Arctic Cooling MX-2 Thermal Compound (1.5 Gram) $1 + Free Shipping (expired)

cool. in 4 1

Thanks for posting. I purchased 2.

Price is a steal with free shipping, I'm skeptical to the quality... (old stock?)

I'm not too worried, though, as I've read online that thermal compound will retain consistency after many, many years of (proper) storage. Removing plunger & stirring contents before application probably wouldn't hurt.

Can anyone explain to a noob how a compound dissipates heat? Never built my own pc but have looked into it and thermal compounds have always made me wonder.

Quote from Loogs : Price is a steal with free shipping, I'm skeptical to the quality... (old stock?)

It's MX2, and now you can get MX3 and MX4. Minor temperature difference between them and any other thermal compounds, but it's still very good stuff and easily comparable to stuff 10x as much.

JirafaBo, to explain simply, the thermal compound fills in the microscopic gaps between & on the surfaces of the CPU & its heat sink. This allows them to contact better for more efficient heat dissipation, which is relative to the overall life of your CPU & especially important when you are overclocking.

It is my understanding that many beginners sometimes apply too much compound; an entire tube for example. This is a situation where "less is more", just enough to get the job done, sometimes referenced as a "pea-sized" amount, give or take.

Quote from JirafaBo : Can anyone explain to a noob how a compound dissipates heat? Never built my own pc but have looked into it and thermal compounds have always made me wonder.

Not sure if you are trolling are really asking, but anyway.............

you have to put a heatsink on top of every processor to cool it down. As you can imagine, there will be a small air gap between the top of the processor and the heat sink. this compound basically fills that gap so that heat an be properly conducted from the processor to the heatsink and disipatted.

Quote from Loogs : JirafaBo, to explain simply, the thermal compound fills in the microscopic gaps between & on the surfaces of the CPU & its heat sink. This allows them to contact better for more efficient heat dissipation, which is relative to the overall life of your CPU & especially important when you are overclocking. It is my understanding that many beginners sometimes apply too much compound; an entire tube for example. This is a situation where "less is more", just enough to get the job done, sometimes referenced as a "pea-sized" amount, give or take.

All true. I believe it's really any machined metallic surfaces such as aluminum, copper, or steel. Even the most smooth, polished looking surfaces such as the lid of a CPU have microscopic pits and craters. Thermal compound fills in those holes and provides a good solid contact surface between the two pieces; in this case, the lid of the CPU and the bottom of the heatsink.

In a pinch, you can even use a piece of cheese [hardocp.com] (though I'd replace that as soon as possible with some real compound ).

Got this for my first build! good price

Thanks for the clarification, zero2dash. This is definitely a quality product. I have looked at comparison tests before & the difference is usually just a few degrees Celsius between something like MX-2 & the "best of the best".

The argument for striving for those extra few degrees of cooling power via thermal compound is probably only voiced by those building the absolute latest, energy-vacuuming gaming powerhouse machine that is pushed to run overclocked for many hours everyday day.

Quote from zero2dash : All true. I believe it's really any machined metallic surfaces such as aluminum, copper, or steel. Even the most smooth, polished looking surfaces such as the lid of a CPU have microscopic pits and craters. Thermal compound fills in those holes and provides a good solid contact surface between the two pieces; in this case, the lid of the CPU and the bottom of the heatsink. In a pinch, you can even use a piece of cheese [hardocp.com] (though I'd replace that as soon as possible with some real compound ).

Quote from kinglee : Not sure if you are trolling are really asking, but anyway............. you have to put a heatsink on top of every processor to cool it down. As you can imagine, there will be a small air gap between the top of the processor and the heat sink. this compound basically fills that gap so that heat an be properly conducted from the processor to the heatsink and disipatted.

Quote from Loogs : JirafaBo, to explain simply, the thermal compound fills in the microscopic gaps between & on the surfaces of the CPU & its heat sink. This allows them to contact better for more efficient heat dissipation, which is relative to the overall life of your CPU & especially important when you are overclocking. It is my understanding that many beginners sometimes apply too much compound; an entire tube for example. This is a situation where "less is more", just enough to get the job done, sometimes referenced as a "pea-sized" amount, give or take.

Definitely not trolling. I guess my trouble is actually knowing what a heat sink is. But now I at least know what the compound does, just provides a better bridge for the heat to move to the heat sink. I guess this compound is some kind of technological advancement as it's usually an expensive add on when ordering pre built pc's. I would think if it just needs such a small amount itd just be part of every build.

Quote from zero2dash : All true. I believe it's really any machined metallic surfaces such as aluminum, copper, or steel. Even the most smooth, polished looking surfaces such as the lid of a CPU have microscopic pits and craters. Thermal compound fills in those holes and provides a good solid contact surface between the two pieces; in this case, the lid of the CPU and the bottom of the heatsink.

Which is ironic because on many metal products, the more surface area, the better the heat dissipates. That's why we see grated/ribbed metal pieces in a radiator, etc.

Quote from Loogs : Thanks for the clarification, zero2dash. This is definitely a quality product. I have looked at comparison tests before & the difference is usually just a few degrees Celsius between something like MX-2 & the "best of the best".

And oddly enough you can clean off and reapply thermal compound more than once and you probably won't get any consistent results anyway. I've used several and I'll admit that I buy something that's name brand, but between the ones I've had (AS5, ZM-STG1, NT-H1, OCZ Freeze, MX-2)...really the minor difference is application method (since the ZM-STG1 spreads like nail polish, and the others are generally a 'small dab in the middle'). I can't really say one is so much better temp wise than another; I'll leave that up to the reviewers and people who go nuts over as little as 1/2 a degree.

Quote from JirafaBo : Definitely not trolling. I guess my trouble is actually knowing what a heat sink is. But now I at least know what the compound does, just provides a better bridge for the heat to move to the heat sink. I guess this compound is some kind of technological advancement as it's usually an expensive add on when ordering pre built pc's. I would think if it just needs such a small amount itd just be part of every build.

Stock coolers always have it preapplied and the stock compound is a lot more solid, almost like a wax base (because it melts and spreads the 1st time you power the system on). Most of the aftermarket coolers all come with compound, some better than others. Again as I stated above....I've used several, and I can't really say preference. I just get what's on sale, cheap, and actually is a decent brand. Stuff in a tub or a plastic baggie....I'm not going to buy that stuff. I'd rather use cheese until a tube of something was delivered (or I walked into Microcenter and bought a tube).

I bought 3 tubes of $0.99 cent MX-2 about a month ago just for future use, because my AS5 was just about gone and the Freeze I have is about 1/2 left. From what I understand....compound typically doesn't really have a shelf life; I've heard people say that they store AS5 upside down or in the fridge, or they 'stir' it with a toothpick because the elements separate over time. My experience has been that I use the stuff every few months anyway, and it'll probably take years to actually lose any consistency, and by that time, the tube's empty anyway.

I also like that these are 1.5gram, so I'm not going to be sad if some coworker walks off with it.