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

I’ve been using Arctic Silver 5 consistently for my business, and it’s always reliable. The performance is stable, application is easy, and it delivers consistent thermal results across multiple systems. The quality has never let me down, which is why I continue to reorder it. A dependable choice for both professional and personal builds. The delivery was next day. Strongly recommend Build My Server.

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.

The product was intact, the thermal paste was excellent quality, and once I applied it to my cpu my computer improved by leaps and bounds. No more framerate issues, no more heating issues, everything ran as smooth as butter.

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!

There have been so many mixed reviews on this thermal paste that I am starting to think that it doesn't really make a difference if you don't apply it correctly. As far as thermal paste goes, this is high quality, it isn't the best, but it is a good mid-grade overclocking thermal paste that last a long time. How to apply THIS thermal past: 1.) Put a half-pea size in the middle. (a little goes a long way) 2.) But the heat sink over and twist it back and forth carefully a few mm to cover. At this point you can practice this method by lifting the Heat Sink to see how much you put, if it goes over the edges of the chip, congrats! You just put waaaaayyy too much. Either way, if you are satisfied what how it looks (it doesn't have to be perfect around 70-80% coverage should do), CLEAN OFF AND REAPPLY 3.) When attaching heat sink MAKE SURE NOT TO LET IT LIFT OFF. That would creat air pockets, which allow heat. 4.) Turn on CPU and overclock it a bit hot to spread evenly for about an hour or so. If it runs hotter than it previously was when idle, you did it wrong. 5.) Don't overclock right away, the container says 200 hour set in time. I would say give it a few days, then it should be at 100%. Pros: -It's High Quality Thermal Paste -Lasts a while (both the tube and the compound itself) -15 or so applications tube, depending on what you are using it for -Cheap -lazier method of application Cons: -Not the best of the best -200 hours set in time (over-estimated to ensure potential) -Different application method than most thermal compounds that requires a bit of practice Don't expect to get much results other than a max of ~5C or so. If you do get anywhere near or more than that, you just needed to get some new compound or dusted of the fans/heat sink. I used this for all my CPUs, GPUs, PS3, and XBOX. Works for almost anything based off computer design, but make sure to follow manufacturer's recommendation when possible (may not be great for everything).

Thermal Compound Heat Transfer Your Cooler and CPU. This Item is often overlooked or as a after thought. First Off this is one of the most important items when you build Gaming Computers and Servers with multi quad 4 CPUs I have never had a heat related failure using this product. This Thermal Compound has proved itself in our computer Lab. We test and toss clean CPU Clean Your Cooler Seating Area or base of your heat sink. Second off is a clean machine. We Add On to all air intake fans filters BGEARS 120mm Fan Filter With Washable Filter . We buy only from Amazon why they are at the top of our charts on Vendors. Thank you Amazon. www.amazon.com also their customer support is beyond reproach. We lap our CPU or Heat Sink if needed so that the contact area will be in full contact with your heat sink. A Intake fan filter to us is worth its weight in platium. Thermal compound is the life of any machine. I have had machines come in fo some type of service like a upgrade on a video card GeForce 9500 GT 1024 meg that will support hybrid computing [[ASIN:B001EA6ZA4 SPARKLE SFPX95GT1024U2H GeForce 9500 GT 1GB GDDR2 PCI-EXPRESS 2.0 HDTV S-Video Graphics Card This Video card is another Gem that is over looked because no one knows who sparkle is It is G Force with a Sparkle sticker on it. Before we started putting fan filters we get a machine in that looks like the Heat sink and computer insides have grown hair including cobwebs The Only Thing that Saved that computer....Is this thermal compound again Amazon gives us the ability to have 5 stars. From our Tests From cobwebed All the customer wanted was a simple ram upgrade. Not from heat related failure The cobwebs and General goop the heat sink attracts and still the Thermal compound still worked 30 stars with the cooler burnt goop on it proving it works then putting it on the test table and temps are just a few degrees above normal. Only thing that saved this coomputer was the Thermal Compound between the Main processor and the heat sink. I have just about tested all thermal compounds I can get my hands on and for the few dollars Artic Silver 5 works and holds it Heat conduction Properties Longer than most Again since this is a regular customer intake fan filters were added to this machine at no cost. Another Over looked Gem. And Very Dollar efficient Item from Amazon

I've been building PC's for a local computer shop, (everything from high end, water cooled gaming rigs, budget builds, cheap email boxes, linux rigs, servers, parts bin rigs, and everything in between,) myself, (usually nicely spec'd budget gaming rigs and home media servers,) and family, (modest "future proofed" and parts bin builds,) for about a decade. I've used a lot of different thermal pastes, including the pads that come on stock coolers, pastes that come with aftermarket coolers, glues, ceramics, copper, silver, some weird white stuff, lots! The Arctic Silver 5 has, in my experience, consistently lowered temps and helped to get the most out of any cooler I've purchased for myself, someone else, or a clean out of an older machine. I'm really impressed by the features AS5 has up it's sleeve. Pros: -It's performant. Even on chips that I've uncovered from "custom builds" from others where the CPU heat spreader is scratched, or a stock cooler has a poor finish, AS5 seems to improve performance ALWAYS. Even if it's one degree, or keeps the temp down an extra minute or so on a failing part, it works very, very well. -It cleans up very easily, even after being caked on for years. (A bit of isopropyl alcohol goes a long way!) -It keeps a long time. I've found tubes of AS5 in tool sleeves that I've lost for a year or two, and had no issue using the AS5 in the tube. Most other included thermal paste/greases I've used will harden or get gummy. Cons: -It seems to not be available locally. If you need to run out to a local supply shop I've usually only found other products, so I make sure to have some on hand. -It's the same price per tube as much bigger tubes of others. I still think that due to how well it performs, it's worth buying more often. Bottom line: -If you're installing a new CPU, cooler, building a new PC, have overheating issues, are cleaning out an older machine, give AS5 a shot. It's a very good performing product, and for a few bucks, it's often the saving grace that can restore PC/hardware performance.

Great product which helped so much with the temperature control. I was a little concerned about using it but it was easy and spread well and evenly. Speedy arrival and was exactly as advertised.