Thanks everybody @LTT for the testing! The methodology was fair and it's good you used Noctua's best thermal paste with their own NH-D15 cooler as a benchmark. We've modified the test rig and are now formulating a liquid metal alternative, stay tuned.
Matching an R&D marvel of an experienced, specialized top-tier manufacturer is beyond impressive, and it seems that's just a start. You guys rock and these kinds of videos are SO much more fun and informative than another computer building. More power to you and please more videos like this.
They are. Go have a look at their videos. :D They do all sorts of stuff! Air con to electro-hydro-dynamic drive*. Rum to rocket motors! * As made famous in _The Hunt For Red October._
I'm convinced that LMGs interview process involves a test where the hand a candidate something on camera to see if they drop it. If they do, they get hired.
I don't see the point in not spreading the thermal compound with a spatula though. Wouldn't it be logical if spread is an issue to manually do it yourself? That is the way I do it and it drives me nuts to see that no matter the application there are often dead spots left behind.
This is here for people who don't realise this is a joke, and need an explanation as to Alex's methodology. By using a case, they would be introducing another variable; this way they can control the ambient temperature. If the PC was in a case, other variables would contribute to temperatures, skewing their findings (admittedly unscientific).
I’ve just realised that when Alex is not trying to dumb things down for some lowest common denominator he becomes a much better and more natural host. This ironically makes for much better communication.
Grandpa: Builds a complex setup to minimize variables in order to say if stuff is good or not LTT: We don't care about that, we got REAL WORLD *LTT does real world test* LTT: Our setup is so shitty, we have no idea which one is actually better 🤷♂️
@@nlingrel No they were correct in saying that. There is literally a 0.9 degree difference in the average, and the noctua's lowest run was lower than TI's lowest run. Considering run to run variance you cannot conclusively say one is better than the other.
That's kinda the point though. For a real world setting you can expect about the same performance from the two. Doesn't really matter if one is like 0.01% better in a tightly controlled experiment.
They've probably tried harder for consistency than any actual person applying thermal paste to their PC. Goes to show that incredibly marginal gains don't really matter.
I'm really looking forward to getting an order with Tech Ingredients. Even if it would have been worse (withing a few degrees) I would buy to help support their shenanigans.
@@joshuascholar3220 the "easy to make at home" one was glycerine. The high performance one was some specialist silicone oil, yes we still don't know if it will evaporate, but they did say in the video that they tested that
@@joshuascholar3220 I'm not certain, but I don't think glycerin does much until it's heated to its boiling point, much hotter than it would get in this application. Anyway I'm also curious how long it lasts.
Ok, PC Jesus needs to get involved in this. If Tech Ingredients Grandpa was to build a case with an integrated fluid cooling system I suspect it would be the most BOSS cooling system ever.
That... is actually quite likely, given that the thermal paste videos are on his 'Cooling' playlist: ua-cam.com/play/PLzrI14lOlSqeS5pNkRCiV1-yhoBlCmxms.html
@@chunye215 you don't see many older people use UA-cam. So if you have gray hair you're pretty much a grandpa on here. He probably could be a grandpa too by now tho.
@@Kiritomens You don’t think Gen X folks waste hours and hours on UA-cam? You don’t think Gen X folks don’t have a TON of active channels? If you watch this, I assume you know who Jays2cents is?
He is great because unlike most he runs down everything in detail, alternatives, and why the alternatives might work or not and why he chose what he did. its less of a "heres how to do it" and more of a "how to do it, and why so you can adjust"
Agreed, PC Jesus and Co is a much better choice to go with testing. More than disappointed with the condescending tone. TI's "shed" is much better equipped than LTT from what I've seen.
He's still unboxing the blower test bench crate, probably needs to be calibrated again on site for verification the shipping and installation didn't screw it up.
I totally believe that TI has made good performing paste, but what I'd really like to see tested is the longevity. I don't recall what maker it was, but paste performed well for about year and then temps began to increase dramatically. Opened up the machine and paste had completely dried up. I've never seen this tested.
@@barnett25 That's excellent thing to hear and I'm really glad they've considered this issue. Gotta check out their video. They definitely earn and need all the views they can get. 👍👍
Yeah, shelf live and longterm stability. Those are way more important than 1-2°C for the first few weeks (aside from extreme overclockers). Best example is the thermal paste that OEMs and Intel are using - by far not the best in terms of performance, but they still do their job even after 5 years.
@@ABaumstumpf I fully agree with that. I don't want to open laptops etc. to replace paste. Writing this comment with older business series Lenovo laptop that was bought from reputable distributor. Sales information said that they change thermal paste for models they sell. That's now been about year ago. Either they didn't change the paste and it's now failing or they've used some really poor quality one. Anyway looks like I have to do it to this myself 🙄
That would be thermal grizzly. That's why once in an interview with Steve, Derbauer w̶a̶n̶t̶e̶d̶ recommended you to re-apply your thermal paste every year.
No offense but Tech ingredients deserved a better analysis of their thermal paste, I was excited to see this video but it feels really "thrown together at the last minute" thing, I just feel Gamers Nexus would have done something way better
could be an "ok linus we'll do it your way first and let the comments agree with me that we need a better control environment before we spend $5000 on making a thermal test control room in the warehouse and test for a few weeks with no content coming out of it in the meantime except a build vlog while you pay our wage still" thing, too. honestly though, it's "good enough" (in my opinion) to verify (for a future vid) that maybe testing needs to be done with a de-lidded and liquid-metal-repaste, incase the die-to-ihs tim is bottlenecking both pastes' abilities, and make linus go "OK FINE DELID THAT SUCKER" but then again idk how much a benefit, if any, liquid metal has over the die's tim, since iirc intel uses solder now
Indeed. It's not just the test environment but the script (or possible lack thereof) being very disorganized. I haven't seen anything this bad from LTT since the Anthony vs Linus repair challenge.
Yeah, seems like a rather rushed video, and no real thought put into any reasoning, I can almost predict that the increase across the tests was due to heat soak from the other components/case, looks like the tests were carried out almost imediatly one after the other only stopping to switch paste. Not really a fair comparison.A haphazard video and I would really hope for better from an LTT video.
1:18 kinda supports this statement. GN has the proper testing apparatus and solid testing procedures. The only issue with GN is that they are sponsored heavily by Thermal Grizzly. While I think the majority of viewers, myself included, would trust them, it's still important to consider.
Some thermal pastes lose efficiency over time as they dry up & harden, I would like to see them do a 1-month long "burn-in" test to see if it actually holds up against the competition.
Over the years I have had the opportunity to do that with a few big name pastes, although my tests have all been at least 1 year. Here is the order of the most stable paste, as well as their thermal ranking: 1. Coolermaster MasterGel Maker (3rd) 2. Arctic Silver 5 (4th) 3. Noctua NT-H1 (2nd) 4. Noctua NT-H2 (Tied with 1st) 5. Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut (Tied with 1st) My recommendations if you want the longest lasting paste with very acceptable performance, I have ran chips with Coolermaster MasterGel Maker for 5+ years with no change in performance. Noctua NT-H1 is the best compromise between performance and longevity, it will perform well for 2+ years before it begins slowly getting warmer. Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut and Noctua NT-H2 are interchangeable performance wise, but Kryonaut is extremely unstable and falls behind NT-H2 after about 6-8 months on average depending on how hot the paste is getting. Noctua NT-H2 is not as stable as NT-H1, it is also more prone to pump out (although not as bad as Kryonaut is), NT-H2 averages about 1 year or 1.5 years before a new application should be considered. The most valuable lesson I've learned from my own testing is that Kryonaut should absolutely not be used in a 24/7 system. It's excellent for sub-ambient and bench testing, but in a system that you're actually using for long periods it is a waste of money.
The bigger factor is thermal creep. The silicone oil suspension medium both under pressure and experiencing thermal expansion cycles tends to creep out of the suspension and dissipate. This is a major problem with thermal pastes for aerospace where wild temperature and pressure swings exacerbate the problem but it's still a problem at normal temperatures over time. While there is some evaporation of silicone suspension mediums, most of the drying you see with old thermal paste is due to thermal creep.
