What do I need to take into account to choose a thermal paste for my CPU and GPU respectively?

[AcidEyeDrops]

I'm going to apply some new thermal paste because my laptop has an overheating problem, and I heard you may need different pastes for different uses/types of hardware.

Does it matter between CPU/GPU?

What brands/products work particularly well for water/air based cooling?
How do I know what my PC uses?
(It's an Acer Predator Helios 300, if that's any help, lmk if I need to post specs)

Thermal Grizzly Conductonaut seems like the best bet based off of a couple of youtube videos and some article top of 2019 lists, (and I've also seen some videos where they used IC Diamond) but I just want to be absolutely sure.

[Cathulhu]

No, it doesn't matter if CPU or GPU. There's also no difference between air or water cooling regarding thermal paste.

[AcidEyeDrops]

Opprinnelig skrevet av Cathulhu:

No, it doesn't matter if CPU or GPU. There's also no difference between air or water cooling regarding thermal paste.

Awesome, thanks man!

[ericcui1]

Chose non conductive paste for GPU, you don't want to short anything. For non-delid CPU, any kind of paste will do, it doesn't matter.

[ericcui1]

Talking about thermal paste. Actually some industrial grade products are better than the well known consumer brands like Thermal Grizzly. For example Shin-Etsu X-23-7783D and X-23-7921-5, they are dirt cheap and performs as good as Kryonaut if not better.

[r.linder]

Opprinnelig skrevet av ericcui1:

Chose non conductive paste for GPU, you don't want to short anything. For non-delid CPU, any kind of paste will do, it doesn't matter.

Pastes like Thermal Grizzly Conductonaut are conductive and can short out components if the paste gets on any circuits, and I believe you can't use a lot of them with certain metals.

[Autumn_]

Opprinnelig skrevet av Escorve:

Opprinnelig skrevet av ericcui1:

Chose non conductive paste for GPU, you don't want to short anything. For non-delid CPU, any kind of paste will do, it doesn't matter.

Pastes like Thermal Grizzly Conductonaut are conductive and can short out components if the paste gets on any circuits, and I believe you can't use a lot of them with certain metals.

Conductonaut isn't a paste, it's liquid metal.
So, it goes without saying it's conductive (Since it's in the name as well.)

And, you can use it with other metals, just I think it will eat/corrode copper away over time.

[AcidEyeDrops]

Already ordered thermal grizzly based on the first response. I'd assume it doesn't matter too much if I use it for both, just be careful and don't apply too much?

[ericcui1]

Opprinnelig skrevet av SpuddyMunch:

Already ordered thermal grizzly based on the first response. I'd assume it doesn't matter too much if I use it for both, just be careful and don't apply too much?

You have to make sure your head sinks are made of copper or nickel-plated copper . Liquid metal will corrode aluminum quickly.

[tacoshy]

Well Liquid Metal counts as thermal paste as well.
And yes it coorodes Aluminum within minutes.

Its no issue to use with a GPU. You can cover or box in LM with non conductive pastes as well.

[AcidEyeDrops]

Opprinnelig skrevet av ericcui1:

Opprinnelig skrevet av SpuddyMunch:

Already ordered thermal grizzly based on the first response. I'd assume it doesn't matter too much if I use it for both, just be careful and don't apply too much?

You have to make sure your head sinks are made of copper or nickel-plated copper . Liquid metal will corrode aluminum quickly.

Is there an obvious visual difference between nickel-plated copper and aluminum? Never really toyed with a device like this before and I wanna cover all my bases.

[𝔇ave]

Opprinnelig skrevet av SpuddyMunch:

Opprinnelig skrevet av ericcui1:

You have to make sure your head sinks are made of copper or nickel-plated copper . Liquid metal will corrode aluminum quickly.

Is there an obvious visual difference between nickel-plated copper and aluminum? Never really toyed with a device like this before and I wanna cover all my bases.

nickel plated metals will have a shiny chrome like appearance where as aluminium, unless it has been polished will usually have a dull matte appearance. a dead giveaway with most aluminium heatsinks in machining marks left over that have a grainy look about them.