Corsair XTM50 High Performance Thermal Compound Paste | Ultra-Low Thermal Impedance CPU/GPU | 5 Grams | w/applicator for Desktop

I didn’t end up actually using this. The project we were working on came with a tube. So I didn’t try it.out. shipping was quick and it was exactly as described.

So I noticed my laptop was getting a bit of thermal throttle after the first year of use, and despite the lack real guidance on this particular model as to how exactly to resolve this (and no real breakdown/application guide for it… anywhere…), I took a leap of faith and grabbed this stuff.

To put it bluntly, since I was NOT using this on a desktop and therefore could not use the template, I can concur with some other reviewers; It does NOT spread well (I wound up throwing caution to the wind, using a plastic knife edge to simply blot it down, and then spread it evenly as best I could).
It is a bit… I don’t know, different? I know it’s strictly to close the air gaps between heat sinks and whatever they touch, but I found it incredibly fickle specifically on the VRM’s in my machine (I’m guessing the type of ferrite they use for ASUS machines and THIS paste just… Well… Don’t work together well…?).
On the flip side, I used about one notch of the paste for the entire job; the OEM paste was a hot mess, and wound up breaking down at some point, making a huge toothpick level job to remove all of it from the machine.
That being said, I can definitely tell the big difference it made in how NOT warm the laptop is. I can’t say it “cools” any better, it is a laptop, after all, but, it definitely isn’t thermal throttling, the fan curves are more well behaved, and ultimately, everything does in fact run better as a result.

So I guess that’s a win in my book, to be fair! We’ll check it in six months, since the entire machine has to come apart (or sooner, if I start to notice misbehavior again) and a re paste has to happen in order for that to happen (I’d rather not, but no thanks to this paste). May use it on my desktop and see how it goes!

It really lowers the temperature of the processor allowing me to recover a large percentage of the lost performance in my laptop, especially due to the constant heating of the processor,

Exceeded my expectations. This paste effectively reduces temperatures by promoting heat transfer. The kit comes with a syringe and precision applicator. The consistency of the paste was just right and easy to apply. The paste has long life so you won’t need to worry about replacing this paste frequently. Overall this paste is reliable and efficient and certainly budget friendly. I would highly recommend!

Worked great, using it for testing different CPUs and motherboards. Got around 3-4 fairly heavy applications and it’s still got 2-3 more, so I’d say it’s worth it. Unfortunately all the motherboards I have are old and they didn’t work, so I’m building a computer with all new parts. I just got the new motherboard and it arrived broken, go figure, hopefully once I get my refund I can get one that’s not broken.