WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.560 I know the idea of putting toothpaste on your expensive CPU seems like a meme, but there 00:00:05.560 --> 00:00:09.960 are definitely situations where you can find yourself in a pinch. 00:00:09.960 --> 00:00:14.620 Your system is overheating at 2am and the local 7-11 doesn't stock standard CPU cooling 00:00:14.620 --> 00:00:18.680 supplies obviously, so if you're faced with an emergency and you don't have any sparrow 00:00:18.680 --> 00:00:21.880 thermal paste on hand, what can you use instead? 00:00:21.880 --> 00:00:25.840 To answer, it helps to understand exactly how thermal paste works. 00:00:25.840 --> 00:00:29.400 When you apply thermal paste to the top of your CPU and then put your heat sink on top 00:00:30.320 --> 00:00:35.440 of it, the paste fills in microscopic cracks in both the CPU heat spreader and the bottom 00:00:35.440 --> 00:00:40.880 of the heat sink as you apply pressure, like some kind of weird cyber Oreo that would be 00:00:40.880 --> 00:00:45.440 really hard to eat and would also kill you, but damn that would taste good. 00:00:45.440 --> 00:00:49.600 Filling in these cracks eliminates small air gaps that can prevent heat from effectively 00:00:49.600 --> 00:00:54.000 flowing out of your processor and into your cooler, but there's more to a good thermal 00:00:54.000 --> 00:00:57.360 paste and to life than just filling in holes. 00:00:57.360 --> 00:01:01.200 The materials that make up the thermal paste need to be thermally conductive or heat will 00:01:01.200 --> 00:01:06.520 have a hard time flowing through it regardless of how well it eliminates air pockets. 00:01:06.520 --> 00:01:13.080 Thermal paste often contains metal oxide compounds that are good at conducting heat but not electricity. 00:01:13.080 --> 00:01:17.720 This way, they'll cool off your CPU without posing a risk of shorting out your components 00:01:17.720 --> 00:01:23.640 if you have a spill. There are liquid metal thermal solutions that conduct heat more effectively than metal 00:01:23.640 --> 00:01:29.200 oxide thermal paste, but unfortunately they're also electrically conductive, so most enthusiasts 00:01:29.200 --> 00:01:35.080 sacrifice a few degrees and just use the thermal paste since it's safer and easier to apply. 00:01:35.080 --> 00:01:39.440 But are there easy to obtain materials that have the same properties as thermal paste? 00:01:39.440 --> 00:01:43.560 To answer our original question, you actually can use toothpaste in a pinch, although you 00:01:43.560 --> 00:01:48.080 probably want to mix it in with petroleum jelly like Vaseline to prevent it from drying 00:01:48.080 --> 00:01:54.600 out too quickly. But here's the thing, it's kind of a crapshoot how well any given toothpaste will perform 00:01:54.600 --> 00:02:00.880 with your particular setup. Some of the ingredients in toothpaste can actually be decent conductors of heat, but 00:02:00.880 --> 00:02:04.680 it's not going to be as effective as what's an actual thermal paste, not to mention that 00:02:04.680 --> 00:02:08.400 toothpaste contains fluoride, which has a corrosive effect. 00:02:08.400 --> 00:02:12.640 Great for cleaning teeth, but plaque buildup in the device is less of a problem for heat 00:02:12.640 --> 00:02:18.400 spreaders. They're lucky. Another popular option is diaper rash cream containing zinc oxide. 00:02:18.400 --> 00:02:23.240 Even zinc oxide is a common thermal conductor found in actual thermal paste, it's not 00:02:23.240 --> 00:02:27.120 the worst option if you happen to have it on hand and it won't dry out as quickly as 00:02:27.120 --> 00:02:33.640 many other thermal paste alternatives. But even so, it won't stay the right consistency for more than a few months. 00:02:33.640 --> 00:02:36.920 And that sounds like a long time, but thermal paste is designed to last in your system for 00:02:36.920 --> 00:02:42.640 years before it might dry out. Just think about all the pre-built computers sold to folks who don't even know what thermal 00:02:42.640 --> 00:02:47.360 paste is. They're probably never even going to crack open their machines, let alone experiment 00:02:47.400 --> 00:02:53.960 with sloping hygiene products in there. Plus, the general public tends to hold onto their PCs for longer than enthusiasts and 00:02:53.960 --> 00:02:58.200 gamers since they aren't as interested in upgrading to the latest tech to play the latest 00:02:58.200 --> 00:03:05.800 AAA game. There's a reason that putting unusual substances on CPUs has largely stayed in meme territory. 00:03:05.800 --> 00:03:09.480 Most commonly suggested alternatives to thermal paste tend to dry out prematurely. 00:03:09.480 --> 00:03:13.480 Surprisingly, the best alternative we tested on our sister channel line of tech tips was 00:03:13.480 --> 00:03:19.040 plain yellow mustard of all things, but despite the fact it cooled our CPU off fairly well, 00:03:19.040 --> 00:03:26.160 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 00:03:26.160 --> 00:03:30.800 if you're having some kind of overheating emergency and need to use your PC briefly. 00:03:30.800 --> 00:03:33.880 But just get yourself some spare thermal paste. 00:03:33.880 --> 00:03:37.600 One good quality tube will have enough paste for several applications and costs less than 00:03:37.720 --> 00:03:40.800 $10. Just take it out of your monthly mustard budget. 00:03:40.800 --> 00:03:43.840 Thanks for watching guys, if you liked this video hit like, hit subscribe and hit us up 00:03:43.840 --> 00:03:47.760 in the comments section with your suggestions for topics that we should cover in the future.