Skip to content
Main Navigation Puget Systems Logo
  • Solutions
    • Content Creation
      • Photo Editing
        • Recommended Systems For:
        • Adobe Lightroom Classic
        • Adobe Photoshop
        • Stable Diffusion
      • Video Editing & Motion Graphics
        • Recommended Systems For:
        • Adobe After Effects
        • Adobe Premiere Pro
        • DaVinci Resolve
        • Foundry Nuke
      • 3D Design & Animation
        • Recommended Systems For:
        • Autodesk 3ds Max
        • Autodesk Maya
        • Blender
        • Cinema 4D
        • Houdini
        • ZBrush
      • Real-Time Engines
        • Recommended Systems For:
        • Game Development
        • Unity
        • Unreal Engine
        • Virtual Production
      • Rendering
        • Recommended Systems For:
        • Keyshot
        • OctaneRender
        • Redshift
        • V-Ray
      • Digital Audio
        • Recommended Systems For:
        • Ableton Live
        • FL Studio
        • Pro Tools
    • Engineering
      • Architecture & CAD
        • Recommended Systems For:
        • Autodesk AutoCAD
        • Autodesk Inventor
        • Autodesk Revit
        • SOLIDWORKS
      • Visualization
        • Recommended Systems For:
        • Enscape
        • Lumion
        • Twinmotion
      • Photogrammetry & GIS
        • Recommended Systems For:
        • ArcGIS Pro
        • Agisoft Metashape
        • Pix4D
        • RealityScan
    • AI & HPC
      • Recommended Systems For:
      • Data Science
      • Generative AI
      • Large Language Models
      • Machine Learning / AI Dev
      • Scientific Computing
    • More
      • Recommended Systems For:
      • Compact Size
      • Live Streaming
      • NVIDIA RTX Studio
      • Quiet Operation
      • Virtual Reality
    • Business & Enterprise
      We can empower your company
    • Government & Education
      Services tailored for your organization
  • Products
    • Puget Mobile
      Powerful laptop workstations
      • Puget Mobile 16″
    • Puget Workstations
      High-performance desktop PCs
      • AMD Ryzen
        • Ryzen 9000:
        • Small Form Factor
        • Mini Tower
        • Mid Tower
        • Full Tower
      • AMD Threadripper
        • Threadripper 7000:
        • Mid Tower
        • Full Tower
        • Threadripper PRO 7000WX:
        • Full Tower
      • AMD EPYC
        • EPYC 9004/9005:
        • Full Tower
      • Intel Core Ultra
        • Core Ultra Series 2:
        • Small Form Factor
        • Mini Tower
        • Mid Tower
        • Full Tower
      • Intel Xeon
        • Xeon W-2500:
        • Mid Tower
        • Xeon W-3500:
        • Full Tower
    • Custom Computers
    • Puget Rackstations
      Workstations in rackmount chassis
      • AMD Rackstations
        • Ryzen 9000:
        • R132-4U
        • R550-6U 5-Node
        • Threadripper 7000:
        • T121-4U
        • T120-5U
        • Threadripper PRO 7000WX:
        • T141-4U
        • T140-5U (Dual 5090s)
      • Intel Rackstations
        • Core Ultra Series 2:
        • C132-4U
        • Xeon W-3500:
        • X131-4U
        • X141-5U
    • Custom Rackmount Workstations
    • Puget Servers
      Enterprise-class rackmount servers
      • 1U Rackmount Servers
        • AMD EPYC:
        • E200-1U
        • Intel Xeon:
        • X200-1U
      • 2U Rackmount Servers
        • AMD EPYC:
        • E120-2U
        • E140-2U
        • Intel Xeon:
        • X240-2U
      • 4U Rackmount Servers
        • AMD EPYC:
        • E280-4U
        • E281-4U
    • Comino Grando GPU Servers
    • Custom Servers
    • Puget Storage
      Solutions from desktop to datacenter
      • Network-Attached Storage
        • Synology NAS Units:
        • 4-bay DiskStation
        • 8-bay DiskStation
        • 12-bay DiskStation
        • 4-bay RackStation
        • 12-bay FlashStation
      • Software-Defined Storage
        • Datacenter Storage:
        • 12-Bay 2U
        • 24-Bay 2U
        • 36-Bay 4U
    • Recommended Third Party Peripherals
      Curated list of accessories for your workstation
  • Publications
    • Articles
    • Blog Posts
    • Case Studies
    • HPC Blog
    • Podcasts
    • Press
    • PugetBench
  • Support
    • Contact Support
    • Onsite Services
    • Support Articles
    • Unboxing
    • Warranty Details
  • About Us
    • About Us
    • Careers
    • Contact Us
    • Enterprise
    • Gov & Edu
    • Our Customers
    • Press Kit
    • Puget Gear
    • Testimonials
  • Talk to an Expert
  • My Account
  1. Home
  2. /
  3. Hardware Articles
  4. /
  5. Thermal Paste Comparison