I can add MX-4 that works fine for a long time between IHS and a cooler, but once put under the lid and it sees around 90C temperatures, the oil separates from the paste within 1-2 days
Yeah. I mean, I wasn't expecting as good testing as GN would do here but this video was... like someone said "hey you go in the back room and make this video we don't want to make." Then rush released it. I was excited to see this video. Now I'm disappointed.
So every time someone does a thermal test these days there is a dogpile of people that come from n to say "Steve would have done it better". Please stop. You aren't helping Steve is many things, an excellent and forceful advocate for consumers, and an intelligent and thoughtful journalist first and foremost. But he is absolutely not to everyones taste, and frankly I find Alex and Collins video more entertaining and more compelling than the video Steve would have produced. Yeah, it's less scientific, yeah there isn't as much data as there could be, but I can also say as a field engineer that their test more closely mimics the reality an end user of the product would likely see. It's fun, and it meets the LTT audience where it's at, and doesn't demand that I engage in rigorous examination of the methodology. There is 💯 a place for that kind of content, and I am great ful for the rigor that Steve puts into holding manufacturers to their claims, but not everything needs to be addressed that way, and constantly chiming in on other channels to tell them that GN does it better does not reflect well on Steve's audience. Commenters like you are a large part of the reason he has to go out of his way to tell his audience not to go review bomb other UA-camrs.
@@isl1ngt0n The reason isn't taste, it's rigorous process and equipment. In regards to this stuff specifically, its because GN actually have tailor made, proper lab test equipment for this. That enables testing with far more variables under control. Meaning the results you get _much (!)_ more closely represent the merits of the actual product you're testing, instead of having tens or even hundreds of other variables affecting your results, many of which you have neither control over nor data on. Also if you don't like GN's or Steve Burke's "style" / persona / presentation, I would like to point out that Gamers Nexus was a _written articles_ hardware testing and news site long before becoming a UA-cam channel. And more importantly, _they still are._ If you would like the GN testing data/results, or a review or hw news piece, but don't like their UA-cam stuff - GN still publish almost all of their content in written article format too. Good articles, not just video version script copypasta. I would suggest giving one of them a chance if you are inclined to such reading, there's definitely gonna be some interesting ones on Alder Lake, Z690 and DDR5 the next handful of days. While I personally enjoy the YT stuff, I often check their articles when wanting/needing a review's test data. For that, I personally find the article format to be more easily digestible. The huge clusterf**k of uncontrolled variables is the challenge with these kinds of uncientific, "real world" comparison tests. Practically no one else is gonna have an identical setup as yours. Here, we have a huge amount of variables you cannot account for, and _a sample group of one._ If you want to get reasonably clear data from "real world" tests of something individually applied, assembled, configured and operated by users, you certainly can - but you need gigantic sample groups. Only one sample of a "real world" test like this, is the measured and statistical accuracy equivalent to the seat belt analogy, here: "Seatbelts serve no purpose and make no difference, because _I_ drove to the store _once_ and did not crash". Ps. Please forgive the typos, I'm sure there's several. And have a great day.
For test results to have value, you have to establish what you are testing for. This is a test whether or not it matters if you use A or B in a real world scenario. It doesn't. I have never spend money on after market paste, because ever cooler I have bought came with good paste. If I need after market paste, I'm going to spend 8 bucks, and not worry too much about whether another paste might give me a result that is 2 degrees Celsius lower,
Problem is, the comments would've probably imploded with people telling them spreading TIM would create air pockets. It's just easier and more consistent to do it the way they did.
@@hamajangz9586 It is easier and probably more consistent because of it, but not necessarily ideal. I've seen very little spreading due to heat in TIM myself.
@Mario Kart Manual spreading was there before heatspreaders and it is still preffered for direct die. (now mostly gpus). With direct die if you don't get all the corners pasted you risk hotspots. (and 20years ago cpus didn't throttle or turn off they just released magic smoke and died). And if you take off the cooler to check the spread and plonk it back the chance of trapped bubbles is probably higher than with carefull spreading.
Yeah. I mean, I wasn't expecting as good testing as GN would do here but this video was... like someone said "hey you go in the back room and make this video we don't want to make." Then rush released it. I was excited to see this video. Now I'm disappointed.
@@mokahless The effort behind this video was actually kind of embarrassing to watch for being a follow-up to those Tech Ingredients videos. LTT couldn't even reproduce their own numbers for the noctua paste, so their conclusion was a shoulder shrug and "meh good enough." This level of phoning it in is more fitting of a teenager flipping burgers at mcdonalds.
These tests mean nothing if the stuff degrades over time and that would take years under load to know. Manufacturers have to be conservative and not manufacture paste that will shit the bed within a few years.
Some people (not you Rob) need to learn to lighten up a bit and understand a joke. If Tech Ingredients got upset about it then I'm sure the LTT staff would apologize but it's not meant to be insulting or mean beyond just being a joke. I'm 32, if a15 year old called me Grandpa or old man I'd probably call them a little brat or something, all in good fun (unless they got physical with me or really carried it too far which LTT has not).
After all these years how does LMG not have a temperature controlled booth for thermal tests like this? Make it sound proof too to do noise testing. It only has to be like closet sized, you have plenty of space.
The name Linus MEDIA Group explains it all.The entire purpose of the company is to make videos.They dont have the space or reason to get that kind of equipment.Its kinda obvious when you see how much space and equipment they dedicate to video production.If you are watching ltt videos expecting they will do a proper job explaining and comparing things then you are watching the wrong channel.
@@pesho9971 They produce tons of content whenever they upgrade their facility. Any upgrade can be made into a video. Temperature controlled booth ("testing upgrade") could easily be one of them.
Focusing on spread and intentionally applying too little paste seems like a weird test to me. You can always just apply more, it's totally fine. With proper mounting pressure, you really can't over apply it.
True. I'll never understand why people add so little paste it's never covering the whole IHS. 100% coverage always dissipates more heat than just a tiny spot in the center.
As Steve from GN has shown us a couple of years ago, even before the whole Verge PC building debacle (where people derided Stefan for the application, it wasn't pretty but it was serviceable).
Honestly i most probably wouldn't have known about this unless LMG made a video. I love gamers Nexus but honestly i don't really watch unless I am interested in a product.
I think this was as much effort as needed to understand how it would perform in the real world. It's all fine and good to test this in isolation, but in reality none of us are going to intentionally replicate even this level of consistency in our own homes. It might be the best thermal paste _in theory_ in a well controlled environment. But in real world use, it is at best at least as good as the best thermal paste on the market, and at worst offering less value per unit than its competition because TI doesn't have the resources to produce the volume themselves that would compete with the big players.
Steve's tester is probably about the same as Tech Ingredients, so if TI said theirs was better then so will Steve. But doing a real world test like this one puts that in perspective. Does measured a little better matter? Real world test says "no."
@@UndeadSoulOfPopeBenedict Did you not notice the low quality of the editing, possible complete lack of script and direction in addition to the bad testing methodology? It appears like a rushed video, ala the Linus vs Anthony repair video. I hope LTT can get their shit together and not keep releasing low quality content.
Back when Athlon CPUs were new and overclockable with a pencil, Arctic Silver 3 (i think this was the version) was the premium thermal compound, The prevailing procedure was to apply tiny tiny amounts, with the theory that it was just there to fill in the (air) gaps between surfaces, and heat transmission still relied predominantly on metal to metal (well, metal to chip die, technically) contact, not on a distinct layer of paste. it worked, and this was before heat pipes were in air coolers. Now we smear it on like we're icing a cake... interesting how things change.
Because the smarter voices finally prevailed over the ignorant ones. Metal-metal contact will happen because the mounting force will squish out the extra thermal paste. The tiny amount of extra metal contact you get by using microscopic amounts of paste is outweighed by the benefits of full IHS coverage you get by applying a lot of paste in an X and the drawbacks of manually spreading the paste and introducing air pockets.
