Today I tested three pastes from my readers’ wish list and was downright depressed by the results of the first two pastes. That was until the last paste I tested built me up a bit. I tested established pastes such as the Noctua NT-H2, the Gelid GC-Extreme (in the blue tube) and the Thermalright TF7. Now, it’s not the first impression that counts for me in the test, but what the measured pastes actually achieve. And this is precisely where there is a huge gap between claim, marketing, price and actual performance. The measurement conditions according to ASTM D5470-17 are the same for everyone and in the event of outliers and anomalies, I repeat every measurement and involve a witness.
With Gelid GC-Extreme, however, I have to add a small preliminary remark, because the rather viscous (and popular) paste of recent years in the yellow tube is now mainly available in a blue tube and is extremely thin. It is completely impossible that this is the same paste and I was just about to question whether a third-party company might be selling a counterfeit here. No, not as far as you can question it. All the worse.
An important foreword on “bulk thermal conductivity” and false marketing promises
I am now deliberately prefacing this with two quotes that not only speak to me from the heart, but also absolutely agree with my laboratory measurements. Conventional pastes cannot achieve much more than 4 to 5 W/(m-K) under the usual conditions on a GPU or CPU in terms of layer thickness, temperature and pressure. Because these quotes are honest and unfortunately correspond to reality, I will use this part from now on as a standard quote in all paste tests of all manufacturers and put it in front. You can’t bend physics.
For those who wonder how you can even arrive at figures above this limit, it should be noted that test conditions can certainly be adapted to achieve astronomically high figures. However, testing in a bucket has nothing to do with reality, even if a known measurement method is used. Without knowledge of the exact circumstances, such values are completely misleading and meaningless. You could give many suppliers credit for simply not knowing any better and just copying the OEM’s data sheets, but it doesn’t make misleading consumers any better.
The mostly theoretically determined thermal conductivity values differ greatly depending on the application, as important factors such as contact pressure, temperature or surface cannot be taken into account uniformly. All our cooling products have therefore no longer given specific thermal conductivity values since the 4th quarter of 2020.We continue to rely on the test results of independent tests and reviews so that our customers can get a more realistic impression of the performance of our products in practice under comparable circumstances.
Arctic
ARCTIC has made a conscious decision not to provide thermal conductivity values for thermal pastes and thermal pads, as many manufacturers invent, artificially inflate or embellish these values. Thermally conductive paste has a thermal conductivity of 1 to 4 W/mK. Values outside this range, such as 12.5 W/mK, do not correspond to the truth. Many competitors state values above 4 W/mK to suggest better performance. This often leads to false expectations and dissatisfied users…
Real long-term simulations (3000 hours in 1000 cycles up to 90°C) are not feasible in terms of effort. That’s why I can only make predictions, but I want them to be understood as such. It is virtually impossible to make scientifically sound statements in just a few days. Yes, you can identify a trend and scale it as a forecast based on existing data, but this is not something that allows you to make really reliable statements. Therefore, I am sorry to say that I have to leave out this important point. However, as far as time permits, I will take community feedback into account and add the comments and long-term experience of third parties to the database as a note in due course, if it seems necessary. In both a positive and negative sense. However, this is a subjective value that has no place in a comparative database.
Noctua NT-H2
According to its own marketing, the Noctua NT-H2 is an advanced thermal compound based on the proven NT-H1. It uses a mixture of metal oxide microparticles, which are said to offer even lower thermal resistance, thereby optimizing the heat transfer between CPU or GPU and cooler. The paste is characterized by its ease of application, as it does not need to be spread manually. It is not electrically conductive, which minimizes the risk of short circuits, and remains stable over longer periods of time, making it particularly suitable for demanding applications such as overclocking or use in quiet systems. That’s what the marketing says, but what does the reality say?