Thermal Paste Comparison

Posted on May 31, 2005 by Jon Bach
Always look at the date when you read an article. Some of the content in this article is most likely out of date, as it was written on May 31, 2005. For newer information, see our more recent articles.

Table of Contents

  • Introduction
  • Thermal Pastes Used
  • Notes
  • System Specs
  • Test Process
  • Test Results
  • Conclusion

Introduction

As a custom computer provider, Puget Custom Computers fills a niche market — some of the most popular computers we sell are computers that not a lot of other companies will dare to build. The two requests we hear most often is that the computer be fast, and that it be quiet. Unfortunately, that’s a tough mix! As manufacturers continue to release faster (and hotter) products, their only way to adequately cool those products without bigger and louder fans is to use more advanced cooling technologies. When it comes to building these high end computers, there is no room for cutting corners, and even a component like thermal paste can make a significant difference. When we set out to investigate all the different thermal pastes out there, we were surprised to not find a comprehensive comparison of modern products…so we decided to run our own tests! In this article, we will compare the performance of the top rated thermal pastes, so that you can make informed decisions about what will go into your next computer system!

Thermal Pastes Used

We started by searching for the most popular high end products. The list we settled on was:

Arctic Silver Ceramique
Nanotherm PCM+ (phase change)
Shin-Etsu Micosi
Nanotherm Silver Xtc
Arctic Silver 5
Arctic Alumina
Thermalright Generic

Note that the Thermalright paste we tested came bundled with a Thermalright XP-90 heatsink, and we intended to give us a rough idea of what the performance of the more generic products was like.

Notes

We applied the thermal paste according to manufacturer instructions. The only exception to this was that Arctic Silver recommends running the machine up to 200 hours for the compound to “break-in” and achieve full cooling effect. In the interest of time, we did not follow this step.

It is of interest to note that the way in which we applied the thermal paste seemed to make little difference. It is well known that the best application of the paste is a thin layer — as thin as possible while maintaining full coverage and contact. We conducted two tests of Arctic Silver Ceramique. In the first test, we spread the paste evenly in a thin layer. In the second test, we placed a bead of compound in the center of the CPU, allowing the pressure of the heatsink to cause it to spread to the rest of the chip. Both types of application ended up giving the same temperatures in our tests.

We also noted that the Nanotherm PCM+ paste had a watery consistency that made it more difficult to spread evenly. It is supplied with a rubber finger for application.

System Specs

For our measurements, we used a high end setup on an open bench.

