News Gelid says its new thermal pad beats thermal paste in performance, durability, and ease of application

[Admin]

Gelid has launched its new HeatPhase Ultra thermal pad, which it says uses phase change material for better performance than some of the best pastes.

Gelid says its new thermal pad beats thermal paste in performance, durability, and ease of application : Read more

 

[Evaldino]

Great idea! Expensive, yes, but if independent tests confirm the data, I would take it. Because I simply hate playing with those tubes.

 

[hannibal]

I have used Thermal Grizzly thermal pads in CPU for years and I am very happy. Easy to install. You newer have to reapply new, because it last as long as the CPU last. And it is rather close to normal thermal paste considering the heat transfer (and much, much better than old thermal paste).

 

[drajitsh]

The doubt I have is not about the conductivity of the pad but the thickness. I too would really like an independent review

 

[hotaru.hino]

The specs seem close to Honeywell's PTM7950, which is already a community favorite. The only difference is Honeywell only sells this directly to system builders and you have to find resellers to get some which may be sketch.

But otherwise the idea of a "phase change" thermal pad is fairly old. I remember my AMD Athlon XP had a similar thing on it.

 

[edzieba]

The 'phase change' could be a lot more boring: a thermal paste that is solid at room temperature for application, then melts to a liquid (or more accurately the particulate carrier does) to flow under operating temperature and cooler mounting pressures to seat the two surfaces more closely as a traditionally applied thermal paste would. The 45°C transition temperature backs this up.
Makes it ineligible for applications that need the dimensional stability of a traditional thermal pad, but ideal for CPUs and other applications where the HSF is mounted via pressure rather than hard-mounted.

 

[bit_user]

But otherwise the idea of a "phase change" thermal pad is fairly old. I remember my AMD Athlon XP had a similar thing on it.

Then please explain it to us.

The 'phase change' could be a lot more boring: a thermal paste that is solid at room temperature for application, then melts to a liquid (or more accurately the particulate carrier does) to flow under operating temperature and cooler mounting pressures to seat the two surfaces more closely as a traditionally applied thermal paste would.

This is somewhat at odds with their assertion that it'll stay in place and won't spread under pressure.

 

[hotaru.hino]

Then please explain it to us.

Explain what? How it works? @edzieba already did that.

 

[bit_user]

Explain what? How it works? @edzieba already did that.

Nah, that doesn't make sense.

To have value in a stable system, phase-change cooling requires convection. It needs to be elevated to a higher-energy state at a hot spot, then migrate to a cooler location and transition back downward. Finally, it needs to be able to return back to the hot spot so the cycle can continue.

That's what going on inside heat pipes, vapor chambers, and freon-based refrigerators & air conditioning units.

 

[thestryker]

The specs seem close to Honeywell's PTM7950, which is already a community favorite. The only difference is Honeywell only sells this directly to system builders and you have to find resellers to get some which may be sketch.

Definitely seems to be, and you can already get these sold by Thermalright in the $5-6 range via Amazon (at least in the US).

 

[CorrOzi0n_s0cZ]

This is simply a more readily available to the general consumer alternative to PTM 7950 and isn't a new technology or concept. Thermalright also has had a PCM solution out for the public for a while now. It's a thermal pad that changes to liquid after reaching a target temperature, after multiple thermal cycles converting it from solid to liquid while being under the mounting pressure of the CPU or GPU cooler the end result is a more uniform bond between the die and the heatsink versus what can be achieved with traditional thermal paste. These solutions result in a significantly longer lasting (the lifetime of the device) and more performant thermal solution that doesn't suffer from pump out due to its ability to easily convert from a solid into a liquid; These characteristics make it the perfect option for not only laptop CPU's and GPU's but also their desktop counterparts and pretty much anything in between that will regularly produce enough heat to cause the material to phase change. The next closest thing in cooling performance is liquid metal.

 

[bit_user]

after multiple thermal cycles converting it from solid to liquid while being under the mounting pressure of the CPU or GPU cooler the end result is a more uniform bond between the die and the heatsink versus what can be achieved with traditional thermal paste.

That makes sense, except for how thick it is. It claims thermal conductivity of 8.5 W/mk, but copper has conductivity of 401 W/mk. So, you really want the thinnest layer of thermal compound possible, so long as it fills the entire interface between the heatspreader and heatsink.

I guess, if you're comparing against someone over-applying a viscous thermal compound, then it indeed might be an improvement. However, I will sit back and wait for independent testing.

I'm also very interested in hearing how it compares with Thermal Grizzly's KryoSheet, which uses Z-oriented graphene.

 

[thestryker]

I guess, if you're comparing against someone over-applying a viscous thermal compound, then it indeed might be an improvement. However, I will sit back and wait for independent testing.

