I know the idea of putting toothpaste on your expensive CPU seems like a meme, but there
are definitely situations where you can find yourself in a pinch.
Your system is overheating at 2am and the local 7-11 doesn't stock standard CPU cooling
supplies obviously, so if you're faced with an emergency and you don't have any sparrow
thermal paste on hand, what can you use instead?
To answer, it helps to understand exactly how thermal paste works.
When you apply thermal paste to the top of your CPU and then put your heat sink on top
of it, the paste fills in microscopic cracks in both the CPU heat spreader and the bottom
of the heat sink as you apply pressure, like some kind of weird cyber Oreo that would be
really hard to eat and would also kill you, but damn that would taste good.
Filling in these cracks eliminates small air gaps that can prevent heat from effectively
flowing out of your processor and into your cooler, but there's more to a good thermal
paste and to life than just filling in holes.
The materials that make up the thermal paste need to be thermally conductive or heat will
have a hard time flowing through it regardless of how well it eliminates air pockets.
Thermal paste often contains metal oxide compounds that are good at conducting heat but not electricity.
This way, they'll cool off your CPU without posing a risk of shorting out your components
if you have a spill. There are liquid metal thermal solutions that conduct heat more effectively than metal
oxide thermal paste, but unfortunately they're also electrically conductive, so most enthusiasts
sacrifice a few degrees and just use the thermal paste since it's safer and easier to apply.
But are there easy to obtain materials that have the same properties as thermal paste?
To answer our original question, you actually can use toothpaste in a pinch, although you
probably want to mix it in with petroleum jelly like Vaseline to prevent it from drying
out too quickly. But here's the thing, it's kind of a crapshoot how well any given toothpaste will perform
with your particular setup. Some of the ingredients in toothpaste can actually be decent conductors of heat, but
it's not going to be as effective as what's an actual thermal paste, not to mention that
toothpaste contains fluoride, which has a corrosive effect.
Great for cleaning teeth, but plaque buildup in the device is less of a problem for heat
spreaders. They're lucky. Another popular option is diaper rash cream containing zinc oxide.
Even zinc oxide is a common thermal conductor found in actual thermal paste, it's not
the worst option if you happen to have it on hand and it won't dry out as quickly as
many other thermal paste alternatives. But even so, it won't stay the right consistency for more than a few months.
And that sounds like a long time, but thermal paste is designed to last in your system for
years before it might dry out. Just think about all the pre-built computers sold to folks who don't even know what thermal
paste is. They're probably never even going to crack open their machines, let alone experiment
with sloping hygiene products in there. Plus, the general public tends to hold onto their PCs for longer than enthusiasts and
gamers since they aren't as interested in upgrading to the latest tech to play the latest
AAA game. There's a reason that putting unusual substances on CPUs has largely stayed in meme territory.
Most commonly suggested alternatives to thermal paste tend to dry out prematurely.
Surprisingly, the best alternative we tested on our sister channel line of tech tips was
plain yellow mustard of all things, but despite the fact it cooled our CPU off fairly well,
it dried out by the time we finished our testing. So bottom line, any thick pasty material that doesn't conduct electricity could work alright
if you're having some kind of overheating emergency and need to use your PC briefly.
But just get yourself some spare thermal paste.
One good quality tube will have enough paste for several applications and costs less than
$10. Just take it out of your monthly mustard budget.
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