...tooth... paste... mayo...



Okay. Serious talk. The best alternative for thermal paste is another thermal paste or thermal glue - they're not expensive and they're widely-available - unless you're doing what you're doing for sh*ts and giggles, it's stupid to put anything else there.

Toothpaste contains a lot of moisture, but it's still a better choice than mayo. It crystalizes to a degree when drying up and may provide a relatively "okay" connection - unfortunately it's grainy, but it's closer to the thermal paste texture, wheras mayo, apart from oil contains egg protein which will cauterize - the connection will quickly deteriorate, not to mention that it will smell.

Do try silicone (standard, transparent silicone in tubes) - I used some when I drowned my PC in 13 liters of transformer oil. Coolest passive cooling ever, and I had to use silicone instead of thermal paste because the oil was washing paste out. It will isolate the chip a bit and may not be the best at heat distribution, but it's interesting to try it, still. Standard grease or silicone grease could be interesting too.

Technically all the substances you should be using should be oil/fat-free - it actually worsens distribution of the heat to the radiator AFAIK... but you're experimenting, so what the hell.

Remember to clean the chip thoroughly each time you change the substance too. It needs to be dry and oil-free.

This post has been edited by Foxi4, Sun, January 13th, 2013 at 14:54