You'll probably be waiting for a long time unless something changes. PTM7950 has been widely known about for at least a couple of years now and I think LTT is the only outlet that even looked at it. I don't really know why this is the case as it seems like something that should be a shoe in for any tech site that does any sort of TIM reviews especially now that they're more readily available.

The primary use case for these tends to be laptops, and Lenovo has used a version for theirs for years. I've got a couple (Thermalright Heilos) sitting on my desk waiting for when I actually have the inclination to upgrade a pair of old CPUs, but haven't used it personally yet.

 

[bit_user]

You'll probably be waiting for a long time unless something changes. PTM7950 has been widely known about for at least a couple of years

What changed is that Gelid is now marketing it in the retail channel. At least, I hope that's enough to get it reviewed!

 

[thestryker]

What changed is that Gelid is now marketing it in the retail channel. At least, I hope that's enough to get it reviewed!

Nothing has changed as Thermalright Heilos has been available from amazon for ~5 months and there's still been zero reviews.

 

[bit_user]

Nothing has changed as Thermalright Heilos has been available from amazon for ~5 months and there's still been zero reviews.

Marketing can change things. It can get mindshare with reviewers (particularly if review samples are submitted, in order to gain mindshare with the public).

 

[thestryker]

Marketing can change things. It can get mindshare with reviewers (particularly if review samples are submitted, in order to gain mindshare with the public).

I guess my point is what marketing? The Thermalright Heilos release was covered on all the same tech sites. More on the market is good and all, but reviewers should have all known about it already (even if they didn't know about PTM7950).

Maybe the more dramatic headlines will get enough traction among the public? Hopefully so!

Who knows regarding whether or not review samples are done, but generally speaking I'd expect them to be in hand already when release happened if that was the case.

I'm all for more people being in the know, because honestly these are probably the best thing for most people. I wish I'd known about PTM7950 (or retail versions had been on the market) when I replaced the pads on my video card because I'd have used this instead of paste on the GPU.

I still want to see someone test these against pastes and the Thermal Grizzly KryoSheet though those are apparently insanely fragile. Roman wasn't able to use them on his delidding video because they were basically doing next to nothing and were breaking. That's the only time I recall seeing someone testing them and I'd imagine there would be less of a problem with an IHS given the surface area.

 

[bit_user]

I still want to see someone test these against pastes and the Thermal Grizzly KryoSheet though those are apparently insanely fragile. Roman wasn't able to use them on his delidding video because they were basically doing next to nothing and were breaking. That's the only time I recall seeing someone testing them and I'd imagine there would be less of a problem with an IHS given the surface area.

Hmmm... I mean it is basically like a half-mm sheet of graphite, so I guess that makes sense.

The customer reviews I've seen suggest handling it with tweezers. It also requires both surfaces are very flat, which either means using a lapped heatsink with a delidded CPU or a lapped CPU package.

 

[hotaru.hino]

Nah, that doesn't make sense.

To have value in a stable system, phase-change cooling requires convection. It needs to be elevated to a higher-energy state at a hot spot, then migrate to a cooler location and transition back downward. Finally, it needs to be able to return back to the hot spot so the cycle can continue.

That's what going on inside heat pipes, vapor chambers, and freon-based refrigerators & air conditioning units.

The idea isn't that the TIM is a heat carrier like in phase change cooling you're thinking of. It's that the TIM is solid at room temperature for easy application. Once it heats up, it melts and fills in the gaps and if the solid form was resisting the mounting pressure of the heat sink, the TIM melting allows that pressure to make further contact against the part being cooled. But otherwise, it's "phase changing" because it goes between a solid and a liquid, rather than between a liquid and a gas.

So sure, this is probably no more different than putting "too much" thermal paste, but this type of TIM makes things more consistent with regards to assembling computers together.

 

[bit_user]

The idea isn't that the TIM is a heat carrier like in phase change cooling you're thinking of.

Then it's borderline false advertising to emphasize the phase-change aspect. Also, I truly wonder whether it is actually changing phase, because I simply don't see how it can be while not seeping out.

 

[thestryker]

Then it's borderline false advertising to emphasize the phase-change aspect. Also, I truly wonder whether it is actually changing phase, because I simply don't see how it can be while not seeping out.

PTM7000 Series | Honeywell

Phase Change Materials (PCM) are often used as matrix materials for thermal interface applications with providing a thin bond line and high reliability without pump-out issues. (6.0-8.5 W/m-K)

thermalmanagement.honeywell.com

From what I've gathered its quite viscous which is why it doesn't seep out.

 

[dalek1234]

Dear Tom's Hard Ware,

Test the damn thing and post the result on your site.