Thermal Putty Roundup from pink or gray to blue and from Halnziye or Laird or Dow – HY234, HY236 and HY268 vs. Hardwareliebe Extreme64 Review

1 - Introduction, products and vendors 2 - Test methods and equipment 3 - Thermal resistance 4 - Thermal conductivity and memory cooling 5 - Microscopy and meterial analysis 6 - Summary and conclusion

Today I’m testing four Thermal Putty products for you, whereby these four products are examples of large companies and their products or mixed products. If I manage to organize more products, I will expand the database to include this category, because anyone who knows the circumstances when the pad thicknesses on graphics cards are not known will be happy to use such a practical and flexible gap filler for their own safety. While the three Halnziye products are originals that I purchased directly from the manufacturer, the blue putty is a little more complicated.

The companies behind the colors

Let’s start with Shenzhen Halnziye Electronics Co, Ltd, founded in 2009, a company that specializes in the production and development of thermal interface materials and supplies well-known customers such as Huawei, Lenovo, Foxconn and Cooler Master. Halnziye’s product range includes thermal pastes, thermal adhesives and thermal pads, which are used in various applications. Regarding potential investors, there is no specific information on whether Halnziye has raised external capital from institutional investors. The company appears to be relying predominantly on its internal growth and relationships with large technology companies to drive its expansion. The rest, as always, bounces off the Great Wall of Silence. Halnziye can do all colors, but not cutting-edge technology, but good average.

The origin of the blue Putty, which is marketed by Hardwareliebe as Extreme64, is more hidden. Shiu Li Technology LTD (Lipolytim) would also fit in terms of color, but should be ruled out because of the price. The blue Halnziye is definitely stickier and worse. I can’t and don’t want to make a final decision here, but in the end it probably comes down to Tputty 607 from Laird, which in turn is based on DOWSIL TC-4083 from Dow Chemical. The TC-4083 consists of two components (gray and blue), which together result in a blue putty. Companies such as Laird (or others) mix the expensive TC-4083 together with the much cheaper TC-4025 to make a finished, one-part blue putty and then sell it to various companies, which then make the end customer happy. If it is Tputty 607 from Laird, you can buy it here without hesitation.

Speaking of Laird, the constellation here is quite interesting, because how do DuPont, Dow Chemical and Laird come together under one roof? DuPont and Dow Chemical already merged in 2017, that is well known. Du Pont actually wanted to buy Laird, but Laird has various divisions that have been split up. Laird Connectors now belongs to Molex, but DuPont was only allowed to buy Laird Performance for antitrust reasons. Laird Thermal went to Bregal, an investor from Munich, which in turn acts as an investor on behalf of Advent International, which in turn collects companies in the TIM segment. And although everything appears to be neatly separated on the outside, many Dow and Laird products come from a joint warehouse, which can then be owned by a Dow Chemical fulfillment company, for example. Camouflage and deception for market surveillance, but better this way than later cheating in tubes or cans.

Halnziye HY 234

This is the entry-level putty from Halnziye, although the color takes some getting used to. The putty is relatively sticky, but is very easy to shape and performs well. Similarities to many offers on Amazon, eBay and AliExpress are not coincidental, as it is usually relabeled so that the rind cracks. Halnziye’s 4 W/(m-K) is still quite suitable for thermal conductivity, while resellers easily quote 11 to 13 W/(m-K). This is how you can usually recognize third-party suppliers, because serious is different.

Halnziye HY 236

At 6 W/(m-K), the HY 236 is stated to have a similar appearance, but is somewhat drier and drifts more towards orange. The Hy 236 is slightly more expensive, but does not stick quite as much as the HY 234. The rest of the story is the same as the HY 234, although I assume that the intermediaries on the platforms mentioned usually sell the cheaper HY 234 under fantasy names and with fabulous values. I would advise caution here if it is not explicitly sold as Halnziye HY 236 with 6W/(m-K).

Halnziye HY 268

The gray HY 268 also sounds like a better choice nominally with the higher number in the name, but I consider this putty to be highly problematic. Because it doesn’t even come close to the advertised 8 W/(m-K). And it is extremely sticky and does not perform much better than the inexpensive HY 234. It acts like a viscous but very sticky paste, but not like a putty. The composition and behavior under pressure are also more similar to those of a paste. It could certainly be used selectively on DrMOS or coils, but on large memory modules it becomes a miserable and dangerous mess when it is later removed. Especially as the performance does not reach peak values.

Hardware love Extreme64

Technical data

As there are no real data sheets for any of the putties and I don’t want to spoil the results, I’ll leave this point out today. But the real measurement results are coming soon, so stay curious and keep reading!

Further links and basics