Question Are there no options left for people in the US to get a quality thermal pad for their GPU?

[Cyber_Akuma]

This has been a wild ride, and I am utterly confused. My GPU is overheating in some of my systems and I am going to re-pad and re-paste it, I am not expecting miracles but every little bit can help and I wanted to get good pads to replace the stock ones on this cheap OEM card. It only has two 30x15mm and one 60x15mm pad, so it's not a lot, but they are both 2.0mm which is not as common.

Anyway, after doing some research I ran into this video comparing several pads:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdIIA57treo


It didn't have some of the newer pads like the Arctic TP-3 or the Kritical pads, but it listed most other major ones and a few random cheap ones.

Based on that video the top performers were also one of the more affordable ones (not considering the random Aliexpress ones that performed horribly), Gelid and Nab Cooling. But where it really became a mess is when I tried to actually get some.

One sketchy thing about Gelid though, at least when trying to purchase from Amazon. This is their storefront on Amazon, this is the link their own website's Amazon link takes me to: https://www.amazon.com/stores/page/5BC8F158-6E57-47A8-9313-A63F1738951C

Just about any of their listings for their pads from that very storefront takes me to a listing that says it's being sold by a place called "Retail storee". Selecting the 120x30mm pads links me to the 3mm one that is sold by "Gelid Solutions US", but that is not the thickness I need. If I choose any other thickness the listing changes to "Retail storee" with no option to buy from "Gelid Solutions US": https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0922H1V6V

If I select the listings from Gelid's official marketplace: https://www.amazon.com/s?me=A3F30TC3QB0QFZ&marketplaceID=ATVPDKIKX0DER

The only ones even listed are the 120x30x3mm and dual 120x30x0.5mm ones, none of the other sizes or thicknesses.

This feels very sketchy to me. On top of the fact that naming your store "Retail Store" feels like an obvious attempt to look like some official store when you are not, it's even misspelled with two es... But out of options and beyond my better judgement I tried to order them anyway thinking that if their own official storefront links to that, it might be authorized.... my order after a few days was marked as "undeliverable" and refunded.

Are the "Retail storee" listings a scam that somehow are managing to get into the same set of listings as the manufacturer's official ones? Anyone have any familiarity with this seller?

I tried to go to Gelid's own website and just order directly from there: https://gelidsolutions.com/product/gp-ultimate-xl-thermal-pad/

I noticed that when I went to calculate shipping, it defaulted to Canada. I changed it to US and entered my information.... get an error that "No shipping options were found for (my location)". Seems like they might not ship outside of Canada.

Fine, those Nab ones apparently looked the same and performed the same for slightly lower price, likely they were from the same supplier. I clicked the Amazon link from that video to the Nab thermal pads.... "Seller: Retail storee"

Resisting the urge to punch a hole in my wall, I tried looking for their official website: https://nabcooling.com/product/nab-cooling-thermal-pad-90x50/

They are all listed there, but there does not appear to be any "purchase" or "add to cart" or any such option, despite advertising limited time free shipping to the US. I tried to use their contact form to e-mail them if they are sold out or something and it just returned an error.

I try to check local stores, the only one I know of that might carry something like this is Micro Center... and they only have a few random no-name brands or Thermal Grizzly, which to my surprise actually performed quite poorly in that video.... and they didn't have them in 2.0mm anyway.

Arctic seems to be another good brand that is making a name for themselves lately for good budget cooling products (namely their fans) and their latest TP-3 pads appear to be good... although I could not find comparisons of how well they perform. They are even being sold directly officially by them on Amazon.... issue is, they don't make them any thicker than 1.5mm.

Kritical is another I was recommended, again, also official on Amazon.... but they cost THREE TIMES what the Gelid and Nab cost... and again, I can't find comparisons (also a little suspicious of their claims that their pads supposedly have a much higher W/mK than everyone else).

I have no idea what to do at this point. I would have loved to get my hands on those Gelid or Nab ones.... real ones and not bootlegs... but it seems like either they have stopped being made or they don't sell them in the US. And the other US options either don't have the proper thickness (Arctic), under-perform (Thermal Grizzly) or cost an arm and a leg (Kritical).

Anyone have any idea how I can get decent thermal pads in the US for my GPU?

 

[Darkbreeze]

I don't know why you think Thermal Grizzly pads underperform, but some of the most highly regarded overclockers and technically experienced enthusiasts I know would very much disagree with that. Especially when it comes to the Minus pad 8. And those are people I actually KNOW, not just something I read from somebody online. But in that regard, seems der8auer likes them as well, along with some other products but from what I saw he had no issues with their performance and that's usually good enough for me even if I didn't have the opinions of some others who are well respected including Computronix, author of the Intel temperature guide.

https://www.amazon.com/Thermopad-Thermal-Grizzly-Minus-Self-Adhesive/dp/B00ZJT5PPC

But I think for the most part the overall consensus is that the Fujipoly SARCON XR-m is inarguably one of the better products on the market and I believe it is available in various thicknesses. I can't tell you what it's costing right now, but it is definitely not cheap. Which brings us to the meat and potatoes of the topic which is quite simply that when it comes to just about anything these days you can have cheap, or you can have good. You can't have good AND cheap, so take your pick. As well, anything "good" is probably in short supply, still, after all the production, manufacturing, shipping and supply chain issues we've had over the last couple years since Covid began, so yes you might have to deal with some hassles and have to jump through some hoops to get what you want but when you can't even get a basic decent power supply for less than 25% more than you should have to pay for it, or an entry level gaming card for less than 300 bucks that isn't years old, well, it is what it is.

