Stock
Initial Results




At stock speed, the ARCTIC MX-4 performs well. It doesn't match up to the Coollaboratory Liquid Pro but given the risk associated with the latter, most users would up for regular thermal paste. And in that situation, the ARCTIC MX-4 is a serious contender. It falls short of the ARCTIC MX-3 by a mere 0.5C, which in this case remains the champion in terms of performance. Factor in the lower price of the ARCTIC MX-4 and it proves to be a more attractive offering. The highly popular ARCTIC Silver 5 trails behind by a larger 1C margin.

After 48 Hours




After 48 hours, we can see that the cooling potential of the ARCTIC MX-4 remains unchanged, demonstrating the lack of curing needed to get the best out of the thermal paste. On the other hand, there's a slight drop in performance when using the Coollaboratory Liquid Pro and ARCTIC MX-3. Conversely, the ARCTIC Silver 5 performs better, as expected due to it requiring curing time. The ARCTIC MX-4 takes the lead here as the best thermal paste along with the Thermalright Chill Factor II.

Curing


A closer look and we can see how the thermal compounds vary over time. The ARCTIC MX-4 retains the same performance over time so users can expect to see good results throughout their usage after application. The Thermalright Chill Factor II demonstrates the same trend, making it ARCTIC's toughest competitor.