AMeCh STG-4 in test – Korean thermal paste with free vinegar as price/performance winner?

1 - In search of the vinegar dealer and a data sheet 2 - What's inside and why I'm even annoyed 3 - Individual test in detail 4 - 1:1 Comparison between the STG-4 and other pastes 5 - Summary and conclusion

Summary and conclusion

A very simple and easy-to-use paste like this, with a real 3 W/m-K, where a whopping 4 grams cost only 5.40 euros, would certainly be a nice offer if… Yes, if there weren’t things that I generally don’t want to tolerate. The address and the questionable documentation alone would certainly be a reason not to like this paste 100%, but it also has technical flaws. I want an acid-free heat-conducting paste and not a slightly acidic vinegar paste that might mutate into a tear-resistant heat-conducting rubber after several cycles and then adhere better than grandma’s Kukident adhesive cream for third parties.

This paste not only outgasses at first, it also smells very clearly of vinegar when heated. But you want thermal paste and not salad cream on the CPU or GPU. Which means that this time we can only recommend not buying it, despite the very good price. The particles are really okay, but this paste failed because of the vinegar-sour matrix. Incidentally, acetoxy silicone must be listed in both the REACH and RoHS documents as well as in the safety data sheet of a thermal compound if it meets certain criteria. Under REACH, it is important that all chemical substances used in relevant quantities are registered and evaluated. However, the two parties involved are now aware of this.

Acetoxy silicone could therefore contain acetic acid or other potentially hazardous substances that are subject to registration and must be indicated in the documents. In addition, a proper safety data sheet must be provided that contains detailed information about the chemical composition, potential hazards and safe handling, especially if the thermal paste poses irritation or other risks such as allergies due to the release of acetic acid.

Conclusion: Unfortunately failed, despite good approaches and decent workmanship. Unfortunately, Amazon is not very interested in this…