Top Thermal Paste for GPU and CPU Combinations
Top Thermal Paste for GPU and CPU Combinations
You're using Arctic Silver and it's not overheating, which looks good.
I just tried Arctic Silver ® 5 on a customer's Founders 2070 Super, and it dropped from 42 to 25 after the re-paste. I’m curious if there are other options that might work better.
Arctic MX-4 and MX-6 are often top choices for value, but outside the mainstream options, performance stays close to average. Most other pastes only differ by a few degrees, so it doesn’t really matter much. The standouts are KPX, Kryonaut, and liquid metal. KPX and Kryonaut both fall under XOC, offering better results in subzero conditions, though they’re still about a degree or two from standard pastes at room temperature. Liquid metal leads consistently, being 5 degrees cooler than typical products, but it comes with significant risks and isn’t practical for everyday use.
The top value choice is Arctic MX-4. TG Kryosheet works well and is practical, while PTM7950 is great for GPUs—though it's tricky to use because the protective layer doesn't come off easily.
MX-6 appears to be leading in durability. Performance results have remained consistent, within a small error range. You can achieve slightly higher scores with Kryonaut, though it's less robust and more prone to damage from temperature changes—such as on a laptop that cycles from room temperature to 85°C. For laptops, I favor graphene sheets, which weren't available a decade ago.