@@angolin9352 not saying current methods are bad (or good), just commenting on how they have changed. At the time, I distinctly remember seeing tests that showed thicker amounts of paste led to poorer performance. I know paste and cooling tech has changed a lot since then, not to mention the presence of an IHS.
The paste properties seem to be intrinsically tied to the mesh sizing of the Aluminum powder added. Specifically it needs to be a combination of 3 and 5 micron Al beads. I may have misremembered the exact mesh sizes however the idea is that you have one effect from the 5 micron and another effect from the 3 micron, and then the 2 sizes talk (ie. exchange heat) with each other. The most interesting thing is the emergent properties that arise from sizing control.
@@deelkar Yeah, it definitely looks like a size/mechanical regime of thermodynamics. I wonder if someone could convince thermal paste to grow dendrites? That would be cool, waiting for a battery reaction to activate your thermal compound.
@@deelkar Also, silane solutions are very interesting. The VAPSA research I was involved with was heavily into the stuff. Not my department though. We were all about the ASAP (Accelerated Surface Area Porosimetry) research. Nothing like loading a steel ball into an instrument, wait 10 minutes, take ball out, wait 10 minutes, repeat until you are completely mad and there you go it's Calibrated. Stupid ASAP instrumentation!!!
So glad I checked both the description and the top comment. I knew there HAD to be a Tech Ingredients video on the making of this thermal paste. I love those guys!
@@barnett25 I watch ltt more for the hey this exists gamers Nexus has set a high bar for testing and it just seems ltt is more focused for the casual but they seem to not really be interested in even trying to meet thebbat for testing like come on how hard is it to do better testing the have the manpower and equipment they just need to put in the effort. This glosses over the cost for the man power and time but I don't expect them to change they have their segment of the tech space and Steve has the other segment but they have halfway decent projects that are cool for time to time.
Why wouldn't reducing the amount of IC diamond you put in the center and then adding a little extra IC diamond closer to the corners outperform the Noctua paste, if the only factor is spread?
Or using the credit card method. It sounds like for Noctua, they've got the single dot application down but it's not as taking a minute to spread the paste is a big deal if it can improve your temps.
Spread isnt the determining factor in performance, thinness of the layer is. For the same volume of paste, and compression force, spread is an indicator of how thin the layer is though. It basically works out to "the paste stops flowing outwards at x PSI of pressure" If a paste is so viscous that it doesnt squeeze into a thinner layer, then boosting coverage by using multiple dots wont be as significant as switching to a less viscous paste that can spread into a very thin layer. I.e. if a paste has twice the bulk thermal resistance, but makes a layer 1/4 as thick, it can have half the actual thermal resistance of the original "better" paste, because there is less of it in the way. But to have a thinner paste, you need more carrier oil and less thermally conductive filler, so its all about balance. I.e. as said in the video.
@@tim3172 I have no idea what sort of series I had. But I remember it was the last model before they phased it out to get the new models in. Strange though, what I heard about AMD at the time was completely opposite for me. Those were the ones that had a lot of thermal issues, that's why almost everyone preferred intel. It was 3rd hand info, but that's what I heard. I did have issues with Radeon cards though. Every single time I buy one to replace an old one, I keep getting re-reminded why I had Nvidia instead. It was always a massive source of headache for various reasons.
@@noiJadisCailleach it depended on which P4 you got. The Willamette cores were decent and Northwood were the refined later gen P4 chips after the disaster known as Prescott.
Can you test it being a bit more generous? I mean you can totally account for less spread with more paste, right? You wouldn't test it against a pea-sized piece of thermal pad either ;)
Woo! I was waiting for this. It's a really impressive result! Funny how one is made in a highly optimized factory and another was ground up by hand with a mortar and pestle.
Super proud of seeing Tech Ingredients in LTT content ! :D Well deserved they're doing amazing quality content ! Anyway, am I the only one using the credit card spread technique on thermal paste or what ?
5 micron grinding stone dust and glycol, The dust does nothing but stop the glycol from leaking. pull 5ml out of the car radiator and boil/steam the water out, add the polishing dust to whatever viscosity it is that the cooler surface works best with.
I don't know about you, but a consistent 2C difference is about the result I would expect. After testing this stuff on laptops, I can confirm it results in the lowest temperature by a very small margin compared to things like kryonaut and syy-157. Very pricey for the amount you get though. Can't beat gd-900 in value.
3:36 I see a big variable missing in this "spread" test. Heat and the presure over time could increase or decrease the viscosity of these thermal pastes potentially changing the outcome of the test.
IDK...If I were going to try and create my own paste, the first thing that comes to mind would be Copper dust suspended in mineral oil or other heat conductive viscous material for suspension. Yes, it would be conductive, therefore use carefully. I have a 9900k that has a soldered heat spreader and gets red hot.
If you aren't overclocking to the point you have to worry about thermals with a cheap aftermarket cooler, thermal paste isn't that important. I'm running a 4770k oc to 4.4ghz, slapped a hyper 212 Evo on it. The thermal paste I have is shitty and degraded and I still don't ever go over 80C, and my fans never spin up to be noticable over the sound of a HEPA fan on low I keep in my room. The majority of all this technology stuff is trying to make you think you are missing out if you don't buy the new thing, these videos make you feel like you are behind the curve if you don't spend a bunch of money. But even in places here the tech is important, like digital photography, even the professionals aren't using the newest stuff.
I believe that their paste can be thinnned out a little with distilled water, which may give a better "squish" pattern. Obviously it would be best to let it dry if you do that though. I'm thinking of trying it, thinned out, for attaching heatsinks to the motors in my RC cars.
They don't take it seriously that's all. If they were enthusiastic about it, Linus would do it and do it better. but obviously here no sponsor so.. LTT is so big, they've forgotten their beginnings.
It's midnight in India and I am a literature student, yet I'm watching this. I don't know a thing about computers or chemistry. My laptop is kinda not working and I miss it and the guy who was supposed to come and fix it has been putting it off on the next day for like three days now. I am SO pissed at him rn but I can't say a word because that minx is the only one who can fix it. FUCK On that I have to take an online test tomorrow and my parents have planned an outing EXACTLY tomorrow and when I asked them to postpone it, they clearly denied saying God ain't gonna wait for you-they were taking us to a temple which is good, but not on the same day when you've got two novels to read, a test to take and also an important class which won't even be recorded. So, ya! Thermal paste to stick or idgaf melt glass... WHATEVER ig i need a diary
Odorless mineral spirits makes an excellent surface cleaning solvent! It will strip off stuff that alcohol can't touch, never leaves any residue and takes only a tiny amount to be useful. By odorless, it means that no odor remains once it has evaporated. It has that 'summer barbecue' smell...mineral spirits are often used as charcoal lighter fluid! Be sure to use gloves, as this stuff will remove skin oils.
Wait... they signed that letter as Eric and Alex? So I guess we finally found out the presenters' names? Assumedly the main presenter is Eric and the oft-cameraman and occasional second presenter is Alex.
The spreadability is kind of interesting. Back in the day, it was all the rage to use a credit card to spread out the compound as thin as possible. Knowing what I now know about applying thinset for ceramic tiles, I think a micro notched trowel could be used to deliver the absolute best, most consistent spread every time. Someone needs to make a miniature notched trowel. :) :)
Even if the mounting pressure is the same, thermal paste performance can differ a lot between different coolers. Depending on the size range and distribution of the thermally conductive particles in the paste it might better fill a cold plate surface, which in itself has a certain surface roughness range and distribution. Also keep in mind the total measurement error of your temperatures is about 0.5 to 1 degree at best, if at all. Common sensors are precise, but not accurate.
Bold move from Linus to do a Square space sponsership, knowing that they fund a military occupation that tear down cemeteries to build a theme park.... Didn't expect that from you, Linus.
When we're talking any thermal paste, there is mostly 1 degree difference between the best non elec conductive stuff and an average one. You need really stringent testing to get good results on this stuff.
Yeah that's just blatantly fkn wrong lol. From Guru3D's article on it earlier this year than can be a nearly 10c difference between various brands and TIMs.
