Prolimatech PK-3 - thermal paste

Product Information

Even though a dizzying array of different thermal pastes is available — some blends have been around for over a decade — new formulations still come to market at a surprising pace. Long-time PC cooler maker NZXT recently entered the market with its first paste, the not-very-excitingly named NZXT High-Performance Thermal Paste. Cooler Master introduced a new purple CryoFuze, and Alphacool unveiled its Apex thermal paste. Cooling mainstay Corsair also has a new XTM70 blend that will be heading to our test bench soon, and Gelid has recently released its GC-4 Thermal Paste, showing that the TIM market is still thriving.

Many thermal compound brands have come and gone, but one that’s at the forefront of nearly every PC builder’s builds over the last decade is Thermal Grizzly. And when it comes to standard, non-conductive thermal pastes, the Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut is possibly the best around. Liquid metal compounds make their way to the top of the temperature chart with slightly cooler values than the traditional pastes. Interestingly, the difference between the top and bottom of this chart is less than 4C.We're also putting a new take on an old approach to the test — thermal pads. These pads can be used as TIM and come as a single sheet you simply apply to your heatsink, with Thermaltake's Heilos Pad being the first new thermal pad entrant to see our test bed in the coming weeks. We tested each thermal paste with a low-tension air cooler mount, high-tension air cooler mount, and a high-tension AIO liquid cooler mount. Each application was given a 1-hour burn-in using Prime95 with ten load and cooling cycles over the course of the hour; six minutes each with a ten-second cool-down between. Each testing load session was then executed for a one-hour load period, again using Prime95. I de-dusted this 3 times in the meantime, so it's not a dust clog effect, and fresh paste made it again into a comfortable palm rest. Thermal compounds might always be compared and debated over, but the simple fact remains: PC system building needs thermal compounds to effectively dissipate thermal loads. Without them, our beloved gaming and content-producing machines would struggle to keep components cool during heated frag sessions, heavy workstation computations, or just simply browsing the web. For many years, IC Diamond was the king of cool when it came to thermal compounds. And while it’s no longer sitting on the throne as the best in class, this diamond in the rough is still a solid choice with the IC Diamond 24 Carat Thermal Compound.

This thermal compound is actually quite special in that it’s mostly composed of diamond powder, which boasts a much higher thermal conductivity than many metals that are found in normal thermal pastes. In the tube, it’s 92% diamond powder, and after it’s applied and properly dried, constitutes 94% of the total paste, making it a rich choice for cooling. It’s no surprise that the liquid metal compounds once again sit atop the thermal comparison. Still, a 6C difference between all 15 thermal compounds tested shows there isn’t a lot of variation, even with a 360 all-in-one cooler with a push+pull fan setup for performance. Liquid metal compounds are almost always electrically conductive, so while these compounds perform better than their paste counterparts, they require more focus and attention during application. They are very hard to remove if you get some in the wrong place, which would fry your system. Thermal paste is an important part of your PC, and helps to keep hot components cool by allowing for better heat transfer between chips and their heatsinks. That’s why if you’re looking to get the most out of your CPU, you’ll want a good thermal paste to help achieve optimal cooling performance.I appreciate the work that has been put into this test, where one can see comparison for most known products. There will be additional pastes added to this list as we go, so feel free to leave suggestions here in the comments - I'm reading them and planning for the next round as we speak. I have a comment, NT-H1 was slightly shorter lived paste than others, at least in my testing in laptops mx4's laptop started to show thermal issues (system throttles, palm rest is getting hot) similar to default paste after ~1.5y whole MX holds without noticeable changes for at least 3years now. Pactum PT-1 is grey, and its thermal conductivity is 4 W / mK, with a density of 2.5 g /cm³. As the density is relatively low, the paste is very easy to apply. The product does not conduct electricity. Together with the syringe, in which there is 4 g of the compound, the manufacturer adds a plastic spatula to facilitate applying the paste. Small differences in temperatures jostle the chart a bit, but overall the more budget-friendly compounds show much more promising performance value due to relatively close load ranges. We see a trend that most good and great thermal compounds perform very similarly, but might be worlds apart in price per gram.

Nice comparison, thanks. Hovewer I would like to see Noctua's H2 paste from 2019 in the comparison, instead of the H1 from 2007. Hopefully that can still be added?

I've been looking at MX4 and MX5, but I'm not sure how well they perform on heavy RTX and 8 Core Ryzen PCs. In contrast, traditional thermal paste compounds are relatively simple for every experience level. Most, but not all, traditional pastes are electrically non-conductive. Thermal paste is a staple in any PC build, but it can be a pain to work with. That’s where thermal pads come into play. Thermal pads serve the same function as thermal paste, but are much easier to work with, since they are pads you cut to size. They’re also more durable than thermal paste is. When it comes to thermal paste, there are quite a few different types, with liquid metal being the most thermally efficient. However, due to the electrical conductivity of liquid metal, most people opt for an electrically non-conductive thermal paste. Perhaps the next most thermally efficient type of thermal paste is a carbon-based paste, and with the BSFF Thermal Paste, it’s easy to see how that’s the case.

Corsair Commander Pro, 100%/50% PWM Speed profiles (liquid cooling pump always @100%, if applicable) Whoa, that's pretty cheap per gram, especially given it's got Noctua on the label. Surprised it isn't beige or brown. Credit is provided by Novuna Personal Finance, a trading style of Mitsubishi HC Capital (UK) PLC, authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Financial Services Register no. 704348. The register can be accessed through http://www.fca.org.uk Over time, thermal paste can dry out and become hard, which can impede its ability to transfer heat. This, in turn, can cause your CPU to run hotter, which can lead to thermal throttling, thereby decreasing your CPU’s performance.

This thermal compound is just perfect, easy to spread, the quality is simply amazing and it makes a huge difference in temps.