The Official Thermal Interface Material thread

[lexluthermiester]

Halnziye HY-P17 | igor´sLAB

www.igorslab.de

"High-performance paste that is very well suited for CPUs. Its durability on GPUs is likely to be mediocre ..."

That statement came from Igorslab. Big grain of salt required.

 

[freeagent]

That statement came for Igorslab. Big grain of salt required.

Man, I thought it was just me who thought that.

I feel better.

 

[lexluthermiester]

Man, I thought it was just me who thought that.

I feel better.

That place used to be great, but it's gone way off the rails in recent years..

 

[TheNaitsyrk]

I'll try it anyway. He said most likely. It will go on 2x 5090s and I'll test with just one.

Got PTM 7950 as well.

 

[Shrek]

That place used to be great, but it's gone way off the rails in recent years..

I still find his thermal resistance graphs amazing, if only to point out there is so much more to a TIM than thermal conductivity
and that Artic MX-6 (New Formula, 2024, Rev 3) is so different to Artic MX-6 (2023, Rev 2)

 

[lexluthermiester]

Artic MX-6 (New Formula, 2024, Rev 3) is so different to Artic MX-6 (2023, Rev 2)

To be fair, the differences are not enough to effect the cooling of the average CPU, even while doing some overclocking.

 

[Shrek]

How so? If we take thickness of 50μm (1/20 mm) then it is

0.17 vs 0.24

Are the boxes marked for the revision?

 

[lexluthermiester]

How so? If we take thickness of 50μm (1/20 mm) then it is

0.17 vs 0.24

Are the boxes marked for the revision?


View attachment 406813

It's called practical field application. I couldn't care less about lab testing. I care about performance in deployed systems in proper operating environments. In my testing, the differences are effectively minimal, batch to batch. Hell, in my testing MX5 STILL does better than any formulation of MX6 in real-world applications.
EDIT: This is one of the reasons I like KPx so much. It turns out that MX5 and KPx are VERY similar in formulation and thus perform similarly and very well.

So when it comes to the top tier TIMs, KPx is my goto. In the normal range, MX6 and AS5.

 

[Shrek]

I agree with you and don't see what all the fuss is about. I have a lifetime supply of GD900 and it works great for me.
If one desperately needs that 1-2°C, one has cooling problems elsewhere; I put some money into case fans.

However, I remain fascinated with the surface effects that most people seem to ignore.

 

[lexluthermiester]

I agree with you and don't see what all the fuss is about. I have a lifetime supply of GD900 and it works great for me.

Exactly. Unless you do a massive amount of OCing, CPU swapping/testing, that TIM will do very well for a long time.

However, I remain fascinated with the surface effects that most people seem to ignore.

Agreed! That level of testing and experimentation is very interesting and compelling.

 

[Asni]

I guess the Upsiren UTP-8 is simply not obtainable unless you pay completely ridiculous shipping that's way more expensive than the product itself, so what is the next best thing I should look for?

I bought 10g of UTP-8 from an unofficial reseller on Aliexpress (Thermal Explorer Store). As my first order on Aliexpress, i paid 0.88€ (no shipping costs).
I received it in ~20 days (Italy) with authentication tag.

Spoiler

 

[Octopuss]

Can you post a link?

 

[Asni]

https://it.aliexpress.com/item/1005006473950730.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.order_list_main.5.caf23696wHl35h&gatewayAdapt=glo2ita

 

[Octopuss]

Yeah, $60 equivalent shipping.
It's weird that NONE of the UTP-8 listings on Ali have standard shipping available, which explains the horrible cost I guess.

 

[TPCEA]

Yeah, $60 equivalent shipping.
It's weird that NONE of the UTP-8 listings on Ali have standard shipping available, which explains the horrible cost I guess.

I bought 10g of UTP-8 from an unofficial reseller on Aliexpress (Thermal Explorer Store). As my first order on Aliexpress, i paid 0.88€ (no shipping costs).
I received it in ~20 days (Italy) with authentication tag.

For me, in Ohio, USA, 10g is $11.97 and free shipping. Which Upsiren is that - the European or Chinese one?

 

[freeagent]

I just bought one of these for my GPU. I think my old pad is wearing out when it comes to peak hotspot temps. Probably why they made a second rev.

Thermal Grizzly - PhaseSheet PTM (50x40mm)- High Performance Thermal pad with Phase Change Material | Durable, not electrically Conductive | for CPU, GPU & Electronics Cooling : Amazon.ca: Electronics

Thermal Grizzly - PhaseSheet PTM (50x40mm)- High Performance Thermal pad with Phase Change Material | Durable, not electrically Conductive | for CPU, GPU & Electronics Cooling : Amazon.ca: Electronics

www.amazon.ca

 

[Borc]

I'll try it anyway. He said most likely. It will go on 2x 5090s and I'll test with just one.

