I used K5 yes and MX-4 on the dies. I want to change to Gelid like you though..

Yes lots of dust gets inside. :c

I am jealous of your JH I have the JX myself, hopefully I'll be able to get myself a G752 sometime in the future. Or a G751 on Boxing Day this year for cheap.

I got the JX for 40% off. ;3

Done another repaste.. (this is for my own logging information)

I'm a little surprised that Arctic MX-4 lasted only around 6-7 months. I've never used it, but I've seen applications of Arctic Silver 5 last 2-3 years in many systems, almost 5 years in one system - and AS5 never advertised MX4's much-vaunted "8 year" lifespan.

But I'm not surprised that K5-PRO failed. It's designed to work as a "gummy", "pasty", "goopy" TIM. Too much heat too long too often will vitrify it - "cook" it dry and change its chemical composition (along with its thermal properties).

Many people report good results repasting their gaming laptops with Diamond IC. I have coworkers who've repasted their laptops with a Shin Etsu X23 formula. Gelid is good stuff but I suspect a poor choice for repasting laptop hardware - laptops are technologically dense and full of hot parts, low-viscosity TIMs (like Gelid) are directly exposed to a lot of heat which will tend to burn them off - I'd be a little surprised if a full Gelid repaste lasts even as long as the MX4 did.

Application method and part coverage are often overlooked but just as important as the particular properties of the TIM itself. What are you repasting - CPU, VRMs, PCH, GPU, etc?
And there is no "perfect" TIM which is "perfect" for every application - if there were, there wouldn't be much variety of TIMs on the market. No single TIM is likely to be ideally suited for every part in a computer, best general thermal efficiency likely requires several different TIMs across specific parts.

Korth wrote:
Gelid GC Extreme is low-viscosity (it's thin and runny), best used when mating surfaces are interlocking or have very tight contact tolerances. It cooks/dries out faster and sometimes need reapplication (on very hot parts) every few months. It has excellent performance and seems to have the best (or "least worst") performance in subzero overclocking.

Prolimatech PK-2 is mid-viscosity (sort of average), best overall TIM for most parts in my opinion. It adheres really well and can last many months or a few years before dryout. It also has excellent performance. PK-3 is supposedly even better (never tried it because my big jar of PK-2 is still half-full, lol).

Arctic Silver 5 is mid-/high-viscosity (kinda thick and pasty), it's a better choice on large-gap, planar, or slightly convex/concave surfaces (like LGA2011-3 processors) because it stays where you put it and maintains great performance pretty much forever (the stuff takes years to cook off). It's also really cheap. I sometimes even use it as a thermally-conductive glue, lol.

IC Diamond contains abrasive microparticles which promote metal corrosion and - after repeated applications - can actually scratch off part markings. Many people swear by it, I've never used it.

Phobya He-Grease and Tuniq TX-4 are about as good (some say better) than PK-3 or AS5, but again I've never tried them.

The reality is that any premium TIM will outperform any cheap TIM and the actual measurable differences are nearly insignificant among top performers - each brand has passionate diehards and vehement haters, I suspect conflicting benchmark results usually have more to do with variances in application method or quirky heat sources than with substantially differing TIM characteristics - my personal experience is that the main difference between TIMs is their viscosity/adhesion parameters, no single TIM can be absolutely perfect for every possible application because each is better suited for a different kind of interface geometry.

You can be assured that any properly-applied premium TIM product will outperform that cheap pink goop Asus put into your machine.

Korth wrote:
I also prefer Arctic Silver 5 for most CPU installations. Maybe not the very best of the best of the best but it's always counted among the top performers and it's cheap and common and - unlike most other TIMs - an application of AS5 seems to last at least a few years before it cooks off.

I also use Prolimatek PK-1 and PK-2 (I still have big jars full of the stuff) and Gelid GC Extreme (because it's so excellent for some things) and a Shin Etsu X23 (which we use for so many things at work). I sometimes even mix my TIMs together to "engineer" something more ideal for a particular application. I always mix my TIM up evenly (by vigorously shaking the tube, if nothing else) and heat it up a bit (stick the tube into warm water) before application. I scrape it across CPU parts with a razor blade, similar to the credit card method described above. Too little is far better than too much, if you have to wipe off any TIM that's leaked out of the edges then you'll find there's always "thick" spots and "thin" spots and bubbles/gaps hidden between the parts which can run too hot.

Phobya HeGrease is apparently quite good, too. And IC Diamond, although it contains abrasive microparticles which can apparently (at least over time and over repeated applications) actually scratch up the polished surfaces (and part markings) on processors.

Any premium branded TIM is going to outperform any cheap/generic TIM. And the differences between 99.5% or 99.55% or even 99.75% thermal efficiency aren't worth obsessing over unless you're going for some sort of world record overclock ... especially since there's so much controversy, bias, misinformation, disinformation, exaggeration, elaboration, and hype about which of the very best top performing brands is indeed the very best top performing brand. And one thing all those comprehensive lab benchmarks don't measure or compare is TIM longevity - I know that AS5 can last years and Gelid or X23 can last months, but I don't know how most TIMs compare in the long run - an important parameter for those of us who don't plan to remount CPUs with great frequency.

TIM coverage is far more critical than TIM conductivity. Low viscosity (thin and runny) TIMs are better used when the gap between mating part surfaces is extremely tight or interlocking part geometries makes TIM application inaccessible/difficult. High viscosity (thick and pasty) TIMs are better used when the gap between mating part surfaces needs a little bit of "filler" to maintain efficient thermal contact. Thermal pads and glues should only be used when a bulk material is needed to conduct heat across larger (air-filled) gaps and/or to provide some mechanical adhesion (structural stability) between parts. In fact, thermal pads are generally used only in situations where solid-state TIMs (like silica, mica, elastomer, HOPG, etc) cannot be used instead.

I haven't installed any Ryzen parts yet so I admit I'm unfamiliar with their specific surface features.

Other CPU parts often have slightly convex or concave surfaces. Designed to be paired with coolers which have perfectly matched slightly concave or convex surfaces - to provide greater cross-sectional area for heat transfer between the two surfaces. Although the majority of coolers are not exclusively designed to perfectly fit exactly one processor, they often have "perfectly flat" (and slightly-oversized) baseplates which are designed to accommodate a wider range of sockets and fittings and processor types. If the processor and the cooler don't "match" perfectly then a mid-viscosity TIM (like AS5) is an excellent choice, although some experimentation with different (or mixed) TIMs might be required to find an optimum heat transfer.

Try Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut, I repasted one of my friend's notebook with this a few years ago and temps have stayed the same even after all this time, it's expected to last many more years.

IC scares me since I'm messy.