Thermal paste and Computer Building

[Deleted]

Hello guys,

i ordered my new computer last week and hope all parts will be arriving by next week. So now I read up a bit on the stuff and saw that I need a thermal paste. Now after some research I found 3 i think are good but need to know if there may be any complications in connection with my CPU. My CPU is a Intel Core i5 6500 4x 3.20GHz So.1151 BOX.
Also I want the paste to be reliable for like 2-3 years (then reapply it again) and dont want to change it every year. So here are the pastes:

1) Arctic MX 4
2) Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut
3) Gelid Solutions GC Extreme

What fits my criteria best?

Are there any other additional things I need to build the Computer apart from Thermal paste and screwdrivers?

Thanks a lot!

[Elim Garak]

If your Intel CPU is retail with a stock fan that you will use and you don't plan to overclock - you don't need additional thermopaste as the stock fan comes with a thermopaste layer pre-applied. It will suffice.

[Deleted]

I'll use this cooler: EKL Alpenföhn Brocken ECO Tower Kühler and ordered this CPU: http://www.mindfactory.de/product_in...X_1010023.html

So there will be already thermal paste applied to the CPU?

[Elim Garak]

I'll use this cooler: EKL Alpenföhn Brocken ECO Tower Kühler and ordered this CPU: http://www.mindfactory.de/product_in...X_1010023.html

So there will be already thermal paste applied to the CPU?

No, only stock Intel fans come prepared. But your choice of cooler must come with a small tube of thermal paste, so you don't need to buy any. Check the packaging.

[noteworthynerd]

No, only stock Intel fans come prepared.

That's not always true, a lot of aftermarket coolers are coming with paste preapplied these days. I know the last three computers I built for folks all had different aftermarket coolers with paste preapplied.

But yes, OP, like Elim Garak said, you'd need to consult the packaging. I checked several websites, but unfortunately I couldn't find any mention of what comes in the box.

[chazus]

It does come with thermal paste, but it is not pre-applied, per this review:

http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/665...ew/index4.html

[Deleted]

That's not always true, a lot of aftermarket coolers are coming with paste preapplied these days. I know the last three computers I built for folks all had different aftermarket coolers with paste preapplied.

But yes, OP, like Elim Garak said, you'd need to consult the packaging. I checked several websites, but unfortunately I couldn't find any mention of what comes in the box.

It does come with thermal paste, but it is not pre-applied, per this review:

http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/665...ew/index4.html

Thanks for that guys. However I still have a question: Isn't that most likely an inferior thermal paste in terms of quality? Wouldn't it be a good idea to just spend a few bucks on a quality paste and have a good product?

[Elim Garak]

Thanks for that guys. However I still have a question: Isn't that most likely an inferior thermal paste in terms of quality? Wouldn't it be a good idea to just spend a few bucks on a quality paste and have a good product?

If you are not into heavy overclocking you shouldn't worry about "quality" thermal paste.

[chazus]

Thanks for that guys. However I still have a question: Isn't that most likely an inferior thermal paste in terms of quality? Wouldn't it be a good idea to just spend a few bucks on a quality paste and have a good product?

There is almost no such thing as 'inferior' or 'superior' thermal paste. Outside of their consistency and how easy/hard it is to apply, they're almost all the same in the end. Testing was done and determined that like 90% of pastes function within like 5% of eachothers effectiveness.

[Netherspark]

Thanks for that guys. However I still have a question: Isn't that most likely an inferior thermal paste in terms of quality? Wouldn't it be a good idea to just spend a few bucks on a quality paste and have a good product?

There really isn't much difference.

Also as you asked in your first post, under normal circumstances you should not ever need to reapply thermal paste.

Are there any other additional things I need to build the Computer apart from Thermal paste and screwdrivers?

Cable ties help keep the inside tidy.

[Deleted]

There is pretty much no difference in Thermal Pastes! A Thermal Paste is not to cool your CPU, its just to make sure the whole CPU is in complete contact with the Cooler. Just take the Paste you got with your Cooler.

[Thunderball]

MX-4 is a good basic pick. Arctic claim it to be good for 8 years, not sure about 8, a pack I bought 4 years ago is still good. Gelid GC-Extreme is a good pick too, slightly better than MX-4 but more expensive. No point in using that for a non-overclockable processor. If you're looking for something cheaper there is Thermalright Chill Factor III, which is amazingly easy to apply, is cheap and will be more than enough for a non-overclockable processors. There is also chinese GD900, which I personally use for building, it's decent and dirt cheap ($5 for 30 grams).