It’s not that hard to come close to the top consumer brand paste. Buy a 1kg can of thermal interface material from a chemical company such as Shin-Etsu, repackage it into syringes and there you have it. Dirt cheap and works extremely well. Consumer brands these days are all about fancy packaging and marketing, there isn't really much R&D involved. In fact I know some of those top brands actually only do repackaging.
You guys need to revisit the pads I am a converted I used a thermal grizzly pad and the thicker pads to redo my laptop for a 3rd time. It is so much better than the pastes I tried before.
*THANK YOU* for doing this, LTT. I watched the entire Tech Ingredients video and was *praying* you guys would give this stuff its due diligence. I too was overly concerned that the parameters they created for their tests were not indicative of real-world applications and needed to see this myself before ordering from them. I am overly excited about getting my hands on it.
get an old thermostat with an anticipator that can be set and turn it to 0... heat source will turn on and off more but it allows you to keep the temperature from over shoot/undershooting during "tests"
You touch the right point here in my opinion. THIN is just as important as thermal conductivity. Sadly whatever makes a paste well conductive prevents thinning. I had my best results with using clear thin silicon oil (lube ;) ) on very flat and mirror finish lapped surfaces. No fancy particles that kept the surfaces apart. Just a micron thin layer of the fluid. Is it possible for you to make a comparison with just clean silicon oil? Because my results were on par with liquid metal, but I don't have the data base to find out if that is just a fluke, or if I did something wrong with the liquid metal (which was a bit better than any other paste I used before, so I think I did it right. But you never know!)
Tech Ingredients is such a cool channel. Their speakers are really cool deep dive videos & I'd assume he will have a breakdown for this paste eventually.
All the more reason to use the spreader method of putting on thermal compound. You just don’t know how well a certain compound will spread if you just do the dot or x.
Colin- Try PB Blaster on the thermal paste stains. It's kinda hard to get apparently (we have bottles of it hoarded from years ago), but it just about degreases anything. hit it with the stuff then scrub it and let it sit for a bit, then hand wash it with soap and hot water. We use it to degrease a whole lotta shit in the shop and Mom uses it to get grease stains off her clothes after work. It's a miracle product.
You guys need a cold room that is specifically maintained perfectly at a temperature of your choice. No variation in temperature means you can do your tests better.
@@dalemonroe1779 I mean, they could replicate his setup, it just isn't really worth it for them. It is kinda surprising that after all these years they haven't just built a little temperature controlled soundproof booth to do testing in.
Don't really think that's needed for the purpose of determining if it's worth a purchase for home use. Basically, unless you can guarantee your bedroom/living room/whatever can maintain a difference in temp of less than a single degree (I sure as hell can't, and pretty sure neither can 99% of ppl) the variance will have a greater impact in PC temp than the thermal paste.
I put on a nitrile glove and evenly dab compound onto the heat spreader or die. Then I install the cooler, then remove it to see if there's full transfer. If there are bare spots on the cooler, they get dabbed. Minimal amount of compound, 100% coverage of contact surfaces. What do I use? The white greasy stuff that never dries out.
LTT should use a torque screwdriver to apply the same amount of pressure on CPU across different tests. Just suggesting a solution for another variable that you guys can eliminate.
Thanks everybody @LTT for the testing! The methodology was fair and it's good you used Noctua's best thermal paste with their own NH-D15 cooler as a benchmark. We've modified the test rig and are now formulating a liquid metal alternative, stay tuned.
wow, DIY liquid metal? can't wait!
It'll be cool to see what new versions you guys come out with.
Cant wait to see what you come up with! I was thinking it would be cool to see a LTT review what you had made.
Matching an R&D marvel of an experienced, specialized top-tier manufacturer is beyond impressive, and it seems that's just a start. You guys rock and these kinds of videos are SO much more fun and informative than another computer building. More power to you and please more videos like this.
Love you work btw (!) Tech Grandpa is a cool nickname !
I paused and read the whole letter. They seem humble and genuinely want an honest review and very appreciative of your previous review. I love that.
They are. Go have a look at their videos. :D They do all sorts of stuff! Air con to electro-hydro-dynamic drive*. Rum to rocket motors!
* As made famous in _The Hunt For Red October._
i love that he puts his sons name down on the letter too, acknowledging his sons inputs and efforts
@@CottonInDerTube What was wrong with it? What would you have done differently?
@@NemoConsequentae I just got that book today from my library, what a coincidence.
And yet Alex responded to that kindness with the most passive aggressive review in the history of this channel, LOL
I'm convinced that LMGs interview process involves a test where the hand a candidate something on camera to see if they drop it. If they do, they get hired.
Yup it’s the lack of fine motor skills, combined with sometimes fragile objects, that makes the show entertaining!
The fact that Alex and Colin are basically the same person got them hired 😂
The Linus test...
I don't see the point in not spreading the thermal compound with a spatula though. Wouldn't it be logical if spread is an issue to manually do it yourself? That is the way I do it and it drives me nuts to see that no matter the application there are often dead spots left behind.
“What their test apparatus is not, is a real world computer.” *slaps open bench-test rig with no case*
There are 100% people who run open air systems for the thermal benefit.
I mean... My computer BECAME open air when the only 3070 I could find was way too big for my case lol
Mine is open because the temps suck when it isn't >.>
Side panel has been pff mine 5 years
This is here for people who don't realise this is a joke, and need an explanation as to Alex's methodology.
By using a case, they would be introducing another variable; this way they can control the ambient temperature. If the PC was in a case, other variables would contribute to temperatures, skewing their findings (admittedly unscientific).
I’ve just realised that when Alex is not trying to dumb things down for some lowest common denominator he becomes a much better and more natural host. This ironically makes for much better communication.
Many smart people have a hard time dumbing things down
LTT made the same mistake that most companies make. Hiring engineers and making them do things that aren't very engineering related.
@@nicksrandomness2774 Smoke a blunt or two if it's legal ;)
I mean... It is a 10 minute video about thermal compounds. Not your average Joe's content.
What's the purpose of dumbing something down to begin with.. Freedom of infinite knowledge at your fingertips
"this is, again, horribly unscientific"
two seconds later
[ by 0 he means ∞ ]
😂
Well that's due to how the measurement tool works
@@cromefire_ I know how a multimeter works, i just find it hilarious how on-brand Alex always is whenever he does anything remotely "scientific"
@@cromefire_ It's because he read zero instead of OL meaning overload, not really because of the tool
plot twist: it was the world's first room-temp superconductor
@@unluckyguy3637 OL is Out of Limits which is the meter saying it's essentially infinite or beyond the ability to read.
Alex: We have a 'home-brew' contender for top tier TIM's.
DerBauer: *sweats*
@Jim McIntosh Exactly, I think the big companies would be the ones sweating. DerBauer would be likely to embrace and collab with TI I would guess.
@@MaxUgly he would at most loose the ppl who would make the efford, not many.
@Jim McIntosh he is cofounder of thermal Grizzly so I would not bet on it
@@MaxUgly ah yeah thermal grizzly is small.
@@ulrichkalber9039 Why would he loose people not many? ( no clue what you try to say )
Grandpa: Builds a complex setup to minimize variables in order to say if stuff is good or not
LTT: We don't care about that, we got REAL WORLD
*LTT does real world test*
LTT: Our setup is so shitty, we have no idea which one is actually better 🤷♂️
lol. they also put up a chart showing TI's is better right as they say it's equivalent to Noctua's.
So much for those sweet ads revenue.
@@nlingrel No they were correct in saying that. There is literally a 0.9 degree difference in the average, and the noctua's lowest run was lower than TI's lowest run.
Considering run to run variance you cannot conclusively say one is better than the other.
That's kinda the point though. For a real world setting you can expect about the same performance from the two. Doesn't really matter if one is like 0.01% better in a tightly controlled experiment.
They've probably tried harder for consistency than any actual person applying thermal paste to their PC. Goes to show that incredibly marginal gains don't really matter.
Tech Grandpa made some awesome video, I basically love his home made AC unit.
Dude is a freakin' genius! :)
“Mmm… Pine.”
