Noctua Presents NA-TPG1 Thermal Paste Guard for AMD AM5

[btarunr]

Noctua today announced its new NA-TPG1 thermal paste guard for AMD's latest AM5 based Ryzen processors. When the mounting pressure of the cooling solution is applied, excess thermal paste will be squeezed outwards. With AM5 CPUs, this excess paste tends to accumulate in the cut-outs at the sides of the heat-spreader and may become difficult to remove. Simple and risk-free to apply, the NA-TPG1 prevents this undesired phenomenon.

"While there's no denying that AMD's new Ryzen 7000 processors perform fantastic, we found that the cut-outs at the side of the heat-spreader tend to attract thermal paste that can be challenging to clean off" says Roland Mossig (Noctua CEO). "This is where our new thermal paste guard steps in: it's a simple yet highly effective tool for keeping your new Ryzen 7000 series CPU nice and clean."



Made from highly heat-resistant polycarbonate and forming a tight seal around the edges of the CPU's heat-spreader, the NA-TPG1 is simple and risk free to apply and remove. Despite its simplicity, it is highly efficient at preventing thermal paste from accumulating in the cut-outs at the sides of AM5 CPUs.

The NA-TPG1 will be available in a separate set with ten NA-CW1 cleaning wipes (NA-STPG1) as well as with new AM5 editions of Noctua's award-winning NT-H1 and NT-H2 thermal pastes. All three products are scheduled to become available in December.

The manufacturer's suggested retail price will be EUR/USD 7.90 for the NA-STPG1, EUR/USD 9.90 for the NT-H1 3.5 g AM5 Edition and EUR/USD 13.90 for the NT-H2 3.5 g AM5 Edition. For more information, visit this page.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[Mussels]

I'm not shocked this exists already

Price is cheap since it comes with TIM and wipes, tbh.

 

[Ferrum Master]

If you need a guard when applying TIM, 99% you do it the wrong way.

I would agree it use as caution when using Liquid metal... I don't know how from a swab can something drip off... but anyways.

 

[Mussels]

If you need a guard when applying TIM, 99% you do it the wrong way.

I would agree it use as caution when using Liquid metal... I don't know how from a swab can something drip off... but anyways.

always use protection

 

[Deleted member 185088]

That's a solution for a problem that shouldn't exist in the first place.
Is there any reason why Zen5 has a weird IHS.

 

[Ferrum Master]

always use protection

Meh...

Is there any reason why Zen5 has a weird IHS.

I read somewhere it is done for temperature stability of those exposed caps. Can be wrong tho. But at least a valid reason.

 

[Mussels]

That's a solution for a problem that shouldn't exist in the first place.
Is there any reason why Zen5 has a weird IHS.

they had to move SMD's from the bottom of the CPU to the top, the cutouts gave them more room to mount stuff keeping the CPU smaller

 

[Ferrum Master]

they had to move SMD's from the bottom of the CPU to the top, the cutouts gave them more room to mount stuff keeping the CPU smaller

Their LGA design was always without caps at the bottom. I am an old Socket F user. They had nothing there, it is just wasted space where you can add power plane pins for greater voltage stability and less current stress on existing pins. Ie not turn like Intel had with certain sockets.

 

[Mussels]

Their LGA design was always without caps at the bottom. I am an old Socket F user. They had nothing there, it is just wasted space where you can add power plane pins for greater voltage stability and less current stress on existing pins. Ie not turn like Intel had with certain sockets.

They have SMD's there now, and clearly had nowhere else to put em

I bet if we pencil over them we can overclock them to 64 core CPU's like the good old days

 

[Ferrum Master]

I bet if we pencil over them we can overclock them to 64 core CPU's like the good old days

I didn't bother penciling my Durons's, I soldered a wire bridge directly and called it a day. Ah those memories of my Dual CPU AMD760MPX with Applebread Durons... time when almost nothing used the second CPU .

It is their design choice. Actually considering the size of that IHS... each cutout saves them a lot of $$ on metal and transport weight also.

 

[ebivan]

So what? Let it fill the space in between. Why bother at all? All my CPUs have residue on the sides of the heatspreader, ist doent not matter at all, as long as the upper surface is clean when applying new grease.

