Can we talk about cheap thermal paste?

I bought a $5 tube of generic paste for a laptop re-paste job last month. It dried out in under two weeks and the CPU started overheating again. I had to redo the whole job with a $15 name brand paste, which wasted my time and the client's. That cheap stuff is a total trap for quick fixes. Anyone have a go-to brand that holds up under heat?

3 comments

3 Comments

tessa3942mo ago

Ugh, that sounds so frustrating. Good thermal paste is worth every penny.

the_dakota1mo ago

Wait, it actually turns to powder? Like literal dust inside your laptop? That's wild lol. I always thought bad thermal paste just dried out or got crusty but never heard of it turning into powder before. That sounds like a nightmare to clean up compared to just wiping off dried paste. MX-6 is good stuff though, I switched to it after my last build and haven't looked back.

tessa3942mo ago

Oh, that's the worst. Learned that lesson the hard way myself. I only use Arctic MX-6 now for laptops. It's a bit thicker, so it doesn't pump out as fast under heat cycles. That generic stuff just turns to powder.