- Tech Grandpa
Link? I'd like to check that out. Sounds interesting
.
Well, now I got a channel to go to. I never heard of him. I am interested.
I'm really looking forward to getting an order with Tech Ingredients. Even if it would have been worse (withing a few degrees) I would buy to help support their shenanigans.
Yes, one of the best channels on UA-cam.
We don't really know if the carrier will last though. It's just glycerin.
@@joshuascholar3220 the "easy to make at home" one was glycerine. The high performance one was some specialist silicone oil, yes we still don't know if it will evaporate, but they did say in the video that they tested that
@@joshuascholar3220 I'm not certain, but I don't think glycerin does much until it's heated to its boiling point, much hotter than it would get in this application. Anyway I'm also curious how long it lasts.
100% 🙌
Ok, PC Jesus needs to get involved in this. If Tech Ingredients Grandpa was to build a case with an integrated fluid cooling system I suspect it would be the most BOSS cooling system ever.
That... is actually quite likely, given that the thermal paste videos are on his 'Cooling' playlist: ua-cam.com/play/PLzrI14lOlSqeS5pNkRCiV1-yhoBlCmxms.html
Whytf is everyone calling him a grandpa I feel old goddamn
Just no, just no.
He would make MSI Stirling idea look like a cute kid having ideas about cooling.
@@chunye215 you don't see many older people use UA-cam. So if you have gray hair you're pretty much a grandpa on here. He probably could be a grandpa too by now tho.
@@Kiritomens You don’t think Gen X folks waste hours and hours on UA-cam? You don’t think Gen X folks don’t have a TON of active channels? If you watch this, I assume you know who Jays2cents is?
Tech Ingredients is a seriously good channel.
Absolutely! The detail and science behind everything they do is above and beyond.
one of the best yt content creators, for sure.
Just now discovered them through this video. I can't believe I've never heard of their channel before. They have some damn good content!
Tech Ingredients is an amazing find on UA-cam for learning everything from rockets to rum and between!
He is great because unlike most he runs down everything in detail, alternatives, and why the alternatives might work or not and why he chose what he did. its less of a "heres how to do it" and more of a "how to do it, and why so you can adjust"
I only wish they'd finally get a proper camera man. The camera work always makes me nauseous. Great content, though.
@@graealex yes! They need to get sponsored by skillshare so his son can take a filmography class or something.
@@graealex The camera guy is his son.
"Unfortunately, this is the real world, where things are annoying" that's gold right there
this guy is completely cringe, his teeth clenching is so outrageous it almost seems like he's doing it on purpose
No, that's just another way to say "There's too many variables"
Someone get Steve on this.
Agreed, PC Jesus and Co is a much better choice to go with testing. More than disappointed with the condescending tone. TI's "shed" is much better equipped than LTT from what I've seen.
Back to you Steve
He's still unboxing the blower test bench crate, probably needs to be calibrated again on site for verification the shipping and installation didn't screw it up.
He stopped doing thermal paste reviews after thermal grizzly started sponsoring him
@@jhontavarish4088 wait what there must be something else he gets case and other sponsors too all the time
I totally believe that TI has made good performing paste, but what I'd really like to see tested is the longevity. I don't recall what maker it was, but paste performed well for about year and then temps began to increase dramatically. Opened up the machine and paste had completely dried up. I've never seen this tested.
@@barnett25 That's excellent thing to hear and I'm really glad they've considered this issue. Gotta check out their video. They definitely earn and need all the views they can get. 👍👍
@@barnett25 Well worth a watch of that video. Went into such depth.
Yeah, shelf live and longterm stability. Those are way more important than 1-2°C for the first few weeks (aside from extreme overclockers).
Best example is the thermal paste that OEMs and Intel are using - by far not the best in terms of performance, but they still do their job even after 5 years.
@@ABaumstumpf I fully agree with that. I don't want to open laptops etc. to replace paste. Writing this comment with older business series Lenovo laptop that was bought from reputable distributor. Sales information said that they change thermal paste for models they sell. That's now been about year ago. Either they didn't change the paste and it's now failing or they've used some really poor quality one. Anyway looks like I have to do it to this myself 🙄
That would be thermal grizzly.
That's why once in an interview with Steve, Derbauer w̶a̶n̶t̶e̶d̶ recommended you to re-apply your thermal paste every year.
Love tech ingredients been watching them for quite awhile now. Pretty impressive with the results they have managed.
Honestly, this got my interest. Now to wait for a GN deep-dive.
God steve sucks, but i do watch his deep dives because well...who else?
This is why one of the top comments was "send it to Steve"
No offense but Tech ingredients deserved a better analysis of their thermal paste, I was excited to see this video but it feels really "thrown together at the last minute" thing, I just feel Gamers Nexus would have done something way better
could be an "ok linus we'll do it your way first and let the comments agree with me that we need a better control environment before we spend $5000 on making a thermal test control room in the warehouse and test for a few weeks with no content coming out of it in the meantime except a build vlog while you pay our wage still" thing, too. honestly though, it's "good enough" (in my opinion) to verify (for a future vid) that maybe testing needs to be done with a de-lidded and liquid-metal-repaste, incase the die-to-ihs tim is bottlenecking both pastes' abilities, and make linus go "OK FINE DELID THAT SUCKER" but then again idk how much a benefit, if any, liquid metal has over the die's tim, since iirc intel uses solder now
Indeed. It's not just the test environment but the script (or possible lack thereof) being very disorganized. I haven't seen anything this bad from LTT since the Anthony vs Linus repair challenge.
Yeah, seems like a rather rushed video, and no real thought put into any reasoning, I can almost predict that the increase across the tests was due to heat soak from the other components/case, looks like the tests were carried out almost imediatly one after the other only stopping to switch paste. Not really a fair comparison.A haphazard video and I would really hope for better from an LTT video.
I think TI talked about sending some to Gamers Nexus as well. I have hopes.
1:18 kinda supports this statement. GN has the proper testing apparatus and solid testing procedures. The only issue with GN is that they are sponsored heavily by Thermal Grizzly. While I think the majority of viewers, myself included, would trust them, it's still important to consider.
Some thermal pastes lose efficiency over time as they dry up & harden, I would like to see them do a 1-month long "burn-in" test to see if it actually holds up against the competition.
To be fair, they need to do that to ALL of the pastes on the market.
maybe go watch where TI covered this on their channel?
Over the years I have had the opportunity to do that with a few big name pastes, although my tests have all been at least 1 year. Here is the order of the most stable paste, as well as their thermal ranking:
1. Coolermaster MasterGel Maker (3rd)
2. Arctic Silver 5 (4th)
3. Noctua NT-H1 (2nd)
4. Noctua NT-H2 (Tied with 1st)
5. Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut (Tied with 1st)
My recommendations if you want the longest lasting paste with very acceptable performance, I have ran chips with Coolermaster MasterGel Maker for 5+ years with no change in performance. Noctua NT-H1 is the best compromise between performance and longevity, it will perform well for 2+ years before it begins slowly getting warmer. Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut and Noctua NT-H2 are interchangeable performance wise, but Kryonaut is extremely unstable and falls behind NT-H2 after about 6-8 months on average depending on how hot the paste is getting. Noctua NT-H2 is not as stable as NT-H1, it is also more prone to pump out (although not as bad as Kryonaut is), NT-H2 averages about 1 year or 1.5 years before a new application should be considered.
The most valuable lesson I've learned from my own testing is that Kryonaut should absolutely not be used in a 24/7 system. It's excellent for sub-ambient and bench testing, but in a system that you're actually using for long periods it is a waste of money.
The bigger factor is thermal creep. The silicone oil suspension medium both under pressure and experiencing thermal expansion cycles tends to creep out of the suspension and dissipate. This is a major problem with thermal pastes for aerospace where wild temperature and pressure swings exacerbate the problem but it's still a problem at normal temperatures over time. While there is some evaporation of silicone suspension mediums, most of the drying you see with old thermal paste is due to thermal creep.
