Best Thermal Pastes of 2023

What is a thermal paste?

Thermal paste is a compound that helps transfer heat from the CPU to the heatsink. It’s usually made of metal oxide and silicone oil, which are conductive materials. The thermal paste also has adhesive properties so it can stick to both surfaces (the CPU and heatsink).

How does a thermal paste work?

Thermal paste is a conductive material that helps transfer heat from the CPU to the cooler. It’s usually made of metal oxides, which are very good thermal conductors and have low viscosity (thickness). The thickness of thermal paste depends on its manufacturer but it should be around 0.5-1mm thick for optimal performance.

What are 5 benefits of a thermal paste?

Thermal paste is a great way to fill in the microscopic gaps between your CPU and heatsink, which helps transfer heat away from your processor more efficiently.
It can help prevent damage caused by overheating
A good thermal compound will last for years
You don’t need much
it’s cheap!

Who should use a thermal paste?

Anyone who wants to improve the performance of their computer. If you want your PC to run faster, smoother and cooler then thermal paste is for you!

What are the advantages and disadvantages of a thermal paste?

Advantages

Thermal paste is a compound that helps:

To transfer heat from the CPU or GPU into your cooler.
You get better performance out of your cooling solution and
Reduce temperatures by up to 10 degrees Celsius (18 Fahrenheit).

Disadvantages

The main disadvantage of a thermal paste is that:

It can be messy to apply.
It also has the potential to dry out over time, which means you may need to reapply it every few months or so.

For what do I need to look out for when comparing a thermal paste?

Thermal conductivity

Is one of the most important factors to consider. It determines how well heat will be transferred from your CPU or GPU into your cooler and then dissipated away from it.

A high-quality thermal compound

Should have a good balance between its viscosity, which affects application ease, and its thermal conductivity so that you can get maximum performance out of your cooling system without having to worry about overheating issues.

The thermal paste is usually made of zinc oxide and silicone and it is characterized by a high thermal conductivity.

What types of thermal paste are there?

There are two types of thermal paste, conductive and non-conductive.

Conductive pastes

Conductive pastes have a higher melting point than non-conducting ones so they can be used in high temperature applications such as overclocking or gaming computers.

Non-conducting pastes

Non-conducting pastes are better for low to medium temperatures because the heat is not conducted away from the CPU/GPU fast enough causing it to overheat quickly.

What alternatives to thermal paste exist?

Thermal paste is the most common thermal interface material (TIM) used in PC systems. However, there are other TIMs available that can be applied to a CPU or GPU heatsink instead of using thermal paste. These include liquid metal and phase change materials such as MX-4 from Cooler Master. Liquid metal has been shown to outperform even high quality conductive greases like Arctic Silver 5 by up to 30%. Phase change materials have also proven effective at improving cooling performance over traditional pastes when tested with an open test bench setup on air cooled CPUs and GPUs [1].

Further Links and Sources

FAQ

What makes a good thermal paste?

A good thermal paste should have a high thermal conductivity, low viscosity and be non-corrosive. It also needs to spread easily on the surface of your CPU or GPU so that it can cover all areas evenly. The best way to find out if you’re getting a quality product is by reading reviews from other users who have used the same brand before. If they say their temperatures dropped significantly after using this particular brand then chances are it will work for you too!

Best thermal pastes of 2023

Thermal paste Leaderboard 2023