Rolled my eyes at a coworker who swore by cheap thermal paste. Guess who was right?

I spent $15 on Arctic Silver for a repaste job and my temps dropped maybe 2 degrees. He used the $3 stuff from Micro Center and got the same results. Has anyone else found the expensive stuff is just a waste?

2 comments

2 Comments

bettyhunt1mo ago

The cheap stuff works fine for most people. Arctic Silver has been overpriced for years. I used some random $2 tube on an old laptop and temps dropped 8 degrees. Unless you're doing liquid nitrogen cooling, it just doesnt matter.

the_julia1mo ago

Hold on, is this REALLY something to get worked up about? I mean, 8 degrees is a drop sure but is it a steady thing or just a one time spike? Most people are just slapping heatsinks on CPUs that already run under 70c anyway. Unless you're pushing some crazy overclock that hits 95c every day, is there even a difference? I swear half the time these thermal paste debates are just people bragging about their hardware.