I can add MX-4 that works fine for a long time between IHS and a cooler, but once put under the lid and it sees around 90C temperatures, the oil separates from the paste within 1-2 days
I genuinely think GN would make a better and proper testing, hopefully he would do it!
When it comes to true hardware testing, GN is much better.
Yeah. I mean, I wasn't expecting as good testing as GN would do here but this video was... like someone said "hey you go in the back room and make this video we don't want to make." Then rush released it.
I was excited to see this video. Now I'm disappointed.
So every time someone does a thermal test these days there is a dogpile of people that come from n to say "Steve would have done it better". Please stop. You aren't helping
Steve is many things, an excellent and forceful advocate for consumers, and an intelligent and thoughtful journalist first and foremost. But he is absolutely not to everyones taste, and frankly I find Alex and Collins video more entertaining and more compelling than the video Steve would have produced. Yeah, it's less scientific, yeah there isn't as much data as there could be, but I can also say as a field engineer that their test more closely mimics the reality an end user of the product would likely see. It's fun, and it meets the LTT audience where it's at, and doesn't demand that I engage in rigorous examination of the methodology. There is 💯 a place for that kind of content, and I am great ful for the rigor that Steve puts into holding manufacturers to their claims, but not everything needs to be addressed that way, and constantly chiming in on other channels to tell them that GN does it better does not reflect well on Steve's audience. Commenters like you are a large part of the reason he has to go out of his way to tell his audience not to go review bomb other UA-camrs.
@@isl1ngt0n The reason isn't taste, it's rigorous process and equipment. In regards to this stuff specifically, its because GN actually have tailor made, proper lab test equipment for this. That enables testing with far more variables under control. Meaning the results you get _much (!)_ more closely represent the merits of the actual product you're testing, instead of having tens or even hundreds of other variables affecting your results, many of which you have neither control over nor data on.
Also if you don't like GN's or Steve Burke's "style" / persona / presentation, I would like to point out that Gamers Nexus was a _written articles_ hardware testing and news site long before becoming a UA-cam channel. And more importantly, _they still are._
If you would like the GN testing data/results, or a review or hw news piece, but don't like their UA-cam stuff - GN still publish almost all of their content in written article format too. Good articles, not just video version script copypasta. I would suggest giving one of them a chance if you are inclined to such reading, there's definitely gonna be some interesting ones on Alder Lake, Z690 and DDR5 the next handful of days. While I personally enjoy the YT stuff, I often check their articles when wanting/needing a review's test data. For that, I personally find the article format to be more easily digestible.
The huge clusterf**k of uncontrolled variables is the challenge with these kinds of uncientific, "real world" comparison tests. Practically no one else is gonna have an identical setup as yours. Here, we have a huge amount of variables you cannot account for, and _a sample group of one._
If you want to get reasonably clear data from "real world" tests of something individually applied, assembled, configured and operated by users, you certainly can - but you need gigantic sample groups. Only one sample of a "real world" test like this, is the measured and statistical accuracy equivalent to the seat belt analogy, here: "Seatbelts serve no purpose and make no difference, because _I_ drove to the store _once_ and did not crash".
Ps. Please forgive the typos, I'm sure there's several. And have a great day.
For test results to have value, you have to establish what you are testing for.
This is a test whether or not it matters if you use A or B in a real world scenario. It doesn't. I have never spend money on after market paste, because ever cooler I have bought came with good paste. If I need after market paste, I'm going to spend 8 bucks, and not worry too much about whether another paste might give me a result that is 2 degrees Celsius lower,
I always prefer spreading it, rather than the rice grain method. I can make it super thin that way, and full coverage.
Why tho? The grain method is ideal. No need to manually spread it. The heat will warm up the paste and spread it out more.
Problem is, the comments would've probably imploded with people telling them spreading TIM would create air pockets. It's just easier and more consistent to do it the way they did.
@@hamajangz9586 It is easier and probably more consistent because of it, but not necessarily ideal.
I've seen very little spreading due to heat in TIM myself.
@Mario Kart Manual spreading was there before heatspreaders and it is still preffered for direct die. (now mostly gpus). With direct die if you don't get all the corners pasted you risk hotspots. (and 20years ago cpus didn't throttle or turn off they just released magic smoke and died). And if you take off the cooler to check the spread and plonk it back the chance of trapped bubbles is probably higher than with carefull spreading.
You have to manually spread it if it's a laptop (not as much pressure) or if it's a thick paste or both!
noctua: tony stark was able to match our performance in a shed with parts from ebay
“Back in 30 minutes? Cool.”
“…So it’s been an hour and a half”
running the tests 3 times. 30x3=90 90 minutes = an hour and a half.
tech ingredients is honestly an insane phenomenon they next level smart ngl
Love how Alex randomly changes into Colin and back again with no explanation lol
I'm pretty sure gamersnexus will have a more controlled setup.
Yeah. I mean, I wasn't expecting as good testing as GN would do here but this video was... like someone said "hey you go in the back room and make this video we don't want to make." Then rush released it.
I was excited to see this video. Now I'm disappointed.
@@mokahless The effort behind this video was actually kind of embarrassing to watch for being a follow-up to those Tech Ingredients videos. LTT couldn't even reproduce their own numbers for the noctua paste, so their conclusion was a shoulder shrug and "meh good enough." This level of phoning it in is more fitting of a teenager flipping burgers at mcdonalds.
These tests mean nothing if the stuff degrades over time and that would take years under load to know. Manufacturers have to be conservative and not manufacture paste that will shit the bed within a few years.
The Grandpa: Let me show you how it's done
I kinda hope that "Tech Grandpa" starts calling you guys "Tech Kiddies" :).
This guy is a condescending little D-bag.
Tech should test a rocket in his office.
@@breadfan1071 lol, exactly
Linus Tech dicks
(I don’t mind Linus though)
@@breadfan1071 This kiddie made me damn near just unsubscribe from Linus. Quit being a d-bag kid. What happened to being a nice human? SMH.
Some people (not you Rob) need to learn to lighten up a bit and understand a joke. If Tech Ingredients got upset about it then I'm sure the LTT staff would apologize but it's not meant to be insulting or mean beyond just being a joke. I'm 32, if a15 year old called me Grandpa or old man I'd probably call them a little brat or something, all in good fun (unless they got physical with me or really carried it too far which LTT has not).
After all these years how does LMG not have a temperature controlled booth for thermal tests like this? Make it sound proof too to do noise testing. It only has to be like closet sized, you have plenty of space.
Exactly, if the "shed" has it on a much tighter budget, seriously LTT step up your game.
The name Linus MEDIA Group explains it all.The entire purpose of the company is to make videos.They dont have the space or reason to get that kind of equipment.Its kinda obvious when you see how much space and equipment they dedicate to video production.If you are watching ltt videos expecting they will do a proper job explaining and comparing things then you are watching the wrong channel.
@@pesho9971 They produce tons of content whenever they upgrade their facility. Any upgrade can be made into a video. Temperature controlled booth ("testing upgrade") could easily be one of them.
Focusing on spread and intentionally applying too little paste seems like a weird test to me. You can always just apply more, it's totally fine. With proper mounting pressure, you really can't over apply it.
This was a strange way to start it off but it was nice to see how it behaved. It just doesn't make much sense as a comparison metric.
True. I'll never understand why people add so little paste it's never covering the whole IHS. 100% coverage always dissipates more heat than just a tiny spot in the center.
As Steve from GN has shown us a couple of years ago, even before the whole Verge PC building debacle (where people derided Stefan for the application, it wasn't pretty but it was serviceable).
That Linus photo in the background is like emperor Palpatine going like "good, good, let the drop flow through you!".
Search your fingers, you know them be buttery.
Ill wait for the moment Steve gets his hands on this. I don't feel like this was even remotely worthy of the effort.
Honestly i most probably wouldn't have known about this unless LMG made a video. I love gamers Nexus but honestly i don't really watch unless I am interested in a product.
@@leonardogalindo3324 thank you for all of this honesty. Honestly.
