Thermal paste

[toothjockey 3]

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

[martin-w 3,235]

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.

[TechguyMaxC 516]

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

[OneWhoKnocks53 51]

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.

[Guest]

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.

[OneWhoKnocks53 51]

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.

[Richard Sennett 2,499]

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

[martin-w 3,235]

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.