Performance Results and Conclusions
Please see our ‘Application and Testing Methodology’ page for details on how we tested. A picture is often worth one thousand words, so without further ado:
Although there is not much of a difference between these pastes, there is indeed a measurable difference. Whether or not a one degree delta is enough to sway a buyer from one product to another is difficult to say.
What was most surprising was how poorly that old no-name silver compound I had compared to the others. I expected maybe a degree or two, but a full 5.5°C delta between it and the TX-2 is pretty incredible. So there you have it! Some surprises and some of what I expected. There have definitely been some improvements in the composition of these thermal interface materials over the last several years. The fact that these four pastes were able to best the already potent Arctic Silver Ceramique by a full degree is impressive.
One particular paste really stands out from the crowd—Tuniq’s TX-2. Not only is it the best performing paste of the lot, it is the cheapest! What more could you ask for? For a measly $3.99 per tube, this stuff is a steal. If I had to buy some paste for a personal machine of mine—it would definitely be TX-2.
OCZ’s Freeze is also a very potent thermal interface material. It managed to best our reference ceramic-based paste by a 1.5°C margin. It can be found at just about any PC retailer and is priced reasonably as well.
Coolink’s Chillaramic compound comes in a massive 10g tube, making it the most plentiful of the lot. This is definitely a great choice for those who do a lot of CPU installations. Its performance is right up there with the best and has a full degree on our reference ceramic paste.
Noctua’s NT-H1 is another great premium paste. Buyers of Noctua’s recently released heatsinks can rest assured that the included NT-H1 is a top-notch product. It also bested our reference ceramic compound by a full degree. Like the other pastes we tested today, it is non-conductive, and does not require burn-in for best performance.
I was very happy with all four of the products I tested today, and am pleased to provide awards all around. Tuniq’s TX-2 is by far a clear best choice product and I’m happy to award it with Icrontic’s rare “Golden Fedora” award. The OCZ, Coolink and Noctua pastes are also fantastic products and definitely deserve the “Icrontic Outstanding Product Award”. A big thanks goes out to Tuniq, OCZ, Coolink and Noctua for providing us with these samples.
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