I think this was as much effort as needed to understand how it would perform in the real world. It's all fine and good to test this in isolation, but in reality none of us are going to intentionally replicate even this level of consistency in our own homes. It might be the best thermal paste _in theory_ in a well controlled environment. But in real world use, it is at best at least as good as the best thermal paste on the market, and at worst offering less value per unit than its competition because TI doesn't have the resources to produce the volume themselves that would compete with the big players.
Steve's tester is probably about the same as Tech Ingredients, so if TI said theirs was better then so will Steve.
But doing a real world test like this one puts that in perspective. Does measured a little better matter? Real world test says "no."
@@UndeadSoulOfPopeBenedict Did you not notice the low quality of the editing, possible complete lack of script and direction in addition to the bad testing methodology? It appears like a rushed video, ala the Linus vs Anthony repair video. I hope LTT can get their shit together and not keep releasing low quality content.
Back when Athlon CPUs were new and overclockable with a pencil, Arctic Silver 3 (i think this was the version) was the premium thermal compound, The prevailing procedure was to apply tiny tiny amounts, with the theory that it was just there to fill in the (air) gaps between surfaces, and heat transmission still relied predominantly on metal to metal (well, metal to chip die, technically) contact, not on a distinct layer of paste. it worked, and this was before heat pipes were in air coolers. Now we smear it on like we're icing a cake... interesting how things change.
Because the smarter voices finally prevailed over the ignorant ones. Metal-metal contact will happen because the mounting force will squish out the extra thermal paste. The tiny amount of extra metal contact you get by using microscopic amounts of paste is outweighed by the benefits of full IHS coverage you get by applying a lot of paste in an X and the drawbacks of manually spreading the paste and introducing air pockets.
@@angolin9352 not saying current methods are bad (or good), just commenting on how they have changed. At the time, I distinctly remember seeing tests that showed thicker amounts of paste led to poorer performance. I know paste and cooling tech has changed a lot since then, not to mention the presence of an IHS.
Tech ingredients went into this in a fair amount of detail, watch the latest video on the thermal paste.
The paste properties seem to be intrinsically tied to the mesh sizing of the Aluminum powder added.
Specifically it needs to be a combination of 3 and 5 micron Al beads. I may have misremembered the exact mesh sizes
however the idea is that you have one effect from the 5 micron and another effect from the 3 micron, and then the 2 sizes
talk (ie. exchange heat) with each other. The most interesting thing is the emergent properties that arise from sizing control.
5 micron, .3 micron aluminium and 20-30 nm silane coated ZnO powder. the smaller powders fill in the gaps of the larger powders.
@@deelkar Yeah, it definitely looks like a size/mechanical regime of thermodynamics. I wonder if someone could convince thermal paste to grow dendrites? That would be cool, waiting for a battery reaction to activate your thermal compound.
@@deelkar Also, silane solutions are very interesting. The VAPSA research I was involved with was heavily into the stuff. Not my department though. We were all about the ASAP (Accelerated Surface Area Porosimetry) research. Nothing like loading a steel ball into an instrument, wait 10 minutes, take ball out, wait 10 minutes, repeat until you are completely mad and there you go it's Calibrated. Stupid ASAP instrumentation!!!
Spread testing doesn't really matter much, you can just pre-spread the paste with a spatula
yeah, but then people get hysterical about "air pockets"...
So glad I checked both the description and the top comment. I knew there HAD to be a Tech Ingredients video on the making of this thermal paste. I love those guys!
i mean your up against the limits of the coolers and how fast heat can leave the cpu anyways as notcua said it doesnt really matter
@@barnett25 I watch ltt more for the hey this exists gamers Nexus has set a high bar for testing and it just seems ltt is more focused for the casual but they seem to not really be interested in even trying to meet thebbat for testing like come on how hard is it to do better testing the have the manpower and equipment they just need to put in the effort. This glosses over the cost for the man power and time but I don't expect them to change they have their segment of the tech space and Steve has the other segment but they have halfway decent projects that are cool for time to time.
Thanks for bumping Tech Ingredients!
Is Alex becoming the new Linus of Linus Drop Tips
After working with someone for a long time, you kinda get their... "quirks".😂
Lol
Why wouldn't reducing the amount of IC diamond you put in the center and then adding a little extra IC diamond closer to the corners outperform the Noctua paste, if the only factor is spread?
Or using the credit card method. It sounds like for Noctua, they've got the single dot application down but it's not as taking a minute to spread the paste is a big deal if it can improve your temps.
Spread isnt the determining factor in performance, thinness of the layer is. For the same volume of paste, and compression force, spread is an indicator of how thin the layer is though. It basically works out to "the paste stops flowing outwards at x PSI of pressure" If a paste is so viscous that it doesnt squeeze into a thinner layer, then boosting coverage by using multiple dots wont be as significant as switching to a less viscous paste that can spread into a very thin layer. I.e. if a paste has twice the bulk thermal resistance, but makes a layer 1/4 as thick, it can have half the actual thermal resistance of the original "better" paste, because there is less of it in the way. But to have a thinner paste, you need more carrier oil and less thermally conductive filler, so its all about balance. I.e. as said in the video.
Throw it on a Pentium 4 and see how it REALLY performs
Why not bulldozer?
@@kaldogorath don't want to burn down the office
Is this a meme? I've had a P4 and I didn't have thermal problems with it, even with the stock cooler back then.
@@tim3172 I have no idea what sort of series I had. But I remember it was the last model before they phased it out to get the new models in.
Strange though, what I heard about AMD at the time was completely opposite for me. Those were the ones that had a lot of thermal issues, that's why almost everyone preferred intel. It was 3rd hand info, but that's what I heard.
I did have issues with Radeon cards though. Every single time I buy one to replace an old one, I keep getting re-reminded why I had Nvidia instead. It was always a massive source of headache for various reasons.
@@noiJadisCailleach it depended on which P4 you got. The Willamette cores were decent and Northwood were the refined later gen P4 chips after the disaster known as Prescott.
Been stoked to see this since I saw his last video on this subject.
"Tech ingredients Grandpa" That line made my day. 😆😆😆😆
This guy has some great videos about custom speakers.
Those panel speakers are not very good though. The voight tubes are better.
i still can't forget about that homemade RUM. haha
@@stefan0ro lmao
Can you test it being a bit more generous? I mean you can totally account for less spread with more paste, right?
You wouldn't test it against a pea-sized piece of thermal pad either ;)
Woo! I was waiting for this. It's a really impressive result! Funny how one is made in a highly optimized factory and another was ground up by hand with a mortar and pestle.
Super proud of seeing Tech Ingredients in LTT content ! :D Well deserved they're doing amazing quality content !
Anyway, am I the only one using the credit card spread technique on thermal paste or what ?
I tried spreading but I'm not sure it matters. Nothing wrong with it though, as long as it covers it doesn't matter how you apply.
I honestly love these kinds of videos testing different cooling pastes, fluids.
2:41 I see papa Linus has taught you well Alex
5 micron grinding stone dust and glycol, The dust does nothing but stop the glycol from leaking. pull 5ml out of the car radiator and boil/steam the water out, add the polishing dust to whatever viscosity it is that the cooler surface works best with.
I don't know about you, but a consistent 2C difference is about the result I would expect. After testing this stuff on laptops, I can confirm it results in the lowest temperature by a very small margin compared to things like kryonaut and syy-157. Very pricey for the amount you get though. Can't beat gd-900 in value.
7:23 This, ladies and gentlemen, is the training Linus Sebastian himself makes sure his employees had before taking on a project, amazing job Alex XD
Linus: **drops smooth, well practiced segue into sponsor**
Alex: Sponsor time or something? idk
I really enjoy tech ingredients' stuff. I remember the first time I saw them was testing multi-material speaker housing. Great stuff.
Tech Ingredients knows his stuff.
3:36 I see a big variable missing in this "spread" test. Heat and the presure over time could increase or decrease the viscosity of these thermal pastes potentially changing the outcome of the test.
ITS WAS MADE IN A CAVE WITH A BOX OF SCRAPS
IDK...If I were going to try and create my own paste, the first thing that comes to mind would be Copper dust suspended in mineral oil or other heat conductive viscous material for suspension. Yes, it would be conductive, therefore use carefully. I have a 9900k that has a soldered heat spreader and gets red hot.
