Unfortunately, Gelid Solutions does not only exchange the packaging of the GC Extreme

The hallmark of the fairly inexpensive but truly recommendable Gelid GC Extreme was a slightly more viscous but very performant paste in a yellow-green labeled syringe and with a spatula that helped with spreading and made more than one generation of PC hobbyists happy. But we know it: Gelid is not a manufacturer, but a pure bottler. The advantage is at least that Gelid can still influence what actually ends up in such a tube.

The recently available blue tube comes without a spatula, but with a rubber applicator, which already foreshadows bad things.  And yes, the new paste is significantly thinner and a bit stickier, which I’m sure the target audience of the old GC Extreme won’t like. With 8.5 W/mK Gelid certifies in the specs of the new paste the same thermal conductivity and also the price has remained the same, but the advantage of a slightly more viscous paste, which could score especially on rather curved and / or uneven surfaces, are unfortunately a thing of the past.

If you are looking for a substitute in the future, e.g. for use on a vapor chamber that is not quite flat, you should rather go for another paste that is a bit more viscous. What confuses the end user, however, is the fact that the paste is sold under the same manufacturer code (TC-GC-03-A). This is misleading and unfortunately also a bit dishonest, because I am sure that many a shop has not yet replaced the old product images, but is already shipping newer products. I guess you can just warn here, because it’s not what you knew (and really appreciated) until earlier this year. As soon as there is a little more air, a test should of course be carried out. Perhaps this paste has other merits as well.