Best Thermal Paste - Ultimate Buying Guide in 2024

Every PC even best gaming PC needs thermal paste, also known as thermal grease or thermal compound. The best thermal paste ensure your CPU or GPU run smoothly for a long time by preventing them heating up while using with a CPU cooler. Choosing a thermal compound may seem effortless at first. However, it is possible to become tiresome since you can find thousands of this kind of product on the market. 

To help anyone find the pefect thermal paste for their system, our leading experts in this field have conducted various research and tests. And here are our full test findings of the top-rated thermal grease. Note that you don't always get what you pay for as some inexpensive pastes rival or even surpass their more costly counterparts.

Top Picks

1. Best premium: Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut

2. Best value: Cooler Master MasterGel Pro v2

3. Best bang for the buck: Arctic MX-5

4. Best performance: Noctua NT-H2

5. Best value for the price: Gelid GC-Extreme

1. Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut

Product’s Specifications

• Electrically Conductive: No

• Thermal Conductivity: 12.5 W/mk

• Ease of Use Rating: 4.5/5 

• Performance Rating: 4.0/5

• Caring tips: lint-free absorbent paper towels/pads with alcohol

• Price per gram: $9.99

Product’s Highlights

The second place is Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut. It cost a bit higher than the first one. It is able to enable maximum heat transmission between your CPU and cooler because of its 12.5 W/mK thermal conductivity, which is considered relatively high compared to a common grease-based compound. Hence, Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut is easy to work with and doesn't leak or run. 

This best thermal paste is popular among system builders because it is so simple to use and clean up.

Pros

• Stability

• Easy to apply and clean

Cons

• High Price

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2. Cooler Master MasterGel Pro v2

Product’s Specifications

• Electrically Conductive: No

• Thermal Conductivity: 9 W/mk

• Ease of Use Rating: 4.5/5 

• Performance Rating: 3.5/5

• Cleanup: lint-free absorbent paper towels/pads with alcohol

• Price per gram: $2.57

Product’s Highlights

MasterGel Pro v2 possesses the typical characteristics of thermal greases, such as thickness, viscosity, and stability. It is simple to use, apply, and clean up after. The specific components are not included on the label.

Pros

• Easy to apply and clean

• Medium price

Cons

• Non

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3. Arctic MX-5

Product’s Specifications

• Electrically Conductive: No

• Thermal Conductivity: 6.0 W/mk

• Ease of Use Rating : 4.5/5

• Performance Rating: 4.0/5

• Cleanup: lint-free absorbent paper towels/pads with alcohol

• Price per gram: $2.75

Product’s Highlights

Arctic MX-5 is the updated version of Arctic MX-4, one of the most sought-after thermal pastes on the market. This enhanced model delivers even superior thermal conductivity with a very high thermal conductivity of 6.0 W/mK thanks to the carbon micro-particles that make up its composition.

Pros

• Easy to apply and clean

• Great performance

Cons

• Non

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4. Noctua NT-H2

Product’s Specifications

• Thermal Conductivity: unspecified (estimated around 9 W/m.K)

• Ease of Use Rating: 4.5/5

• Relative Performance Rating: 4.0/5

• Cleanup: lint-free absorbent paper towels/pads with alcohol

• Price per gram: $3.7

Product’s Highlights

Nocturna NT-H1 is famous among PC builders, and currently, the business has released a much-upgraded version of it, Noctua NT-H2. This premium-grade thermal compound enables excellent heat transmission from the CPU or GPU to the heatsink for the ultimate cooling solution. 

In order to achieve even lower thermal resistance and reduced bond-line thickness at normal mounting pressures, the NT-H2 employs a new, carefully crafted blend of metal oxide micro-particles. Additionally, it is not conductive, eliminating the possibility of a short-circuit incident.

Pros

• Easy to use and clean

• Cons

Cons

• A bit costly

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5. Gelid GC-Extreme

Product’s Specifications

• Electrically Conductive: No

• Thermal Conductivity: 8.5 W/mk

• Ease of Use Rating: 4.0/5

• Performance Rating: 4.5/5

• Cleanup: lint-free absorbent paper towels/pads with alcohol

• Price per gram: $3.70

Product’s Highlights

Gelid's GC-Extreme is an excellent option if you look for a high-end compound that doesn't cost much. Although it is reasonably priced, GC-Extreme is still a good paste that will probably perform better than most other paste alternatives. If you frequently upgrade your computer or have a heavy workload that you need a really effective paste to complete, you should have this paste on hand.

Pros

• Easy to use and clean

• Value price

Cons

• Need some syringe pressure to apply properly.

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1. What qualities should I check before purchasing thermal paste?

It's crucial to check the thermal conductivity of the thermal paste before buying. Additionally, the longevity of the thermal paste may only be determined through time, making it crucial to read customers' reviews of the specific paste. You should ensure the package size is adequate for your purposes, so consider that as well.

2. What is the lifespan of thermal paste?

Thermal pastes do degrade with time, but they don't have a set expiration date as pharmaceuticals do. Manufacturers advise replacing them every three to five years since most eventually solidify and lose their conductivity.

3. Is using excessive thermal paste harmful?

It is not a good idea to apply too much thermal paste. If it is too much, it will leak out over the CPU's borders and go over the motherboard and socket cover.

Even if the paste is not electrically conductive, too much of it might become an insulator and prevent heat dissipation instead of assisting it.

Thermal compounds are necessary for PC system construction to dissipate thermal loads efficiently. Without them, the components in our favorite games and content-creating PCs would struggle to stay cool when doing intensive workloads, performances, or even just surfing the internet. And note that not all systems need costly thermal paste to run smoothly. Check review, price and feature to choose the best thermal paste meeting all your needs.

Beside, to keep your PC cool down thoroughly, best case fan and PC radiator also need to be taken into consideration.

If you need further information or assistance, don't hesitate to contact us!