[Deleted]

therma paste is not that kind of a thing. dont get the cheepest one and you will be fine. i would go to a computer store and ask what they use. then buy the same its very cheep.
if you put a cooler to the cpu there is metal to metal. the thermal paste is for contact. between the cooler and the cpu might be very little scratches. the thermal paste fills these scratches.
sry for my bad english, its not my native language. i cant explain it better.

when i bulded my first pc some years ago i was very exited about the thermal paste. but its really not such of a big deal. you can look on youtube to see the different ways to add it.

[Deleted]

Thanks for the help guys!

[Kuntantee]

How one measures the durability of a particular thermal paste? Is there such a metric? Their effectiveness is measured empirically, i.e., by actually checking the difference they make. Never seen a benchmark testing on the durability tho. It's better to remove them every once in a while, like a year or so.

Prolimatech PK-3 is also good.

- - - Updated - - -

There is pretty much no difference in Thermal Pastes! A Thermal Paste is not to cool your CPU, its just to make sure the whole CPU is in complete contact with the Cooler. Just take the Paste you got with your Cooler.

This isn't true. A good paste can make substantial difference, like > 5 degrees of Celsius or so.

[Deleted]

How one measures the durability of a particular thermal paste? Is there such a metric? Their effectiveness is measured empirically, i.e., by actually checking the difference they make. Never seen a benchmark testing on the durability tho. It's better to remove them every once in a while, like a year or so.

Prolimatech PK-3 is also good.

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This isn't true. A good paste can make substantial difference, like > 5 degrees of Celsius or so.

Correct, it's always a good idea to reapply thermal paste atleast once a year to make sure it's in top condition

[chazus]

Did everyone just gloss over the fact that OP didn't get a K processor and therefor doesn't need anything but the stock fan?

It was already mentioned that the stock is fine, but the OP indicated they're 'going to use' a 3rd party one. Whether or not they already have it, or getting it, is unclear, but it's been made clear the stock one is fine otherwise.

[ifrah]

Correct, it's always a good idea to reapply thermal paste atleast once a year to make sure it's in top condition

Wait.. what?

I've replaced the thermal paste only if for a some weird reason I've had to remove the heat sink, and not necessarily even then.
It is true that the paste does not stay between the sink and the CPU forever, and frankly it does not have to. Some paste will be pumped out as the time goes, but there will be thermally conductive stuff in the cavities between the surfaces nevertheless. Unless overclocking, the few to five degrees don't matter as long as you stay below the throttling temperatures. The CPU die is not going to die (pun not intended) from the slightly elevated temperature, not at least until all the other components around it have decomposed.

So for "normal" users the whatever paste that comes with the heat sink will more than good enough. Spending any extra cash to get some premium stuff, which if you are lucky, will bring you down several degrees, is complete waste of money. If the CPU is actually overheating, I'd bet my balls there's other causes contributing to it way more than the paste (for starters, poor air flow in the case. no heat sink or thermal paste is going to help unless the heat is exhausted from the case, and enough of cool air is replacing that).

[Thunderball]

Wait.. what?

I've replaced the thermal paste only if for a some weird reason I've had to remove the heat sink, and not necessarily even then.
It is true that the paste does not stay between the sink and the CPU forever, and frankly it does not have to. Some paste will be pumped out as the time goes, but there will be thermally conductive stuff in the cavities between the surfaces nevertheless. Unless overclocking, the few to five degrees don't matter as long as you stay below the throttling temperatures. The CPU die is not going to die (pun not intended) from the slightly elevated temperature, not at least until all the other components around it have decomposed.

So for "normal" users the whatever paste that comes with the heat sink will more than good enough. Spending any extra cash to get some premium stuff, which if you are lucky, will bring you down several degrees, is complete waste of money. If the CPU is actually overheating, I'd bet my balls there's other causes contributing to it way more than the paste (for starters, poor air flow in the case. no heat sink or thermal paste is going to help unless the heat is exhausted from the case, and enough of cool air is replacing that).

Poster you quoting is corrent, it's recommended to reapply thermal paste on the CPU every year if it has been applied properly (thin layer) and the paste itself applies well. You can apply more paste so that you wont have to change it that often, but your temperatures will be higher.

[SoulForge]

Poster you quoting is corrent, it's recommended to reapply thermal paste on the CPU every year if it has been applied properly (thin layer) and the paste itself applies well. You can apply more paste so that you wont have to change it that often, but your temperatures will be higher.

I have never seen or heard of anyone doing this.