The Best Thermal Materials for PC Builders
So you’re building your PC, and you’ve watched countless YouTube videos (where you will find people telling you with a straight face, to use toothpaste as a thermal paste), read the forums and gotten to the 10th page of Google. Yet you still aren’t sure what to do when it comes to thermal interface materials. You are not alone.
If you don’t want to know anymore and just want someone to tell you what to put on your processor, then you have 1 decision to make. Pad or paste. Just read the 2 paragraphs on Thermal Pads and Thermal Paste and you’ll be on your way. Further down, I go into a little more detailed for those who want to know more.
Thermal Pads
A pad will give you long term performance. If you pull your broken PC apart 10 years from now, what you will not find is that your thermal pad failed. The downside is that it will give you a slightly diminished high end performance. GELID makes a solid product at a good price. The thinner the better, but you want some room for the pad to absorb some movement. You can’t go wrong with this 1MM thick pad from them. Buy it here, from amazon.
Thermal Paste
Thermal pastes have been the king of PC builders for a long time, and with good reason. They deliver great, high-end performance. But they have one drawback. Because of CTE Mismatch, they will eventually pump out, or dry out of the interface, leaving you with no thermal conduction, and eventually a fried processor. But this can take years and if you plan to keep modifying, you can always put more in every year or so.
Once again, I recommend GELID Solutions. You can buy their thermal paste from Amazon here, and it will serve you well.
The Long Story
Working in the TIM world for 15 years has taught me that every single application is different and selecting a the right TIM is a very complex decision. I have yet to come across a YouTube video of someone who actually knows what they’re talking about. They might even run tests and show you the results. But in the end, they are arbitrarily picking 2 specific products and then making a declaration about all products as a result. Again, they don’t know what they’re talking about.
If you want a solid base of understanding about all this, I suggest you browse our Learning Section
Some selected articles that will explain a lot
CTE Mismatch – This will explain why pads are better long term
W/mk Explained – This will explain how W/mk is really just a marketing value. Many companies just pump this number as high as they want, and don’t even really test it. Or they test it in a way that gives them the number they want.
Thermal Interface Pads vs. Liquids – This will explain, in much more detail, the differences between pads and pastes. It was written for hardware engineers, but the principle is the same.
And you can always just email with questions. We are happy to help and usually reply quickly. Just use our contact form.