Summary and Conclusion
Summary
So with the test results in, lets take a look at the results in a visual format. I tried to make it look pretty like our normal graphs, but gave up. Here it is in all of its 2D glory!
You can see the Shin Etsu plummets from its initial temperature. The thick nature of the paste means that it takes significantly longer to cure than do Arctic Silver and the other pastes on test. The wait, as you can see above, is well worth it. For the record, after a fourth day the Shin Etsu showed no further improvement in temperature, at which point I was politely asked to remove my paraphernalia from the university :).
Arctic Silver 2
An all-time-classic, Arctic Silver 2 has shown that it can still muck in with the best of them and be competitive. Finding it would be next to impossible as it has been replaced by the improved...
Arctic Silver 3
A great thermal compound which is very easy to apply and has superb temperatures from the off. AS3 is slightly more expensive than some of the other pastes on test, but the amount provided should last you a lifetime. Recommended.
Arctic Silver Céramique
The newest product on test, Arctic Silver's budget compound is every bit as good as its illustrious cousin, with great temperatures no matter what the platform. Costing just $4rrp for a 1.75g tube, this is a great buy.
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OCZ Ultra
Considering OCZ is primarily a manufacturer of super-fast memory and not thermal compound, their Ultra paste is a good effort, broadly equivalent in performance to the other premium compounds tested. It's certainly a good purchase, although difficult to recommend over Arctic Silver Céramique, even if you do get more in a tube.
Shin Etsu G751
The Grand Daddy of thermal compounds, its a bitch to use, it's a bitch to spread and it takes ages to cure, but once it does it literally slaughters the competition. If only the best will do, accept no substitutes. As far as I am aware nowhere sells it in handy CPU sized syringes apart from UK based Chillblast.
- Please note that the Coolermaster branded premium paste is NOT the same as G751 compound, in previous testing it performed worse than arctic silver III (though not by much). It would have been included in this shoot out but I lost the tube... DOH! 
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Vapochill Compound
Users of the Vapochill will be happy to see the default paste working so well as a thermal compound. Since its a great protection against condensation, I don't see much reason for existing users to use anything else.
Final Words
It seems to be fashionable these days to condemn premium thermal compounds and to a certain extent one can see why. Barring the Shin Etsu, most of the compounds here are within a few degrees of each other. If you are using the little sachet of paste that came with your motherboard/cooler/CPU, however, upgrade as a matter of urgency and see those temperatures plummet.
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Check out the prices on these and other thermal compounds, plus guaranteed CPUs, peltiers, water coolers, case modding equipment and more in our Overclocking Equipment Pricelist featuring more than 50 overclocking retailers/vendors from 9 countries.
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