Arctic Silver 5 AS5-3.5G Thermal Paste,Black, Grey

I have tried other Thermal Interface Materials (TIM) and I went back to Artic Silver 5 thermal compound. It is simply the best and I have gotten the best results with it for many years. The product is ideal for CPUs, Northbridge, Southbridge and GPU components that are heat sinked. I have used it on desktop computers, laptops, servers, and Xbox 360's.When using the product a little dab will do the trick. If you use too much it will squeeze out from under the heat sink and make a big mess. The proper amount is about 1 ½ to 2 times the size of a grain of rice. If you look on the internet there are several guides on how to use the product including photos. Sometimes on a large CPU I spread the compound in a very thin and even layer with and old credit card like tool. On one rough heat sink assembly I had to work a drop of the compound into the surface with a credit card and this filled in the micro abrasions in the surface and improved the temperature drop by 4 degrees C. The key is that you want a thin and even layer of the compound on the entire top surface of the CPU so that all the micro flaws in the surfaces of the CPU and the heat sink are filled with the silver in the product to provide maximum thermal conductance of heat away from the CPU and into the heat sink assembly. Do not use to much compound, people tend to use too much or not enough and the science is to do it just right!Before you apply the compound clean all the surfaces and make sure they have no oil, finger prints, or dust on them. Make sure you have removed the old thermal compound from the surfaces. Some old compounds get rock hard and can be difficult to clean. I have used Goo Gone and it is by far the best cleaning solution I have ever used. Don't use too much and clean only the CPU and heat sink. Then wipe all surfaces dry and wipe again with an alcohol swab and a Q tip if necessary to clean up the old compound. Then give it a final wipe with ¼ of a coffee filter as they are fiber free paper and you should have a clean surface. These surfaces must be absolutely clean and even the oil from a fingerprint that you can't see can cause a problem.Mount your heat sink and I like the aftermarket heat sink fan assemblies or water cooled blocks as they install with screws and you can make sure that the heat sink is firm and tight with the CPU. The factory supplied heat sinks with push pins bother me as I have seen many people swear they are tight and they are not. You will not get ideal cooling unless you do a professional job of installing these key components and you may damage your CPU.The Artic Silver 5 compound has an aging time of around 200 hours and the temperature will improve by about 2 to 5 degrees after the aging process is done. To properly age the compound you should use your computer until it heats up (about one or two hours) and then shut it down and let it cool off and use it again. Do this multiple times. This heat and cool procedure sets the compound up properly and improves the thermal interface. Good luck and have fun!

I have been using Artic Silver since AS-3 came out, I expect great performance from this product also, also great value at around $8.

The previous reviews and five star rating from over 3,000+ people speak for itself. My 2009 Macbook Pro was no longer displaying anything on the screen, and the logic board was the culprit. Over many heating and cooling cycles, the soldering joints holding things together develop fractures. This resulted in my fans kicking on hard almost constantly for about a year prior to failure. If your logic board has failed, go to your favorite search engine and look up "baking logic board" and you'll get a ton of information on how to go about trying a last ditch effort to resurrect your computer/laptop.1. Remove your heat sink/cooler and clean thoroughly with isopropyl alcohol (I used 70% alcohol and it seems to work just fine). You'll also want to thoroughly clean your CPU and the immediate surrounding area of old thermal compound. Old compound can crack and become hard, so try not to spread it too far from where it was previously. When the alcohol hits the old compound, it'll thin out and become a huge mess, so try and contain it! Once you think you have everything clean, clean it again, and possibly another time. You want to make sure you have a 100% oil free and clean surface on both the CPU and heatsink. When you think it's clean enough, give it a wipe with a clean microfiber or coffee filter.2. Apply thermal paste is one of the most subjective things about it. How much, what shape, whether or not to spread it across the CPU, etc. The size of the CPU on a Macbook Pro is relatively small and I put a the equivalent of a swollen grain of rice dead center of the CPU. If you've ever played with silica gel balls, it was about that size. I didn't spread it with a credit card or do anything other than apply in the center. When you spread it out over the top of the CPU you run the risk of getting air bubbles, gaps in coverage, and spillover. Many videos will suggest different things, but I thing a circular dot in the middle provides your best coverage. It's difficult to get it right, and I had to do it twice the first time, but haven't had any issues since.3. Install the heatsink evenly and in one movement, DO NOT lift it once it touches the compound as that'll result in bubbles/gaps. Once in place begin tightening everything down evenly and put the rest of your computer back together.4. Once everything is together, run your computer through multiple heating and cooling cycles to "age" the compound and have it seat properly. This will ensure you get an even bond between the heatsink and CPU for maximum thermal transfer from the CPU to the heatsink.It took me two tries to get the correct amount right, but since then I've been running with these paste on for almost eight months and have seen no issues. The fans rarely kick on hard, and if they do it is under a lot of load. I wish I picked this up as soon as I noticed my fans constantly running as it could have saved my logic board from failure.

Excelent