Arctic Silver 5 High Density Polysynthetic Silver Thermal Compound -12g (AS5-12G-R)

Arctic Silver 5 is a solid choice for anyone who wants reliable, long-lasting thermal paste with high thermal conductivity. It's particularly favored by those who are looking for a more traditional paste for high-performance systems, but be prepared for a bit of a learning curve during application and some wait time as it cures. If you're building a system for the long haul and can handle the slightly tricky application, it’s a great pick.For newcomers, there are more user-friendly options out there, but if you know what you're doing and want a proven performer, Arctic Silver 5 delivers.Pros-Great thermal conductivityCons:-Thicker consistency can make application harder-Needs curing time to reach full performance-Can be a bit messy to work with, especially for beginners-Slightly more expensive compared to some budget options

I don't care what people claim about other pastes, this paste is the best PASTE you can buy. Obviously you could buy liquid metal, but then you aren't talking about paste anymore.... In terms of paste, this is the best you can buy. I have tried so many brands, and ran them all through their paces. This paste consistently outperforms all others.There is another paste brand, that has to do with bears (you either know or you don't but im not gonna say the name outright) and that brand is trash.... Firstly I bought that bear brand from multiple sources. EVERY SINGLE SET would dry out when applying it. Paste should not dry out like that.... now I read online about a bad batch, but lets be honest here, 5 different sellers, 5 different order dates, and all of them would dry out when applying.... to me that says the paste is crap. Apparently the person who invented and sells said paste, doesn't spread the paste? They just do a dot or line. which I guess would stop it from drying out? but still. The best way to apply paste is to spread it. The metal "lid" on top of a cpu is called the heat spreader or IHS. The whole point of that chunk of metal, is to absorb heat from the cpu. If you know about metal, heat expands in metal. So in practice, you want to cover the entire surface area for maximum performance. You got some youtubers who claim to orient your cooler a specific way to help reduce cooling. Bullshit. Maybe if you were doing direct die cooling sure. But for mountain typical coolers, this is not needed. They claim there is a 1-2c difference. They are just full of poop (can't curse on reviews). Anyway, the bear brand dries out, and then doesn't get the same temp results.ALSO NOTE, you HAVE to do the break in period. AS5 used to be sold in plastic packages like everything else back then. That package would specifically state you should break in the paste, 200-500 hour break in. NO REVIEWER will EVER do this break in period. They simply apply paste, test, and record. Which 100% is WRONG. That's like building a house without following instructions, and when it collapses you blame the wood.... no, its USER ERROR. The paste after its break in period will consistently out perform every other PASTE on the market. Its just fact.My 3950x with 4.4ghz overclock (manual OC none of that crap boost nonsense) will idle 32c, gaming 50c, and stress 72c.... I am consistently told that I am a liar by wanna be tech nerds. This cpu is cooled by a 360mm AIO from CM. Those temps are real. I even screen shot my temp reading, and immediately posted it online. And was accused of photoshopping the image.... I didn't even have time to photoshop.... but whatever. People gonna follow mass opinion instead of following actual facts.Best paste. Period.

I place a pea size drop in the middle of the cpu. Then, I place the aio cooler on it tightening down evenly and diagonally. This is an easy method in my opinion. I use Arctic Clean, and Arctic Thermal Surface Purifier. Corsair AIO. Intel 9980 cpu.

I just keep coming back to this. I have tried most of the "better" thermal pastes with very little to no improvement. Many of them costing much more and not giving any "real" improvement. Silver 5 has always been reliable, easy to apply, it just works every time. A metric I use, is not peak temps, but how fast temps swing from idle to full load and back to idle. A good paste should allow a good cooling solution to move heat quickly, Artic Silver 5 has never let me down, so I keep coming back.

For quality and quantity, this is the go to stuff.So many shabby designs and rip off copy cats out there, but the AS5 is the standard and choice for builders across the world.Any chance you get to take stock paste off and replace it with AS5, just do it, it’s a one time application and forget it.You’ll boot up your laptops and desktops with more happy gestures, knowing that it won’t crust away or offer lower quality transfer like many cheap stock thermal pads.

Im not dire what it is about this paste but I keep going back to it. Ive tried others pastes like mx-6 and so on. But as old as arctic silver 5 is as a brand it still packs a punch. I see more thermal improvement with this paste than anything else. Ive used it on all my electronics. More so my og ps3 consoles. Until its proven that theres a better paste, this is what ill always use.

Till I found out theres better and cheaper and doesnt make your pets sick.

Now and then I will try another paste but I always come back to using this one. I don't have any technical numbers for anyone but in my experience it's just the best thermal paste out there