Asus P5ND2-SLI
Intel Pentium4 (775) 3.46 GHz 1066 FSB EE
Thermalright XP-90 Heatsink
Papst 92mm 1950RPM 23dB 35.9CFM
OCZ PC2-5400 Platinum EB DC 2x1024MB
PC Power & Cooling 850W
Western Digital SATA Raptor 74GB
XFX GeForce 6800 Ultra 256MB PCI-E
Lite On 52/32/52 CD-RW (black)

Asus P5ND2-SLI BIOS Version 0506
Nforce driver was taken off the Asus CD
Forceware driver version 71.89
Windows XP SP2 w/ all updates

Test Process

This system was run with no background tasks or processes. For our idle measurements, we left the system on the desktop. For load measurements, we ran Prime95. Since Prime95 is not capable of using multiple processors, hyperthreading was disabled on the system. All readings were taken after allowing the temperatures to stabilize for half an hour. Temperature readings were taken with Asus Probe 2. We found it to record temperatures about 3C lower than readings taken with a separate thermal probe, but since all of our readings were done in the same way, we did not regard this as an issue. Readings of the ambient temperature were taken at the same time as every other measurement, and we have adjusted our results to a baseline ambient temperature of 23C. For reference, our full dataset is also provided at the bottom of this review.

Test Results

Idle Load
Arctic Silver Ceramique 25.5C 37.5C
Thermalright Generic 24.5C 38.5C
Arctic Silver 5 25C 39C
Shin-Etsu Micosi 25C 39C
Arctic Alumina 26.5C 41.5C
Nanotherm Silver Xtc 26C 43C
Nanotherm PCM+ (phase change) 26.5C 43.5C

Conclusion

It was surprising to find the generic paste as one of the better performers. Thermalright must bundle some good stuff with their heatsinks! We were happy to see the Arctic Silver Ceramique perform so well — we use it on a lot of our builds!

Full dataset:

Thermal Paste Type Ambient Idle Load Idle Adj Load Adj
Arctic Silver Ceramique 24.5 27 39 25 37
Nanotherm PCM+ (phase change) 20.5 24 41 26 43
Shin-Etsu Micosi 21 23 37 24.5 38.5
Nanotherm Silver Xtc 22 25 42 25.5 42.5
Arctic Silver 5 24 26 40 24.5 38.5
Arctic Alumina 24.5 28 43 26 41
Thermalright Generic 25.5 27 41 24 38

(Ambient temp adjusted to 22.5C for adjusted values.)

Who is Puget Systems?

Puget Systems builds custom workstations, servers and storage solutions tailored for your work.

We provide:

Extensive performance testing
making you more productive and giving better value for your money

Reliable computers
with fewer crashes means more time working & less time waiting

Support that understands
your complex workflows and can get you back up & running ASAP

A proven track record
as shown by our case studies and customer testimonials

Get Started

Browse Systems

Puget Systems Mobile Laptop Workstation Icon

Mobile

Puget Systems Tower Workstation Icon

Workstations

Puget Systems Rackmount Workstation Icon

Rackstations

Puget Systems Rackmount Server Icon

Servers

Puget Systems Rackmount Storage Icon

Storage

Latest Articles

  • Impact of PCIe 5.0 Bandwidth on GPU Content Creation Performance
  • Network-Attached Storage Guide
  • NVIDIA 5060 Ti vs. AMD 9060 XT for Content Creation
  • Unreal Engine 5.6: Faster Open Worlds, Smoother Animation, Better ICVFX
  • Unreal Fest 2025: Highlights from Orlando
View All

Post navigation

 The Sound of Silence: Building a Quiet PCDual Processor vs Dual Core 
Puget Systems Logo
Build Your Own PC Site Map FAQ
facebook instagram linkedin rss twitter youtube

Optimized Solutions

  • Adobe Premiere
  • Adobe Photoshop
  • Solidworks
  • Autodesk AutoCAD
  • Machine Learning

Workstations

  • Content Creation
  • Engineering
  • Scientific PCs
  • More

Support

  • Online Guides
  • Request Support
  • Remote Help

Publications

  • All News
  • Puget Blog
  • HPC Blog
  • Hardware Articles
  • Case Studies

Policies

  • Warranty & Return
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Delivery Times
  • Accessibility

About Us

  • Testimonials
  • Careers
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletter

© Copyright 2025 - Puget Systems, All Rights Reserved.