The Arctic is officially its MX-6 thermal paste Series readily available directly or via Amazon. Arctic, the successor to the popular MX-5, reveals that the new substance is a “proven MX-4-based” formula. MX-6’s main boast is that it “delivered up to 20% better performance” and increased viscosity.
We first heard that Arctic was developing an MX-6 thermal paste in September, following the Arctic MX-5 being discontinued, as flagged on the company’s website. That’s what I mean. MX-5 has quickly become the top of Arctic’s thermal paste product stack. It just came out in 2021 and lived with the MX-4 for life.
| north pole | MX-6 | MX-5 | MX-4 |
|---|---|---|---|
| viscosity | 45,000 poise | 550 poise | 870 poise |
| density | 2.6g/cm³ | 3.2g/cm³ | 2.5g/cm³ |
| Continuous use temperature | -50~150℃ | -40~180℃ | -50~150℃ |
| volume resistivity | 1.8×10 12Ω cm | 1.9×10 12Ω cm | 3.8×10 12Ω・cm |
| breakdown voltage | 7.5kV/mm | 250V/mm | none |
So how does the new Arctic MX-6 compare to its predecessor? See the table above for a detailed tech comparison. The most obvious change is viscosity, which the new paste is said to be “especially suitable for direct die applications.” Therefore, it is also immune to leakage between the processor and the cooler due to the “pump-out effect”. Despite seemingly astronomical viscosity numbers, the new paste claims to be very easy to apply and looks pretty ordinary in the application demo video below. Another comment on the specification is that the common conductivity metric (W/mk) used in thermal compound comparisons is unknown.
Updated thermal paste method application video for Arctic MX-6
In this year’s big roundup of the best thermal pastes (over 90 pastes tested), Arctic MX-5 has a thermal conductivity of 6.0 W/mk, slightly lower than MX-4’s 8.5 W/mk. I understand. No numbers yet, but Arctic says the MX-6 is 20% better than his MX-5 (we assume it’s because it’s replacing the MX-5). Other performance claims of the new Arctic MX-6 include a combination of first-class performance and a fair price. It does this by avoiding rare ingredients such as diamond dust and precious metal particles, and no mention is made of nanoparticle science.
In terms of materials, Arctic says MX-6 is carbon filler-based and features a silicone gel as a carrier for optimal distribution and uniform contact pressure.MX-6 remains a non-conductive paste. and is not capacitive. Eliminates the risk of short circuits and discharges caused by messy applications or accidents. Arctic says with this new formulation, the application will last up to eight years.
In my last article, I mentioned the early (Euro) price of the Arctic MX-6, which was a bit concerning. Thankfully, the official pricing is much more palatable: MX-6 starts at $12.99 for 2g and goes up to $18.99 for 8g. Therefore, it is available at a low price of $2.38 per gram. It’s better than the MX-5 and very competitive. But don’t run out and buy new untested and unproven thermal paste before digesting third-party reviews. Hopefully, you’ll soon get your own insight into the new Arctic MX-6 so you can decide if it’s one of the best thermal pastes out there.