I guess this is for those folks who RGB-illuminate their cases and put their GPUs in the window to compensate for their small p... -I mean power supplies!

 

[mama]

Just use electrical tape when fitting then remove before use.

 

[sLowEnd]

I never really cared about whether or not I got thermal paste on my GPU's surface mount components. Not sure why I'd have any reason to suddenly care about it on the CPU.

 

[Chaitanya]

Just use electrical tape when fitting then remove before use.

Or masking tape or duct tape.

 

[Camm]

Are you supposed to leave this in place? Apply pressure, lift the cooler, lift the drip plate, then reapply? Not a huge fan of the cutouts, but I question something that is covering those cutouts as well.

 

[birdie]

AMD should have adopted a new cooling design, period.

Yeah, many would be outraged but der8auer has clearly demonstrated that AMD made a huge mistake:

Just use electrical tape when fitting then remove before use.

You know you could even use a piece of ... paper which will cost you nothing.

 

[trsttte]

AMD should have adopted a new cooling design, period.

Yeah, many would be outraged but der8auer has clearly demonstrated that AMD made a huge mistake:

It was very predictable - thicker metal higher thermal resistance, pretty simple. They could have kept the layout and socket keep out areas but change the height (conversion kit would be new mounting screws or just washers for crafty users ) and the thermals would be improved a lot just as with deliding, maybe now they have an excuse to change sockets next year

I don't think there would be any outrage, pretty natural to need at least a mounting adapter with a new socket, maybe they feared it would take longer for manufacturers to adopt the new socket but they're no longer the underdog pseudo-newcommer they were back at the start of AM4, this was just a poor decision

 

[pressing on]

der8auer does say in part of that video that the IHS is not sealed all the way round. This might explain the comment by Noctua that the Thermal Paste Guard (forms) "...a tight seal around the edges of the CPU's heat-spreader...". Whether paste getting under the IHS in the gaps that do exist is an issue is another matter. It would be potentially difficult to remove paste from these gaps because of the surface components close by.

 

[Legacy-ZA]

Just take a plastic bag, put it over your finger, nice and tight, put thermal paste on your fingertip, spread evenly, nice and thin.

 

[INSTG8R]

Just take a plastic bag, put it over your finger, nice and tight, put thermal paste on your fingertip, spread evenly, nice and thin.

Grizzly's included Spatula FTW!!

 

[Legacy-ZA]

Grizzly's included Spatula FTW!!

Those are always nice, but not everyone includes them, this is the cheap, easy and does the job real well.

 

[zlobby]

If you need a guard when applying TIM, 99% you do it the wrong way.

I would agree it use as caution when using Liquid metal... I don't know how from a swab can something drip off... but anyways.

Yep! TIM should form only a tiny layer between the microscopic grooves in the IHS and the coldplate. If it's drippin' you are using it wrong.

der8auer does say in part of that video that the IHS is not sealed all the way round. This might explain the comment by Noctua that the Thermal Paste Guard (forms) "...a tight seal around the edges of the CPU's heat-spreader...". Whether paste getting under the IHS in the gaps that do exist is an issue is another matter. It would be potentially difficult to remove paste from these gaps because of the surface components close by.

It would make sense to me for the IHS to have some holes to 'vent'. IDK how much but even the small ammount of air beneath would increase the pressure when heated to 95C. Maybe it's too much, especially when done in cycles, hence the vent ports.

 

[Tek-Check]

Of course somebody was going to profit on this side effect of CPU design.

Perhaps AMD could include one guard in CPU box? It's a no brainer.

 

[INSTG8R]

Those are always nice, but not everyone includes them, this is the cheap, easy and does the job real well.

I totally agree before I switched to Grizzly I used to cut up pieces of Blister Packs to make my own "spatulas" So there is another method to add to the "toolbox"

 

[Dirt Chip]

This solution may still be cheaper than changing the whole mounting in a way that it won`t accept AM4 coolers, but just highlight (part) of the AM5 problem.
Remember- AM5 is here until at least the end of 2024. This (very) minor "glitch" might turn into something more significant in feature CPU`s (hopefully not).