Liquid cooler/thermal paste?

[R3dAlert93]

Is it better to buy a good brand thermal paste or is the thermal paste on the liquid cooler any good and better?

[C1REX]

Many decent coolers come with very decent thermal paste. I really wouldn't worry about this, except for the new Radeon GPUs, which seem to greatly benefit from completely removing the paste and using some good thermal pads (Thermal Grizzly KryoSheet, PWM7950).

The best thermal pads are conductive but offer better thermals than a paste and lose only to liquid metal. Some of them can even be reused.

[River]

Originally posted by Bring3rOfPain495:

Is it better to buy a good brand thermal paste or is the thermal paste on the liquid cooler any good and better?

Best to buy better thermal paste!

[_I_]

thermal pads? those are poor, only use is to fill large gaps, when cooling surfaces are different heights

useful on mosfets or several components, not cpu or gpu die

if the cooler has a pre-applied paste, wipe it off and use something else
silicone paste is on the poor side, any silver based paste is better

[C1REX]

Originally posted by _I_:

thermal pads? those are poor, only use is to fill large gaps, when cooling surfaces are different heights

I'm not talking about cheapo thermal pads like you see on VRAM. I'm talking about top end thermal pads that never dry out and never pump out.

The good ones can literally compete with liquid metal.
https://youtu.be/2BhKx0iQ4K8?si=SCm6frB4r4aGmAPM

[_I_]

that is still not electrically conductive
big difference there too

[Bad 💀 Motha]

Always buy your own paste. If the cooler comes with it pre-•applied, clean all that off.

[C1REX]

Originally posted by Bad 💀 Motha:

Always buy your own paste. If the cooler comes with it pre-•applied, clean all that off.

My Noctua came with a very good Noctua NT-H1 paste.
My Arctic Liquid Freezer came with very good Arctic MX-4.

What are better alternatives that are financially justifiable?

[_I_]

Originally posted by C1REX:

Originally posted by Bad 💀 Motha:

Always buy your own paste. If the cooler comes with it pre-•applied, clean all that off.

My Noctua came with a very good Noctua NT-H1 paste.
My Arctic Liquid Freezer came with very good Arctic MX-4.

What are better alternatives that are financially justifiable?

if its pre-applied, wipe it off, its probably dried on and not good to use
put on new paste

[C1REX]

Originally posted by _I_:

Originally posted by C1REX:

My Noctua came with a very good Noctua NT-H1 paste.
My Arctic Liquid Freezer came with very good Arctic MX-4.

What are better alternatives that are financially justifiable?

if its pre-applied, wipe it off, its probably dried on and not good to use
put on new paste

Both came in a syringe like an individual product.
What are better alternatives that give better temps?

[Nabster]

If you are going for max overclock, get something better. For anyone else, stick with the provided one because it is free and there is minimal difference.

[Bad 💀 Motha]

Well yes, generally if you are not buying junk and the cooler comes with a syringe of grey-colored paste; that should be fine to use already.

[Ralf]

Just get a 12g tube of Arctic Silver 5 paste, it will last you a lifetime and is still one of the best.

[Phénomènes Mystiques]

Always buy better thermal paste and stay far from that silicone-based thermal paste crap. Go with pure silver or graphene...

[R3dAlert93]

Originally posted by Wynters:

Always buy better thermal paste and stay far from that silicone-based thermal paste crap. Go with pure silver or graphene...

Could you give me a link on amazon?

[AbedsBrother]

Originally posted by Ralf:

Just get a 12g tube of Arctic Silver 5 paste, it will last you a lifetime and is still one of the best.

Had Arctic Silver (4 iirc) for a while. Conductivity was great, but the paste was so thin / runny it was only useful for horizontal mountings. Vertical mountings it would run downwards creating uneven paste spread and heat spikes over time, usually a month or two. Nowadays I just use Arctic MX4, which is a lot thicker.