Noctua NT-H2
The trend of liquefying pastes ad nauseam unfortunately follows two unpleasant habits. On the one hand, people are literally trying to “suck up” to users with a lack of skills, because if someone advertises that they don’t even need to liquefy their paste in order to be optimally successful, then the logical reverse conclusion in practice is unfortunately also that this liquid quickly takes on a life of its own again and escapes. This is therefore neither durable nor particularly efficient.
On the other hand, the actual manufacturing costs can be minimized considerably. In addition, the NT-H2 mainly uses very cheap zinc oxide, which was already the case 10 years ago when it wasn’t supposed to cost much. Zinc oxide pastes do not exceed 3 W/(m-K), physics has put a stop to that. The fact is that this paste would not perform any better even without these huge amounts of silicone, because the few, rather coarsely ground Al2O3 particles are almost foreign bodies and act like stilts under which the silicone soup can run away quite unhindered.
I almost suspect that Noctua is not even aware of what they are actually buying and reselling, but I wish someone would read this article and understand it. Since they are all retail products and I can find something in almost every paste, I have decided to contact the suppliers after the fact. I no longer want to spend hours discussing every paste or justifying my existence. The stuff is in the store, so I’m testing it. My only obligation here is to the readers and my investment, which should also ensure a little more honesty and transparency in the lucrative market.
Gelid Solutions GC-Extreme
The same applies to the Gelid GC-Extreme as to the NT-H2, because it is an extremely liquefied zinc oxide soup with only a few sprinkles of Al2O3 particles. The basic composition is almost identical to NT-H2, which of course also has an effect on the performance, which cannot really be praised. Without the slightly different coloring, you could almost guess that the two pastes have the same source, because otherwise both pastes are actually equally bad, also in terms of performance.
It’s a shame that a once really good paste degrades so much for whatever reason. We know this all too well from foods with an “improved recipe” and “new packaging”, which end up costing the same but are worth less. This is also the case here, which is a real shame. The picture also shows that with just a little more pressure you can squeeze almost everything out again in the stress test, if it only runs long and hot enough. Please don’t buy it, there are better pastes for less money!
Thermalright TF7
The cheapest paste performs best and will probably last the longest. Yes, it is not as fluffy as the other two pastes and the user will certainly have to make a little more effort when applying it, but will be rewarded with significantly better performance and consistency over a longer period of time. Visually, the paste is more reminiscent of the Corsair XTM70, but is not quite as powerful. However, it is significantly cheaper and completely adequate. There’s nothing more to write, because apart from the outdated plastic bag, there’s nothing to criticize about the paste. Ok, the claim of a sporty 12.8 W/(m-K) is also a bit of a fairy tale, but the paste won’t fail because of this marketing lie.
Summary and conclusion
Money doesn’t score goals, at most own goals. Noctua should revise the NT-H2 once again and, if it wants to play in this price range, then of course also offer the corresponding performance and composition. You really owe it to your brand. I can only advise against the Gelid GC-Extreme, it’s the same sour cream in tubes and just a sad reflection of a once so good thermal compound. And as far as the Thermalright TF7 is concerned: for this price, like the TF8, it’s actually unbeatable. In the end, it’s practically a no-brainer, because you can only really trip yourself up if you apply it incorrectly.
Even if it is not ideal, I would even dare to test TF7 on a graphics card over a longer period of time. According to various forum comments on different platforms, the other two pastes have not exactly covered themselves in glory. We saw why this is the case in the lab today. I can’t promise you that the next pastes will be better, but I hope so. After all, you can never predict the results in detail.
So that’s another test out of the way and we’ll soon be moving on. However, I would like to take this opportunity to reiterate my request for more pastes, as the selection and stock can never be large enough!
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