Kodai wrote:

Arctic Clean on the other hand, is something that a law should be written that requires everybody to use it. It has got to be the best cleaning solution for working with TIM ever created.

I've always just used 91% alcohol. How does Arctic Clean compare to that?

ArctiClean is some sort of citrus cleaner and it works extremely well. I've used other citrus cleaners that work well. Like Goo Gone Citrus. They dissolve some things that alcohol does not. They leave residue though, which is why Articlean is 2 part.

I use wet naps to clean TIM of cpu's heats inks and so on.

swaaye wrote:

Kodai wrote:

All liquid metal TIM's harden after the first thermal cycle.

Interesting.

I used to use it a lot. They can harden if heat and cool the cpu a few times.
If you heat up the cpu you can get it off. Otherwise it will be stuck to the cpu/heat sink.

Ended up ordering MX-4. It's roughly the same price as "cheaper" stuff, so it made the decision easy.

Jade Falcon wrote:

swaaye wrote:

Kodai wrote:

All liquid metal TIM's harden after the first thermal cycle.

Interesting.

I used to use it a lot. They can harden if heat and cool the cpu a few times.
If you heat up the cpu you can get it off. Otherwise it will be stuck to the cpu/heat sink.

And it seems it requires a hardening cycle to be the most effective. Temps were about 5 degrees Celsius higher the first day it was applied when it was still wet but have since come down so I think it's working. 🤣

swaaye wrote:

ArctiClean is some sort of citrus cleaner and it works extremely well. I've used other citrus cleaners that work well. Like Goo Gone Citrus. They dissolve some things that alcohol does not. They leave residue though, which is why Articlean is 2 part.

The problem with ArctiClean is that you're likely to run out of the solution in the first bottle long before the solution in the second bottle. 😉

mr_bigmouth_502 wrote:

The problem with ArctiClean is that you're likely to run out of the solution in the first bottle long before the solution in the second bottle. 😉

Yeah I suggest just using cheaper Goo Gone Citrus and then some Isopropyl for a final pass.

Just like many others, I used to use AS3, then AS5, and now I use MX-4. MX-4 is good stuff:

- Easy to apply
- Easy to clean off
- Non-Conductive
- Lasts a long time once applied
- Cheap

I've used ceramique before and I liked that too. It's supposed to last even longer than MX-4 once applied. MX-4 is still much easier to work with.

Since I saw it in this thread, I wonder, isn't toothpaste mildly abrasive? I mean, I recall reading about people using white Colgate to "repair" heavily scratched CDs... If that's the case, I wouldn't dare use it on a P-III for example...

Has anyone tried "Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut"?

I came upon this benchmark and it tested better than Gelid GC Extreme:
http://overclocking.guide/thermal-paste-round … nitrogen-ln2/6/

Needed some TIM last weekend, all mine had dried out. I'd used plenty of different types in the past, but went for MX2 - its not the highest performing, but the durability is eight years. The performance difference between MX2 and most of the other compounds is minimal.. There's only one CPU upgrade beyond the X3370 I'm putting in, and the X3380 is expensive, so I doubt I'll ever bother for another .16GHz.

About the most interesting one I've used is the Coolaboratory liquid metal pad, but it relies on a high temperature to melt it, so isn't ideal.

Oh yeah, one tip : In the UK you can get isopropyl alcohol off the shelf in Maplin. Used to be only 400ml for a tenner (although there's now a much more economic 200ml for 4 quid) in an aerosol. Unfortunately the aerosol fails after a while. However, for £15 there's 1L of raw isopropyl in a can - it'll last forever!

Serbian made Artic AX-5. if it weren't toxic id use it as face cream.

Stojke wrote:

Serbian made Artic AX-5. if it weren't toxic id use it as face cream.

Do you really care about the environmental prints of your thermal paste ? I think it could make sense when you trash them. I have enough thermal compound on my cloths and my hands that I can save my face of it.

Antec nano diamond or artic silver 5 whichever is cheaper at the time

I use a syringe with silver paste from china.. If the temps are worse then i will use better quality paste.

ElBrunzy wrote:

Stojke wrote:

Serbian made Artic AX-5. if it weren't toxic id use it as face cream.

Do you really care about the environmental prints of your thermal paste ? I think it could make sense when you trash them. I have enough thermal compound on my cloths and my hands that I can save my face of it.

Nah, its because its texture is like a face lift cream 😀
Very high quality.

I used to swear by Artic Silver 5, however I bought some MX-4 a few months back and pretty impressed. Looking at alot of the group tests it comes out very well.

I think artic silver might be average, but they put such hope and pub on them products that people bound to believe they are great no matter what! Ok aluminium is a good heat conductor, but does it beat full chemical, I beleive not. I mean test dont show it. So I prefer to buy a big tube of white paste face cream type rather than a small syringe injected aluminium sparks. Never had a blown up cpu, never had a crusty top die.