Got PTM 7950 as well.

I already tried Halnziye HY-P17 with big success. In my testing it has 1°C lower temps than the already great PTM7950. This is from initial performance on the second day. I can't know how it works in half a year and I don't know how it performs on a GPU. On my mobile CPU it is the strongest paste I'm aware of. No paste is stronger than this and it's not even close. It makes me wonder why others can't do this. The paste is highly viscous and dry though, I work with the dots or line method.

 

[John Naylor]

Every now and then I liked to go back and read the TIM comparison test that included Peanut Butter, Mayonaise, etc.... see the title made me wanna look for it again ...lost the bookmark

 

[lexluthermiester]

Every now and then I liked to go back and read the TIM comparison test that included Peanut Butter, Mayonaise, etc.... see the title made me wanna look for it again ...lost the bookmark

I'm still ficken amazed at the automotive copper thread grease working so very well as a TIM. I did that as a joke and holy crap did it ever work well.

 

[Shrek]

Enough for a lifetime.

 

[spectator]

Longevity wise, what’s the consensus? I’m building SFF, and really don’t want to have to take it apart every 6 months to repaste.

HY-P17 for CPU (9950X3D)
PTM7950 Thermal Pads w/ UTP-8 (4090 TUF OC)

AliExpress usually delivers in ~5 days to me (Japan)

 

[TPCEA]

Longevity wise, what’s the consensus? I’m building SFF, and really don’t want to have to take it apart every 6 months to repaste.

HY-P17 for CPU (9950X3D)
PTM7950 Thermal Pads w/ UTP-8 (4090 TUF OC)

AliExpress usually delivers in ~5 days to me (Japan)

Why are you going to repaste every 6 months? You should be able to go for years without repasting.

 

[freeagent]

I still have my original application of Duronaut installed.. I thought I went a bit thin in some spots, so I tried to cook the shit out of it to get it to spread. Not sure if it did anything, but since it is the weekend I maybe try a back to back test with SYY soon. Just waiting for it to get hot as balls outside so the air stays running. Not gonna lie this TIM is pretty decent and would recommend.

I do run my fans at full speed, so maybe I cheat a bit.

Also that TG PTM pad on my GPU is pretty decent. I thought it sucked at first because I hit it hard with OCCT power test right away. Not a good plan. I cooked it with some games and F@H first then gave it the beans. I like it.

 

[Octopuss]

Upsiren PCM-1 has finally arrived, so I am shopping for memory and whatever thermal pads now. I was just about to order some 1,5mm strips, but then I opened my card's review looked at the teardown photos, and noticed various pads of different thickness.

The eshop I typically buy from has Arctic TP-3 and Thermal Grizzly Minus Pad (I chose Advance since they don't have Pro). Both come in 120x20mm strips, only Grizzly is four times more expensive. I have no experience with this stuff at all so I can't make up my mind. Does anyone have an opinion?

So now what?
What size and thickness do I need? This looks like pretty difficult guessing quest. Four strips of 120x20 might be enough to cover the card, but there are extremely conflicting opinions on the thickness (the 1,2mm answer someone quoted in this thread is not quite the same as what google says, but people typically say anything from 1mm to 2mm, and that's just for the PCB side)


P.S. I figured out the problem with Aliexpress and ridiculous UTP-8 shipping cost. The official Upsiren store responded to my question with "Because it is a paste, standard logistics cannot transport pastes", which makes no sense, but at least it's an explanation.

 

[TPCEA]

Upsiren PCM-1 has finally arrived, so I am shopping for memory and whatever thermal pads now. I was just about to order some 1,5mm strips, but then I opened my card's review looked at the teardown photos, and noticed various pads of different thickness.
View attachment 409597
View attachment 409598


The eshop I typically buy from has Arctic TP-3 and Thermal Grizzly Minus Pad (I chose Advance since they don't have Pro). Both come in 120x20mm strips, only Grizzly is four times more expensive. I have no experience with this stuff at all so I can't make up my mind. Does anyone have an opinion?

So now what?
What size and thickness do I need? This looks like pretty difficult guessing quest. Four strips of 120x20 might be enough to cover the card, but there are extremely conflicting opinions on the thickness (the 1,2mm answer someone quoted in this thread is not quite the same as what google says, but people typically say anything from 1mm to 2mm, and that's just for the PCB side)


P.S. I figured out the problem with Aliexpress and ridiculous UTP-8 shipping cost. The official Upsiren store responded to my question with "Because it is a paste, standard logistics cannot transport pastes", which makes no sense, but at least it's an explanation.

If thickness is the issue, you could also consider putty.