SPLAVE ONE tested against two other Sub-Zero thermal pastes – When Allen becomes Don Pastillo

1 - Introduction and overview 2 - Performance comparisons in practice and conclusion 3 - Appendix #A: SPLAVE ONE 4 - Appendix #B: Kingpin KPx 5 - Appendix #C: Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut Extreme

After testing three thermal pastes for the subzero range, i.e. overclocking with LN2, I have a direct comparison of all three pastes for you today, even if it looks a bit niche at first glance. But firstly, there is some new knowledge for free and secondly, Allen “Splave” Golibersuch, the creator behind the last paste I tested, is an interesting guy from my circle of acquaintances. Allen is a renowned professional overclocker who is known for his extraordinary achievements in the field of extreme overclocking. Using liquid nitrogen (LN2), he has set numerous world records and redefined the limits of hardware performance time and time again. Well, and now he has also positioned his own customized thermal paste on the market.

He has maximized the performance of processors and graphics cards several times by using LN2 cooling, for example by overclocking an Asus ROG Matrix RTX 4090 to over 4 GHz, which was a new world record, and overclocking an Intel Core i9-13900K processor to 8.2 GHz, also using LN2 cooling. This performance surpassed previous records and demonstrated the processor’s potential under extreme conditions. In addition to his practical successes, Allen also enjoys sharing his knowledge and experience with the community and has written several articles for Tom’s Hardware detailing the methods and techniques he uses to achieve his records.

Besides being an overclocker, Allen also runs a PC store that specializes in custom high performance PCs and overclocking accessories, and with SPLAVE ONE, he now also has a low temperature thermal paste in his portfolio. And since we know each other, I naturally didn’t miss out on the test and decided to get hold of this paste without further ado. You can buy it from Capacytor EU in the Amazon Marketplace.

The special features in the subzero area

Silicone oil is also a key element in LN2-suitable thermal conductive pastes, as it is also suitable for its excellent properties under extreme temperature conditions when specially designed. Therefore, only a specific type of silicone oil is used in the development of such pastes, which has been optimized for extreme thermal stability and a consistently high viscosity even at extremely low temperatures. Unlike conventional silicone oils, which can become viscous or brittle at sub-zero temperatures, this particular grade must be formulated to remain flexible and pliable. This ensures that the paste does its job even under liquid nitrogen cooling, namely the efficient transfer of heat between the hardware surface and the heat sink, and that it does not crack.

A critical aspect in the selection of the silicone oil is its molecular structure. Special silicone oils used in LN2-suitable pastes are designed to have a low freezing point and high temperature resistance. This is crucial as the thermal paste still needs to be applied over the entire surface in extreme conditions to minimize air entrapment and ensure maximum heat transfer. The development of thermal pastes suitable for LN2 therefore goes far beyond the simple combination of thermally conductive particles and a carrier oil.

It requires a sophisticated balance of ingredients to ensure that the paste retains its elasticity and stability at low temperatures without volatilizing or hardening. In addition, the paste must completely fill the unevenness of the surface of the hardware and must not exhibit any significant deviations in its thermal conductivity. The thermally conductive particles in the paste must be evenly distributed in order to guarantee homogeneous heat transfer and must not be impaired in their structure under LN2 cooling.

LN2 pastes therefore focus on two things: good thermal conductivity and high resistance at very low temperatures. Of course, this also requires compromises, so that such pastes will never be among the absolute top pastes. But they are extremely resistant, which is not to be sneezed at.

Of course, I can’t test the subzero range, but I can test the rest. And the SPLAVE ONE doesn’t actually cut such a bad figure there 🙂

Test setup and methods	Material analysis and microscopy	Basic knowledge
Here you can find out why effective thermal conductivity and bulk thermal conductivity can be completely different in practice, what role the contact resistance between the surfaces and the paste plays and how thermal paste can be measured accurately. There is also a detailed description of the equipment, the methodology and the error tolerances.	You will learn how laser-induced plasma spectroscopy works and the advantages and limitations of the measurements. There is also high-resolution digital microscopy and analysis of particle sizes. This information is also used to estimate the long-term stability of a paste.	Anyone who has always wanted to know what is or is not in a paste and how these pastes are produced will find what they are looking for here. The basic article provides a better understanding of what is often sold for far too much money and sometimes with adventurous promises.