 

[Cyber_Akuma]

Yes, I am aware that quality generally means cost as well. The Gelid ones I was looking at were not affordable just because they happened to be cheap, but because it was a small piece, a 120x20mm pad, which would not be enough for most GPUs but for my small oem one it would fit perfectly if I cut it up into two 30mm and one 60mm piece. Many of the others come in larger sizes that I do not need, which adds to their prices. (The Kritical ones for example are 100x100mm).

And yes, of course I would not trust some random cheap no-name Chinese brand on Aliexpress that claims it has enough Wm/K performance to cool the sun, that's not what the brands I was looking at are though, and it makes sense that the ones I was looking at cooled better as shown in the video since they were rated for nearly double what the Minus pads are.

Yeah, also aware of Fujipoly, but it seems both tricky to get an authentic one and not fall for a scam, AND they are by far the most expensive option possible.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Which is why I recommended the Minus pad 8. I've seen several recommendations for this products performance from overclockers I know and respect, both here and elsewhere, and while I've not tried it myself yet I do plan to. Those recommendations have been primarily as replacements for VRM thermal pads on motherboards but what works, works, regardless of what you are using it on with the MOST important factor of course simply being that you get the correct thickness for the application. Without that, doesn't much matter what you get.

With the right thickness, almost any of these brands are probably superior to what the OEM is using from the factory, because they are only looking to get acceptable performance for the least amount of money. Margins are what drive them, not top notch performance.

 

[Lutfij]

I got my stash of Fujipoly thermal pads off of FrozenCPU, about a decade or so ago. Still hold onto them, if at all for bragging rights. Considering you're located in U.S.A, perhaps see what's in stock at PerformancePC's...?

 

[Darkbreeze]

Also, I've read the OP several times, and nowhere do I see where you've actually indicated what thickness you actually NEED. You reference thicknesses that are not what you are looking for but I don't see where you've indicated your desired thickness at all. Helping to find something decent that is both available and worth looking at might distinctly require knowing what thickness because I have absolutely seen products that work well at one thickness and not so great, same product, at a different thickness, while a different product is exactly the opposite so in some ways this might be specifics driven in terms of what you want to actually look at.

 

[Cyber_Akuma]

It's the third sentence:

It only has two 30x15mm and one 60x15mm pad, so it's not a lot, but they are both 2.0mm which is not as common.

That's the thickness of the pads currently on it, I couldn't find any other information about the card at all and had to measure it's existing pads myself.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Ah, I missed that then. Thanks for that.

And is there a minimum W/mk rating that you are willing to accept for a 2mm pad? Which, realize, is quite thick and you are not going to see super high ratings like 1mm and thinner products, which I assume you are already aware of.

 

[Cyber_Akuma]

I have no idea what the stock pads are rated for, I would like to at the bare minimum get the same performance but preferably the best performance I can without having to buy like, $50-100 pads or something absurd like that.

 

[Crosslhs82x2]

Hi Guy's
Have you looked at Titan Rig, Performce Pc that Lutfij mentioned earlier and ModMymods ?, ALL 3 Played a part suppling me parts for my custom loop.
All 3 had great customer service. I could order on Friday / saterday and have the parts by the next Friday usually.
I have the T G minus 8 pads on My Evga Rtx 2080 Ti Ftw3 and it is within 1c of the blue unknown brand pads that was on the Gpu when I bought it.
The seller put the stock cooler back on before selling it with the Ek Quatum Vector Waterblock.

Titan Rig
https://www.titanrig.com/thermal-interface/pads.html?page=3

Performance Pc
https://www.performance-pcs.com/tim-s-pastes-and-pads.html?product_list_limit=96&tim_type=2636

ModMy Mods
https://modmymods.com/thermal/thermal-pads-2-0mm.html?limit=all


Happy Searching !!!!!!
Later Guy's

 

[Darkbreeze]

Right. Modmymods was where I was looking to send him, because they have both Alphacool and Phoyba thermal pads there and Igor from Igors lab seems to think that the Alphacool pads are pretty consistent with what many of the graphics card OEMs including Nvidia are using.

 

[Lutfij]

The guys behind ModMyMods used to work at FrozenCPU, in fact they were the ones who actually made things move around when the owner was literally busy doing(other) things...those guys are super helpful! They do a lot of leg work to put a smile across your face, not lying!

 

[Darkbreeze]

Yep, I was aware of that. I've ordered stuff from them quite a few times since Frozen CPU stopped being in any way reliable. Few other sites that are VERY worth visiting from time to time depending on what you are looking for/to do, are

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