At almost 12 euros (excluding shipping) for 3.5 grams, the paste is by far the most expensive in the test field and is supplied in a Noctua-typically styled box. We have become accustomed to the brown color by now and I would have thought it would have been funny if Noctua had had the paste colored in the company’s own shade of brown. However, the possible associations that would then arise are probably rather contradictory. In addition to the tube, three alcohol cleaning cloths are supplied, and that’s it for the very sporty price. Yes, it can certainly be much more expensive, but it can also be much cheaper. And I’m already saying here that it’s an overpriced dazzler that only lives from the company’s image. Harsh words, but I can prove them.
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Gelid Solutions GC-Extreme
The GC-Extreme in the yellow tubes was my P/L tip for years and it was also included with many coolers (e.g. Alphacool) as an OEM paste or was actually the first cryonaut. However, with the appearance of the first blue packaging, the contents of the tubes have also changed fundamentally to the detriment of the customer. The formerly viscous and long-lasting paste has degenerated into a thin paste that no longer has anything to do with the former original. Here, too, I’ll spoil it in advance by saying that I explicitly want this to be understood as a product warning.
In addition, the over 7 euros plus shipping for the delivered service is actually a cheek, but I’ll explain that in detail in a moment. If anyone can still get hold of an unopened yellow tube in its original packaging, they are welcome to send it to me for a counter-test. But beware, many stores still have the product pictures of the old paste online, but the one in the blue tube is delivered.
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Thermalright TF 7
I’ve already tested the TF8, now it’s the turn of the TF7 by popular demand, which at just over 4 euros for 2 grams (free shipping via Amazon Prime) is also the cheapest paste in the test. Once again, Thermalright delivers as ordered, although the price is of course unbeatable without all the middlemen. That has to be said in defense of the other competitors. However, this does not change the fact that the paste clearly stands out from the other two in terms of consistency. And in a positive way.
The TF7 is slightly less viscous than the TF8 and therefore easier to work with. In terms of consistency, TF7 is exactly the compromise between durability and user-friendliness that made the old GC-Extreme famous. I’ll leave that for now and let it sink in.
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Technical data
Let’s leave the marketing aside and look at the technical data of these pastes. We can see that the information on thermal conductivity is missing or incorrect (red). The columns highlighted in green contain my measured values, the columns highlighted in gray contain the manufacturer’s specifications and the accessories
| Technical data | Noctua NT-H2 |
Gelid GC-Extreme |
Thermalright TF7 |
| Bulk thermal conductivity λ | n/a | 8.5 W/(m-K) | 12.8 W/(m-K) |
| Effective thermal conductivity λeff, | 2.920 W/(m-K) | 2.897 W/(m-K) | 3.916 W/(m-K) |
| Thermally conductive particles | Zinc oxide (ZnO) Aluminum oxide (AL2O3) Silicone oil |
Zinc oxide (ZnO) Aluminum oxide (AL2O3) Silicone oil |
Zinc oxide (ZnO) Aluminum oxide (AL2O3) Silicone oil |
| Viscosity | rather liquid | rather liquid | normal |
| Color | light gray | light gray | gray |
| Accessories |
Cleaning pads | Spatula | Spatula |
| Container |
Box | Plastic bag | Plastic bag |
Further links and basics
Noctua NT-H2 3.5g, 1.2ml
 | Lagernd im Außenlager, Lieferung 2-3 WerktageStand: 13.09.24 10:14 | 11,69 €*Stand: 13.09.24 10:14 |
 | ab Lager | 11,70 €*Stand: 13.09.24 09:03 |
 | sofort lieferbar, Lieferzeit 2 - 4 Werktage | 11,75 €*Stand: 13.09.24 09:53 |
Gelid Solutions GC-Extreme, 3.5g (TC-GC-03-A)
 | lagernd: 50+ | 7,38 €*Stand: 13.09.24 10:07 |
| Lagernd im Außenlager, Lieferung 2-3 WerktageStand: 13.09.24 10:14 | 7,89 €*Stand: 13.09.24 10:14 |
| Computerxtreme.de | Lagernd | 7,90 €*Stand: 13.09.24 01:25 |
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