arctic Alumina Thermal Adhesive, as well. It keeps longer refrigerated, but I think we're only talking about a year or so before it goes bad. Not sure how long the bond keeps after application; it's meant to be permanent but many people have complaints. There is some room for user error in the mixing process, so dunno.

The common solution is to use regular paste and put small drops of superglue on the corners of the chip surface.

http://www.overclockers.com/need-thermal-epox … -make-your-own/

The other example is that if you want a possibly breakable bond, then dilute the thermal epoxy with thermal paste.

I use 3M's thermally conductive tape, for example http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/en_US/E … N=8704987&rt=r3.

There are plenty of different "models" in terms of thickness, conductivity etc. They're quite strong to safely hold a heatsink, but also removal is easy. Just be careful if you end up buying this, some (many) cheap Asian sellers sell normal adhesives as heat conductive.

I use the Arctic Alumina two-part epoxy. I mix it 1:1 as directed. Good stuff. Electrical insulator too, in case you're sloppy like me.

I've got some cards using it for what seems like 10+ years without problems. No "gum" issue or anything like that.

Note: As others have mentioned, it has a shelf-life of about one year if you refrigerate it.

I put a dab of arctic silver 5 in the center of the chip and a few dabs of non conductive super glue around the edges of the chip (or around the perimeter) and twist the heat sink on the chip a little so it makes good contact. This is probably the cheapest and most permanent solution I've used. I'm really just too lazy to order epoxy online 🤣

^ Same here , I've also been doing the super-glue trick for a long time with good results.