Rating of the best thermal pastes of 2021

Many people know the ZALMAN brand for excellent coolers designed to cool the processor. This company also produces thermal paste, which is impossible to do without when assembling or completely cleaning a computer. ZALMAN ZM-STG2 costs a little more than other thermal pastes of this class — but it also copes with its function quite well. But you should not get carried away — in fact, this thermal paste has average characteristics. In particular, its consistency changes already at a temperature of +150 ° C. Of course, for most users, the processor or video card never warms up so much. But for overclockers, this situation can happen, they are recommended to purchase even more stable thermal paste.

Favorite thermal grease servicemen. Cheap, effective, short-lived (which guarantees the latter a stable income). Keep in mind that for private use it is best to purchase it in syringes, since GD900 dries faster in jars, and it is difficult to assess the state of the paste in tubes and mix if necessary. It is noteworthy that the first weeks after the application of this thermal interface, its effectiveness grows — silicone oil evaporates, which is approximately 20% in GD900. Metal oxides serve as a heat-conducting component, and the passport performance of this thermal paste is 4.8 W / m K. By the way, according to the assurances of the Chinese company Foshan High Conductivity Electronics, all of its products are non-conductive. Even GD900-1, additionally containing a powdered metal filler. The improved version is more efficient (6.0 W/m K), but also noticeably more expensive. Recommended as a thermal interface for non-overclocked PC processors.

Continuing our review of the best Arctic Cooling MX-4 thermal pastes. This thermal paste comes in two types of packaging. The easiest way to find a miniature syringe on store shelves that holds 4 grams of the mixture. Less common packaging with a large 20-gram syringe. The second option will appeal to employees of service centers and stores that regularly assemble computers. This thermal interface has a good consistency. The mixture is not too liquid, but not very viscous either. Thermal paste loses its properties at temperatures above +160 ° C. But the thermal conductivity has an impressive parameter — 8.5 W / mK.

In third position in this group of ratings of the best thermal pastes is be quiet! DC1 with a declared performance of 7.5 W/m·K. In the reviews, the ease of application is praised, but user reviews often say otherwise. Given that DC1 contains only 10% silicone oil, the high fluidity of a composition of this consistency seems doubtful. On the other hand, if you try to apply it in a thin layer, you can count on a long service life without a significant deterioration in performance. For about three years, since products based on metal oxides are not famous for this indicator at all, and in DC1 there are 90% of them (the main part is zinc oxide). By the way, there are also reviews about the ease of application, but quick drying. It seems to us that in these cases there is doubt about the originality of the purchased thermal paste. Life hack — before use, slightly warm the syringe.

It is not advisable to use pastes of this class as a thermal interface for processors and video cards with moderate and even average TDP requirements. They show themselves best in “hot” systems, and you can guess about such specialization by a wide temperature range and the absence of silicone in their composition. A characteristic feature is the high complexity of application. With regard to Thermalright TF8, this means that both the thermal paste itself (in boiling water) and the chip surface (for example, with a hairdryer) must be preheated. We add that the potential of the recommended thermal interface is fully revealed only after a long period of operation of the processor / video card under serious load. Ideally, you should run a stress test on your computer a couple of times. Claimed thermal performance for TF8 is 13.8 W/mK.

The composition of this thermal paste “shines” with nanodiamonds, and its manufacturer claims that MasterGel Maker is not subject to auto-oxidation and self-curing processes. It is interesting that the proud NANO was present in the name of the first version of the thermal interface under consideration, and disappeared somewhere in the second version (MGZ-NDSG-N15M-R1 and R2, respectively). Be that as it may, the presence of microparticles of gem carbon allowed the top paste from Cooler Master to achieve a thermal performance of 11 W / m K and take the second position in the premium category of our rating. Please note that convenient, according to the company itself, a flattened syringe is not at all so good in reality. Especially for applying MasterGel Maker in laptops. The consistency is viscous, at room temperature the paste stretches and tears, but experienced servicemen do not recommend heating and smearing it.