Stulid Tested all of OcUK Thermal Paste Range

[stulid]

Thermal paste round-up.


http://www.overclockers.co.uk was kind enough to send me a range of thermal pastes to test and report back on, what follows is my own thoughts and testing. The following pictures are of the outside packaging as you would receive it, the contents and finally the "spread-ability" + "coverage" of each paste using my own method of testing.

Akasa AK-455 Thermal Compound - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=TH-002-AK&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=27

Akasa AK-460 High Performance Thermal Compund (3.5g) - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=TH-004-AK&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=27

Akasa TIM Kit Thermal Compound + Cleaner & Spreader - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=TH-003-AK&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=27

Alpenföhn "Snow Cannon" Thermalpaste (1.5g) - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=TH-000-AL&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=27

Arctic Cooling MX-2 Thermal Compound (4g) - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=TH-004-AR&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=27

Arctic Cooling MX-4 Thermal Compound (4g) - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=TH-003-AR&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=27

Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound (3.5g) - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=AC-000-AC&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=27

Arctic Silver Alumina Thermal Paste (1.75g) - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=TH-006-AR&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=27

Arctic Silver Céramique 2 Thermal Paste (2.7g) - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=TH-002-AC&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=27

Cooler Master IC-Essential E1 Thermal Paste - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=TH-016-CL&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=27

Cooler Master IC-Essential E2 Thermal Paste - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=TH-017-CL&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=27

Cooler Master IC-Value V1 Thermal Paste - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=TH-000-CM&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=27

Coollaboratory Liquid MetalPad - 1 x CPU Thermal Pad - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=TH-007-CL&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=27

I decided not to try test this product.

Coollaboratory Liquid Pro Liquid Metal Thermal Paste - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=TH-005-CL&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=27

Dimastech HTX-EE Thermal Grease - Enthusiast Edition (3.5g) - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=TH-000-DT&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=27

Gelid Solutions GC-Extreme Cutting Edge Thermal Compound (3.5g) - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=TH-000-GD&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=27

IC Diamond 24-Carat Thermal Compound (4.8g) - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=TH-001-ID&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=27

IC Diamond 7-Carat Thermal Compound (1.5g) - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=TH-000-ID&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=27

Prolimatech PK-1 Nano Thermal Compound (5g) - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=TH-000-PL&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=27

Prolimatech PK-2 Nano Aluminium Thermal Paste - 1,5g - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=TH-003-PL&groupid=701&catid=27&subcat=

Prolimatech PK-3 Nano Aluminium Thermal Paste - 1,5g - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=TH-004-PL&groupid=701&catid=27&subcat=

Xigmatek PTI-G3606 Thermal Grease - (3g) - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=TH-000-XG&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=27

Test Setup.

i5 3570K @4.5GHz (45X multi and using 1.4Vcore)
Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD5H
Antec Kuhler920 (set to silent mode)
Realtemp
Prime95


Each paste was applied using a rice grain sized blob in the center of the CPU's heatspreader and the clamping force of the Kuhler920 allowed to spread the paste, except for the Coolaboratory Liquid Pro which I followed the instructions within the packaging to apply.

I don't have a thermometer to measure the ambient temperature of my room, but the testing was done on similar days.


Spread-ability.

This is my own thoughts on how easy it was to spread a pea sized blob of each paste across a mirrored surface, I used one of the plastic spatula supplied in one of the kits and then tried to use the same amount of force to spread.

The Coolaboratory Liquid Pro doesn't work at all well when trying to use the CPU cooler to spread it using pressure, instead the instructions say to spread a small blob around the surface using a cotton bud or similar until the surface is like a mirror, it behaves like Mercury metal at all times and I didn't like it at all, the fact I got it to spread at all means it doesn't receive a 0


Idle temperatures.

Idle temps were recorded after leaving the PC alone for 15 mins and then the minimum temperature of all four cores added up and divided by the number of cores to give the average.

Load temperatures.

Load temps were recorded in a similar method after running Prime95 for 15 minutes, the maximum temps were again just added up and divided by the number of cores.

Conclusion.


Firstly lets talk about the Liquid Pro, its temperatures were good at both idle and load, but the mess it made of both the CPU's surface and Kuhler's surface was a nightmare to clean, the instructions also say that the writing on the heatspreader can be unreadable after use, luckily mine is still readable but the heatspreader surface certainly looks more dark and used after trying to clean this stuff off, even using the supplied cleaning kit isn't enough, as for the scouring pad supplied, I wouldn't dare touch either surface with it.

