Thermal paste myths: snake oil or the real deal?

I spent years thinking expensive thermal paste was just marketing hype. Used the cheap stuff that came with my CPU cooler for like 5 builds in a row. Then last month I tried a $12 tube of Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut on a friend's Ryzen 7 5800X that was hitting 90C under load. Dropped temps by 8 degrees after the same stress test. Still not sure if it matters for everyday use or just niche scenarios. Any of you guys seen a big difference with premium paste or is it mostly in our heads?

2 comments

2 Comments

noahw533d ago

I get where you're coming from, I was the same way for years. Cheap paste always seemed fine and I figured the expensive stuff was just for overclockers or people who wanted to brag. But then I tried some higher end paste on my own older CPU that was running hot out of nowhere. Dropped it a noticeable amount and it's been stable ever since. So yeah, I think there's something to it, but probably only matters if your temps are actually a problem. For a normal build that's already in a good range, the free stuff is totally fine.

milam423d ago

Yeah exactly, if your temps are fine stick with the free stuff. When would you say it's worth upgrading?