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5 Best Thermal Pastes for High-End CPU Cooling

By / Tech / October 8, 2025

Here are the 5 best thermal pastes with excellent thermal conductivity to keep your CPUs running cool and quiet.

5 Best Thermal Pastes for High-End CPU Cooling
Thermal Pastes for your high-end CPUs (Image via Thermal Grizzly | ID-Cooling)

Thermal paste, also known as thermal grease, is a crucial component for your PC. It is used to cool both your CPU and GPU, as well as other elements that produce concentrated heat within a small area and require high heat transfer.

Thermal paste is applied on top of your CPU’s IHS, and then you mount the cooler. When the IHS comes into contact with the cooler’s cold plate, the thermal paste automatically spreads across the contact area and the hottest parts, then fills air pockets, helping with an efficient heat transfer process to the cooler’s heatsink.

While any thermal paste works for budget CPUs, modern high-end CPUs are complex to cool and require no compromises on cooling solutions. Below are a few of the best thermal pastes available on the market. Pair these with a 14900K / 9950X alongside a good cooler, and you’ll be good to go.

Note: All the thermal pastes mentioned here can be applied seamlessly on top of your GPU die. These are non-conductive in nature and in no way will harm your components. We believe applying any of these thermal pastes over stock ones will result in a significant temperature improvement within your GPU core and hotspot temperatures.

Read More: 5 Budget CPU Air Coolers for Gaming

1. Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut

Kryonaut from Thermal Grizzly (Image via Thermal Grizzly)
Kryonaut from Thermal Grizzly (Image via Thermal Grizzly)

Kryonaut is a high-performance thermal paste, ideal for individuals seeking to overclock their hardware. It offers excellent thermal conductivity of 12.5W/mK and has a wide operating range of -250°C to 350°C. LN2 and XOC overclockers highly recommend this for overclocking and breaking world records. Kryonaut is also great for enthusiasts who review hardware. This is because this paste has a low curing period and produces near-instantaneous results that are highly accurate.

2. Thermal Grizzly Duronaut

Duronaut from Thermal Grizzly (Image via Thermal Grizzly)
Duronaut from Thermal Grizzly (Image via Thermal Grizzly)

The Duronaut is geared towards enthusiasts who prefer a dual-tower high-performance air cooler to cool their CPUs. This particular thermal paste minimizes thermal resistance, which means it doesn’t require frequent maintenance. Duronaut operates within a temperature range of -250°C to 350°C. Going by reports, a proper thermal paste application can last up to 5 years. In terms of thermal conductivity, it’s around 4.9 W/mK.

3. ID-Cooling Frost X45

X45 from ID Cooling (Image via ID-Cooling)
X45 from ID Cooling (Image via ID-Cooling)

Frost X45 is a high-performance thermal paste that performs exceptionally well for day-to-day use cases. It is extremely popular among gamers who purchase CPUs such as the 9800X3D and 9950X3D, thanks to their incredible thermal performance.

The X45 has an operating range of -50°C to 280°C, making it unsuitable for XOC applications or LN2 overclocking. However, the high thermal dissipation rate (15.2 W/mK) is beneficial for Ryzen X3D and other hot-running chips.

4. Noctua NT-H2

H2 from Noctua (Image via Noctua)
NT-H2 thermal paste from Noctua (Image via Noctua)

NT-H2 is a renowned thermal paste from Noctua. It is known for its reliability, consistency, and high viscosity. The Noctua H2 is an upgrade over the H1, offering improved thermal dissipation (8.9 W/mk) compared to the H1 (3.9 W/mk). CPUs like the 14900K, Ryzen 9 5950X, and HEDT models like the ThreadRipper can also be kept cool with this. The H2 operates within a temperature range of -50°C to 110°C and requires periodic maintenance.

Based on our testing, the NT-H2 has a long curing period and requires complete spreading; only then can ideal results be achieved. If you are using the NT-H2 for your CPU, ensure you use a spatula to fully cover the IHS with the paste, and then install the cooler on top of it.

Note: Noctua doesn’t explicitly specify thermal dissipation figures; these numbers are approximate and collected from publicly available information.

5. Arctic MX-6 

MX-6 from Arctic (Image via Arctic)
MX-6 from Arctic (Image via Arctic)

The Arctic MX-6 is the newest high-performance thermal paste from Arctic. It shares many similarities with the NT-H2. For starters, the MX line of thermal pastes is extremely popular. These are well-known among the DIY enthusiast community, and they have a long-term reputation for proven thermal reliability and consistency.

That said, the MX-6 operates within a temperature range of -50°C to 150°C and requires periodic maintenance. Regarding thermal conductivity, it’s approximately 9 W/mK. The MX-6 also has a relatively long curing period, even longer than that of the NT-H2, and requires you to fully cover the IHS with the paste, followed by the cooler’s cold plate.

Note: Arctic doesn’t explicitly specify thermal dissipation figures; these numbers are approximate and collected from publicly available information.

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