Applying new thermal paste on laptop CPU - which paste to get?

[426Hemi]

I have an Asus M6BNe with a Dothan 1.6Ghz CPU and the fan seems to come on more often now (when idle or just browsing the net). I'm thinking of applying some good quality thermal paste in hopes of lowering the temps, thus reducing fan noise.

I'm thinking of getting the Arctic Silver ArctiClean Thermal Material Remover and Surface Purifier from CC to clean up the CPU and heatsink surface but I'm not sure which thermal paste to get. CC and Infonec sell the following thermal pastes:

Arctic Alumina Premium Ceramique Polysynthetic Thermal Compound $10
Arctic Silver 5 High-Density Polysynthetic Silver Thermal Compound $9
Zalman ZM-STG1 High Performance Thermal Compound $15
CoolerMaster Premium Thermal Compound $18
ANTEC Silver Thermal Grease 3g $11

Are they pretty much all the same or is there a specifc one that I should be looking at?

[jvangilst]

I've always used Arctic Silver 5. I just buy the small tube, and it lasts a long time considering I hardly ever need to use it.

[Amourek]

Don't bother with the ArctiClean. I bought some (only because it was half price at ADP) and while it does clean a bit better than isopropyl alcohol, it's not really worth it unless you plan on dissolving a lot of thermal pads.

[Riffer]

Just get Goof-off from Home Depot to clean off the old pad.

I use Arctic Silver, and like jvangilst says, it lasts forever. I am still working on the tube I bought four or five years ago.

[Emancipated]

Yeah, no guff. I still have AS3 from my first build. I bought AS5 buying into their marketing and didn't see much improvements, if at all.

[LeeBear]

You don't need anything fancy to remove the dried up old thermal pad. I use a few drops of olive oil, let it sit for a second and gentle rub around with your fingers and watch the gunk come right off. Clean up with a bit of soap water and isopropyl alcohol and you're good.

-LeeBear

[Oversized Rooster]

I clean CPUs and GPUs with vodka and bounty.

I always use AS5 - whether in my desktop or laptop or video card.

[Haz]

I've always used isopropyl alcohol and Arctic Silver 5. Used them on my laptop CPU, desktop CPU and GPU.

[wushudrew]

i swear by arctic silver 5. its a mystery to me why it just doesnt come stock HSF's

[Deimos]

Well, I guess it somewhat depends what you're using it for.

I mean, you dont always need any thermal paste at all. Heck, I remember having pentiums running without heatsinks.

But, any generic white, or fancy Artic Silver thermal paste is much better than nothing. But, dont go overboard applying it like mayonaise on a sandwich. You only need a very small amount, just enough such that when you spread it around, it barely obscures the writing on the processor die. Applying any more is superfluous since it gets squeezed out anyway.

And as some folks here noted, used properly a small tube of Artic Silver will last a very very long time. I've used mine over 20 times.

Cleaning, can be as simple as a little oil, alcohol of any concentrated variety (vodka or isopropyl), WD40, precision contact cleaner, or even nail polish remover.

However, I would definetly highly recommend just using alcohol. Who knows what nasty chemical brew you can mix up with the others. So, in other words, save your money and dont buy that fancy cleaning kit.