The Coolermaster IC-Value V1 is cheap at £2.99, but it shows with maximum temperatures way above the others.

I can not recommend the use of these thermal compounds at all.


Then we come to the £4-5 thermal pastes, the Cooler Master IC-Essential E2 being both easy to spread, a nice coverage and good temperatures.

In the £5-10 range the Gelid Solutions GC-Extreme was lovely to use and great temperatures, the Prolimatech PK-1 Nano and Alpenföhn "Snow Cannon" was nice to use also, but the temps were a tiny bit worse, an honorable mention must go to the Arctic Cooling MX-2, at £6.98 its a bargain.


If I was buying thermal paste tomorrow with my own money, the Gelid Solutions GC-Extreme or MX-2 would be first on my shopping list with the Prolimatech PK-1 Nano and Alpenföhn "Snow Cannon" following close behind.

 

[stulid]

Great review!

Are those temperatures normal for a clocked 3570K though? The load temperatures seem awfully high!

The temps of a 3570K are high when sticking 1.4v through it.

 

[stulid]

it doesnt seem that you accounted for thermal paste burn in...would that make any difference to the results?
great review btw xD

I got the samples a month ago, they had long enough

 

[stulid]

nice review, would you say that the Gelid is okay for putting on a gpu?

Don't see why not, its not conductive

 

[stulid]

Coming soon, an update

 

[stulid]

Updated the front page with Prolimatech PK-2 and PK-3 results.

Have also arranged graphs to show by score as requested.

 

[stulid]

Still no Thermalright Chill Factor 3 so incomplete test.

Lets see your complete test then?

 

[stulid]

Whats the reason you didnt include Thermalright Chill Factor 3

Read the thread title "Stulid Tested all of OcUK Thermal Paste Range"

OCUk don't do the Chillfactor3, had they...I'm sure I would have received it.

 

[stulid]

OCUk sell Liquid Metal Ultra do they not?
Whats the reason for not testing it?

Must be a newish product as I don't think it was listed back in May, I see a few new items have been added and are due soon.

I appreciate how much work has gone into this, but I have to repeat the above opinions and also question why they've been completely ignored thus far.

Then again, having seen how allergic you are to explaining yourself in other threads, I'm not surprised.

Bitchy.

If you read their posts you will see they are statements/opinions and not questions for me.

 

[stulid]

How is needing to know the ambient temp an opinion? It's a necessary requirement.

The pastes were tested on similar days and times. I'm sure I got it as close as possible, still doesn't deflect the last sentence of your post (which you tried to remove). Trying to help moderate the forums and help people here isn't easy and a very time consuming job.

I think you need to realize this and calm down, just because I haven't replied to someone fast enough for you or forget to check back on previous threads I may have posted in when trying to help forum members out.

 

[stulid]

I have no idea what the rest of your post is trying to say tbh...

Might be trying to explain why I don't always reply back to other threads, something about being "allergic" as you call it.

 

[stulid]

I was asked about delta temps and thermometers in this thread - http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18416533

Pretty sure I answered back in post#77 to peoples questions.

 

[stulid]

Very interesting to see that there's not much in the Artic Silver 5 and MX5 and indeed MX2.

Is there a general shelf life for these products?

Do you want a tube?

 

[stulid]

Been busy lately.

But heres a few answers

• The Gelid is great, spreads nicely, good price, non-conductive.

• The i5 2400 temps a little high I feel (maybe some curing if its been recently applied will help knock 1-2C off), but it all depends on your room temperature etc.

 

[stulid]

Question for the OP about the spread-ability of the IC Diamond 7c & 23c.

Was this tested while the compound was at room temp?
IC Diamond recommend you warm it up prior to application.

It was tested at room temperature, I never warmed the IC diamond paste as I don't remember seeing that being recommended.

I looked here - http://www.innovationcooling.com/applicationinstructions.htm - and saw nothing about heating the paste up prior to use.

 

[stulid]

If it helps I got a thermometer later on when I did the h100i, all it showed is that my house is very stable tempertaure wise with little variation, it is an energy efficent new build type consturction.

 

[stulid]

http://www.antec.com/product.php?id=704477&pid=104

I'm currently using that stuff, easy to spread (reminds me a lot of AS5) and temps seem decent.

 

[stulid]

That GC extreme is still a favorite.

 

[stulid]

If you cant find the Gelid then im currently liking Antec formula7, its very similar in terms of ease of spread etc.

Shout out to Prolimatech for the PK1/2 also.

 

[stulid]

Im all for the Gelid stuff. Shame OcUk only sell it in hair gel sized tubs.