I see the water cooler  I am looking at for my new build has pre-applied thermal paste.  (Corsair Hydro Series H100i GTX CPU Cooler)  Is this ok for good overclocking, or should it be removed and another paste applied?

Thanks,

Don

To be honest, I'm not sure which paste Corsair use. Probably reasonable quality.

 

If you do decide to switch, I'd recommend NT-H1, it's right up there with the best TIM.

I use Phobya HeGrease and IC Diamond when I need to use paste.  For everything else, I use Coolaboratory Liquid Ultra or Pro.  Here's a decent fairly recent independent comparison of TIMs: http://forum.techinferno.com/alienware/7460-tested-all-thermal-paste-range-best-them.html

Winner at Tom's Hardware and my personal pick is Gelid.  Always yields the lowest possible temps for me.  For under the lid, coolaboratory liquid pro all day long.

In my experience, the application of the thermal paste is more critical than the type/brand used ... too much can really hinder cooling performance.  Suggest you use a clear lexan block, apply paste to CPU (small ball dead center) and press the clear lexan block over the CPU emulating what you'd do with a water/air block  and look at the paste spread pattern ... that'll give you a good idea of how much to apply for your application (may take a few test runs until you hit it right).

 

I'd remove it myself and do the above.

 

Cheers, Rob.

In my experience, the application of the thermal paste is more critical than the type/brand used

 

+1

 

Haswell refresh ivy and Sandy recommend a 1mm wide stripe down the vertical center of the ihs.

In my experience, the application of the thermal paste is more critical than the type/brand used ... too much can really hinder cooling performance.  Suggest you use a clear lexan block, apply paste to CPU (small ball dead center) and press the clear lexan block over the CPU emulating what you'd do with a water/air block  and look at the paste spread pattern ... that'll give you a good idea of how much to apply for your application (may take a few test runs until you hit it right).

 

I'd remove it myself and do the above.

 

Cheers, Rob.

 

1+

 

Usually use arctic silver but read some good things about gelid - will be my next usage

Interesting comparison here...

 

http://www.play3r.net/reviews/cooling/thermal-paste-comparison-2015-best-thermal-paste/3/

 

 

Top performers were...

 

1. Coollaboratory Liquid Ultra

2. Coollaboratory Liquid Pro

3. Coollaboratory Liquid Copper

4. Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut.

5. Gelid GC Extreme.

6. Noctua NT-H1.

 

I always used to chuck NT-H1 in the bin when it came with Noctua coolers, assuming it was garbage. I was wrong, will be using it in future.