This time it really is the mysterious “Gaming Paste A” from the basic article and so today we are also solving the mystery surrounding the Arctic MX-6. And as a spoiler: Arctic pushes the self-imposed performance envelope to the max and is the most “thermally conductive” paste in the test so far. You can read later in the material analysis why I still don’t use it as a reference. No, it’s not bad, on the contrary. But you always have to look at everything as a whole. Ok, enough spoilers…
Arctic is trying to get the maximum out of this, so it’s primarily about the last degree for the user benchmark and the longest bar in the home PC. This pasteis not suitable for extreme overclocking with LN2. For quick and user-friendly success, however, this paste is a safe bet for normal everyday use. With one small caveat, but I’ll come to that in a moment. But: it is a fair compromise between performance and durability, as long as you don’t push it to its thermal limits.
Once again, I’d like to point out that Arctic is the only manufacturer so far to explain the thermal conductivity values correctly, or not to gloss over them at all. I simply have to praise this explicitly at this point. The FAQ on the homepage is therefore worth quoting in full, as it not only speaks to me from the heart, but also agrees absolutely with my laboratory measurements. Because it is so beautifully honest, I will also use this part as a standard quote in the paste tests from now on.
Why doesn’t ARCTIC communicate any values for thermal conductivity?
ARCTIC has deliberately decided not to provide any values for the thermal conductivity of thermal pastes and thermal pads, as many manufacturers invent, artificially inflate or embellish this value. Thermally conductive paste has a thermal conductivity of 1 to 4 W/mK. Values outside this range, such as 12.5 W/mK, do not correspond to the truth. Many competitors state values above 4 W/mK to suggest better performance. This often leads to false expectations and dissatisfied users. ARCTIC offers its customers innovative thermal conductive materials at the best possible price-performance ratio instead of relying on manipulated performance data.
-Arctic
Unboxing
There is actually not much to write here, because apart from the tube, there is nothing in the cardboard box. Something like this is sustainable and should be praised. The 4 gram version is also optionally available with 6x cleaner, but you only buy this if you need it. Isopropanol will also do. The initiated also like to use glasses cleaning cloths 🙂
Technical data
Let’s leave the marketing aside and look at the technical data of this paste, which is available in various containers and sizes. We can see that the information on thermal conductivity has nothing to do with reality. The green shaded columns contain measured values, the gray shaded columns contain the completely missing manufacturer’s data
| Technical data | |
| Bulk thermal conductivity λ | No information (see FAQ and full quote) |
| Effective thermal conductivity λeff, | 4.264 W/(m-K) (test method ASTM D5470-10) |
| Effective thermal resistance Rth 400 µm | 1.04243 mm²K/W (Test method ASTM D5470-10) |
| Effective thermal resistance Rth 200 µm | 0.58556 mm²K/W (Test method ASTM D5470-10) |
| Effective thermal resistance Rth 100 µm | 0.35548 mm²K/W (Test method ASTM D5470-10) |
| Effective thermal resistance Rth min | 0.15604 mm²K/W (Test method ASTM D5470-10) |
| Minimum thickness | 17 µm (at 60 PSI and 60 °C after 30 minutes) |
| Heat conducting particles | Corundum (AL2O3), zinc oxide (ZnO) (Test method LIBS, Keyence EA-300) |
| Volatilization rate (volatilization) | n/a |
| Density | 2.6 g/cm² |
| Viscosity | 45000 Poise |
| Working temperature | -50 to 150 ℃ |
| Breakdown voltage | 7.5 kV/mm |
| Contact resistance | 1.8 x 1012 Ω-cm |
| Maximum pressure | n/a |
| Color | light gray |
| Accessories |
none |
| Container |
Tube 2 g, 4 g, 8 g Optional 4 g with 6x cleaner |
Arctic also offers a data sheet, so I’ll use that:
Spec_Sheet_MX-6_DE
Further links and basics
Arctic MX-6, 2g (ACTCP00079A)
 | Lagernd im Außenlager, Lieferung 2-3 WerktageStand: 06.07.24 22:41 | 3,58 €*Stand: 06.07.24 22:42 |
 | lagernd: 250+ | 3,59 €*Stand: 06.07.24 22:32 |
 | siehe Shop | 3,60 €*Stand: 06.07.24 22:39 |
Arctic MX-6, 4g (ACTCP00080A)
 | ca. 2-3 Tage | 5,40 €*Stand: 06.07.24 22:18 |
 | 3-5 Werktage | 5,42 €*Stand: 06.07.24 20:28 |
| Bestellt, wird in 3 Werktagen erwartetStand: 06.07.24 22:41 | 5,48 €*Stand: 06.07.24 22:42 |
Arctic MX-6, 4g, inkl. 6x MX Cleaner Reinigungstuch (ACTCP00084A)
| Lagernd im Außenlager, Lieferung 2-3 WerktageStand: 06.07.24 22:41 | 5,47 €*Stand: 06.07.24 22:42 |
| Computerxtreme.de | Lagernd | 5,48 €*Stand: 06.07.24 21:42 |
 | Alsdorf: bei Vorbestellung in ca. 24h - 48h lagerndVersandlager: lagerndStand: 06.07.24 21:45 | 5,90 €*Stand: 06.07.24 21:46 |
Arctic MX-6, 8g (ACTCP00081A)
| Bestellt, wird in 3 Werktagen erwartetStand: 06.07.24 22:41 | 6,89 €*Stand: 06.07.24 22:42 |
 | Sofort lieferbar, Lieferzeit max. 1-3 Werktage | 6,90 €*Stand: 06.07.24 22:36 |
 | Sofort verfügbar, Lieferzeit max. 1-3 Werktage | 6,90 €*Stand: 06.07.24 22:39 |
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