Which thermal paste to use on laptop

[ICIT2LOL]

I have a Toshiba L550 laptop running 64bit 7 on with an i5 430M and have already put in 8GB RAM and just about to slip in an M4 Crucial 128GB for speeding it up.

I would like to swap out the 430M for a i5 560M and the manual tells me to use Shin-etsu thermal compound.

Now apart from where the heck to get it from I am wondering if there is some thing just as good - not that I know much about Shin-etsu as a product.

My usual supplier has several good thermal pastes like Arctic Sliver 5, Noctua NY-H1, Arctic Silver Ceramique, Arctic Silver Alumina Ceramic, Antec Formula 7 and something called Indigo Xtreme which I cannot get the gist of how it works.

I would appreciate some advice on which to use as being a laptop it's not something that can be pulled apart that easily if I have to change out the thermal.

I am not concerned with warranty anymore as it is just about out and as this is the very last Toshiba device I shall ever buy if it goes bung then it does.

 

[DustSailor]

I'd use Arctic Sliver 5, hear it is excellent, have used it twice on my systems and everything seems very cool. I'm sure it only matters by a few degrees (bad paste perhaps more), but I like it. Wasn't too expensive, if I can remember. I do not think it effects warranty, though.

 

[ICIT2LOL]

I'd use Arctic Sliver 5, hear it is excellent, have used it twice on my systems and everything seems very cool. I'm sure it only matters by a few degrees (bad paste perhaps more), but I like it. Wasn't too expensive, if I can remember. I do not think it effects warranty, though.

Ok Dusty I am going to order some and might just get some of that diamond stuff too and try out on the deskys when I get chance.

Now I saw in the Indigo ad some apps for checking the CPU heat one is called CPU Burn In and the other Speedfan ?by Almico? - what do you reckon of those two as the vid in the ad is very blurry and I cannot quite make out what the text is, and was wondering if it was an app that would be useful for measuring temps.

 

[DustSailor]

I believe I've heard some good things about indigo too, but alas, I haven't tried it. And unfortunately, I've never seen the ad either.

Mike (writhziden) suggested this to me for monitoring CPU temps: Real Temp

 

[ignatzatsonic]

Take a look at HWInfo32 for measuring temps of drives, motherboards, and CPUs; also for monitoring fan speeds.

Arctic Silver 5 is the old standby. No need to go with anything else, but if something else happens to be cheaper, give it a go. Thermal pastes don't differ much--it's all about marketing.

 

[DustSailor]

And doesn't speccy monitor all of the hardware temps? I suppose there will be a lot of different little programs you can install for temp monitoring

• Real Temp is a good CPU temperature monitor.
• Speccy - System Information - Free Download will monitor all hardware temperatures.
• HWiNFO, HWiNFO32 & HWiNFO64 - Hardware Information and Analysis Tools can be inaccurate for CPU temperatures, but is a good program for GPU temperature monitoring.

I found it interesting that all programs mentioned were found in this little quote haha gave me a laugh

 

[ICIT2LOL]

I believe I've heard some good things about indigo too, but alas, I haven't tried it. And unfortunately, I've never seen the ad either.

Mike (writhziden) suggested this to me for monitoring CPU temps: Real Temp

Hum I couldn't find an ad either but I did find this which is fairly informative but for my purpose is not an option but for the O/Cer's might be worth a look.

I can get it out here and it really isn't that expensive ($26 a pop for a 1155, 1366, or 2011 socket) when you think it would be protecting say a $300 - $1000 CPU!

 

[ICIT2LOL]

And doesn't speccy monitor all of the hardware temps? I suppose there will be a lot of different little programs you can install for temp monitoring

• Real Temp is a good CPU temperature monitor.
• Speccy - System Information - Free Download will monitor all hardware temperatures.
• HWiNFO, HWiNFO32 & HWiNFO64 - Hardware Information and Analysis Tools can be inaccurate for CPU temperatures, but is a good program for GPU temperature monitoring.

I found it interesting that all programs mentioned were found in this little quote haha gave me a laugh

Yeah mate Speccy is broken at the moment don't know whats wrong with the thing just won't go but I have IE probs too I am going to have to post about so....

Anyway thanks for the input mate I do appreciate it and am going to try those apps out as soon as I get the XP fixed - again

 

[pparks1]

I have no preference or loyalty to any thermal paste. It's only there to ensure contact between surfaces that are not absolutely dead on level with each other. I use whatever I have at my disposal.

 

[ICIT2LOL]

I have no preference or loyalty to any thermal paste. It's only there to ensure contact between surfaces that are not absolutely dead on level with each other. I use whatever I have at my disposal.

Yeah I do too pp and do use whatever on testers and stuff I am doing up but as it is the laptop and needs so much pulling apart to get to it I wanted to be reasonably sure of what I put in there.

Plus knowing how rubbish and slow Toshiba support is and probably has a vested interest in stating that the Shin-etsu has to be used I just wanted some experienced opinions.

Anyway it will not be an issue in the future cos I am done with Toshiba in anything after two laptops and a 23.5" monitor have all had very annoying issues.

 

[stormy13]

I'm partial to Arctic Silver Ceramique. It works almost as well as AS5 (within a couple of degrees if that), with the added bonus that it is not electrically conducive and far easier to remove.

 

[ICIT2LOL]

I'm partial to Arctic Silver Ceramique. It works almost as well as AS5 (within a couple of degrees if that), with the added bonus that it is not electrically conducive and far easier to remove.

Thanks stormy I have some tucked away in my stock but haven't used it yet might just get hold of one of the testers and try some different ones out I think before deciding eh?