Arctic Cooling MX-2 Thermal Compound Review

Prof. Dr. Silver · | January 8, 2008

Packaging

MX-2 came to us in retail packaging and it is very similar to how RAM is packed nowadays. It is securely sealed in a hard, see-through plastic cover that protects its contents really well. It is also a pain to open, but who doesn't prefer security over that? The back of the package shows a short description and a little performance chart.

The Arctic Cooling MX-2 tube is a syringe filled with 4 grams of TIM, which is supposedly enough to apply onto a surface of 80cm². It has a light grey color and doesn't smell, unlike some other pastes.

Usage Characteristics

After having used many different thermal compounds, I have come to realize that every manufacturer requests their compound to be applied in a certain way. In the case of the MX-2 compound, Arctic Cooling advises to use a "blob" about the size of a grain of rice (Arborio, not Basmati), of thermal compound on the middle of your CPU. It comes out of the tube easily and its consistency makes it very spreadable over your CPU/GPU. Let me reiterate: This is a TIM spreaders' dream.

The only issue we have had with this step is that the syringe has a bit of a Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde mentality. At some points the compound glided out without any problem while at other times we were forced to press a bit harder on the applicator and were rewarded with a spurt of compound.

Due to the huge pressure of modern heatsinks, the thermal compound will spread out easily and equally over your CPU. When you look at the base of the cooler, you will see that the paste worked the way it was supposed to. On the edge you'll see some extra thermal compound that was basically squeezed away from underneath due to the pressure and this could mean you've used too much. Be carefull though; It is better to use enough than too little.

I took a sheet of white paper and put the three thermal compounds that we are using on it. After folding the piece of paper in half and then opening it again, you are able to see the consistency of the thermal compounds. Arctic Cooling MX-2 is the only paste that is not syrup-like. As you can see, the other two are so thick that they are hard to work with and that's even worse when it is cleaning time.

Another positive point is that since MX-2 does not contain metal particles, it is NOT electrically conductive so it won't cause you any shorts if you happen to spill some onto places where it should not be. In addition, it does not need a curing or settling time, which is great because now we do not have to wait anymore before we see our temperatures dropping.