I'm still using the same tube a *Arctic Silver* thermal paste I bought for my first PC build in 1998! 😁
If you aren't overclocking to the point you have to worry about thermals with a cheap aftermarket cooler, thermal paste isn't that important. I'm running a 4770k oc to 4.4ghz, slapped a hyper 212 Evo on it. The thermal paste I have is shitty and degraded and I still don't ever go over 80C, and my fans never spin up to be noticable over the sound of a HEPA fan on low I keep in my room.
The majority of all this technology stuff is trying to make you think you are missing out if you don't buy the new thing, these videos make you feel like you are behind the curve if you don't spend a bunch of money.
But even in places here the tech is important, like digital photography, even the professionals aren't using the newest stuff.
8:36 hey Colin, contact cleaner removes thermal paste from cloth (or at least carpet) in my experience!
ooh, thanks for that tip! I'll see if I can rescue my old hoodie then. -CW
Torque screwdriver might help to set more consistent clamping pressure.
I believe that their paste can be thinnned out a little with distilled water, which may give a better "squish" pattern. Obviously it would be best to let it dry if you do that though.
I'm thinking of trying it, thinned out, for attaching heatsinks to the motors in my RC cars.
That intro felt so rushed and messy. Had no idea what was going on
They don't take it seriously that's all. If they were enthusiastic about it, Linus would do it and do it better. but obviously here no sponsor so.. LTT is so big, they've forgotten their beginnings.
It would help to watch TI's video first.
@@alphebetguy they could always use crayons to explain the video but I am guessing they are afraid some of you folks might eat the crayons.
@@larchsama9773 r/iamverysmart
I'd love to see a video of all the Tech you can get to protect/help old people (like parents). Like alarms if they fall over ect
Need to send this to the guys at GN to do some real testing.
Problem with paste is, that longevity is also a huge issue for most users. If it loses its properties after 6 months, it's inferior.
"Tech Grandpa" LOL.
The video was amazing. He scienced the shit out of thermal compound.
It's midnight in India and I am a literature student, yet I'm watching this. I don't know a thing about computers or chemistry. My laptop is kinda not working and I miss it and the guy who was supposed to come and fix it has been putting it off on the next day for like three days now. I am SO pissed at him rn but I can't say a word because that minx is the only one who can fix it. FUCK
On that I have to take an online test tomorrow and my parents have planned an outing EXACTLY tomorrow and when I asked them to postpone it, they clearly denied saying God ain't gonna wait for you-they were taking us to a temple which is good, but not on the same day when you've got two novels to read, a test to take and also an important class which won't even be recorded. So, ya! Thermal paste to stick or idgaf melt glass... WHATEVER
ig i need a diary
linus, can we get a standardized test rig for thermals? a heat element type testing set up? you can easily calibrate with a water tank and heat probes
I've always put my tube of IC Diamond in a cup of hot water for 10 minutes before applying it. Works great!
Tech Ingredients - one of the best channels on youtube.
Odorless mineral spirits makes an excellent surface cleaning solvent!
It will strip off stuff that alcohol can't touch, never leaves any residue and takes only a tiny amount to be useful.
By odorless, it means that no odor remains once it has evaporated.
It has that 'summer barbecue' smell...mineral spirits are often used as charcoal lighter fluid!
Be sure to use gloves, as this stuff will remove skin oils.
Wait... they signed that letter as Eric and Alex? So I guess we finally found out the presenters' names? Assumedly the main presenter is Eric and the oft-cameraman and occasional second presenter is Alex.
The spreadability is kind of interesting. Back in the day, it was all the rage to use a credit card to spread out the compound as thin as possible. Knowing what I now know about applying thinset for ceramic tiles, I think a micro notched trowel could be used to deliver the absolute best, most consistent spread every time.
Someone needs to make a miniature notched trowel. :) :)
I always used a razor blade. Still do!
GamersNexus: time for us to shine.
Even if the mounting pressure is the same, thermal paste performance can differ a lot between different coolers. Depending on the size range and distribution of the thermally conductive particles in the paste it might better fill a cold plate surface, which in itself has a certain surface roughness range and distribution. Also keep in mind the total measurement error of your temperatures is about 0.5 to 1 degree at best, if at all. Common sensors are precise, but not accurate.
At this point so much thermal paste performs essentially the same
Bold move from Linus to do a Square space sponsership, knowing that they fund a military occupation that tear down cemeteries to build a theme park.... Didn't expect that from you, Linus.
When we're talking any thermal paste, there is mostly 1 degree difference between the best non elec conductive stuff and an average one. You need really stringent testing to get good results on this stuff.
Yeah that's just blatantly fkn wrong lol. From Guru3D's article on it earlier this year than can be a nearly 10c difference between various brands and TIMs.
Making a thermal paste which can compete with one of the top thermal paste brands is the thermal paste equivalent of Micheal Scott paper company
It’s not that hard to come close to the top consumer brand paste. Buy a 1kg can of thermal interface material from a chemical company such as Shin-Etsu, repackage it into syringes and there you have it. Dirt cheap and works extremely well.
Consumer brands these days are all about fancy packaging and marketing, there isn't really much R&D involved. In fact I know some of those top brands actually only do repackaging.
Self-made thermal paste, sounds great =D
You guys need to revisit the pads I am a converted I used a thermal grizzly pad and the thicker pads to redo my laptop for a 3rd time. It is so much better than the pastes I tried before.
The only thermostat is in Linus' office? What a dad.
*THANK YOU* for doing this, LTT. I watched the entire Tech Ingredients video and was *praying* you guys would give this stuff its due diligence. I too was overly concerned that the parameters they created for their tests were not indicative of real-world applications and needed to see this myself before ordering from them. I am overly excited about getting my hands on it.
I've been looking forward to this one! Time to grab some popcorn.
get an old thermostat with an anticipator that can be set and turn it to 0... heat source will turn on and off more but it allows you to keep the temperature from over shoot/undershooting during "tests"
Remember to support DSP. Tips are preferred as he needs that money, he really does.
who asked
You touch the right point here in my opinion. THIN is just as important as thermal conductivity. Sadly whatever makes a paste well conductive prevents thinning.
I had my best results with using clear thin silicon oil (lube ;) ) on very flat and mirror finish lapped surfaces. No fancy particles that kept the surfaces apart. Just a micron thin layer of the fluid.
Is it possible for you to make a comparison with just clean silicon oil? Because my results were on par with liquid metal, but I don't have the data base to find out if that is just a fluke, or if I did something wrong with the liquid metal (which was a bit better than any other paste I used before, so I think I did it right. But you never know!)
they should send this to GN or Igor'sLab what even is this?
Tech Ingredients is such a cool channel. Their speakers are really cool deep dive videos & I'd assume he will have a breakdown for this paste eventually.
Now test the noctua vs thermal grizzly kryonaut extreme.
All the more reason to use the spreader method of putting on thermal compound. You just don’t know how well a certain compound will spread if you just do the dot or x.
That thumbnail is gonna be the source of my nightmares tonight.
Colin- Try PB Blaster on the thermal paste stains. It's kinda hard to get apparently (we have bottles of it hoarded from years ago), but it just about degreases anything. hit it with the stuff then scrub it and let it sit for a bit, then hand wash it with soap and hot water. We use it to degrease a whole lotta shit in the shop and Mom uses it to get grease stains off her clothes after work. It's a miracle product.
You guys need a cold room that is specifically maintained perfectly at a temperature of your choice. No variation in temperature means you can do your tests better.
LTT facilities not as well equipped as TI's workshop or as so rudely referred to in video as "shed".
@@dalemonroe1779 I mean, they could replicate his setup, it just isn't really worth it for them.
It is kinda surprising that after all these years they haven't just built a little temperature controlled soundproof booth to do testing in.
Don't really think that's needed for the purpose of determining if it's worth a purchase for home use. Basically, unless you can guarantee your bedroom/living room/whatever can maintain a difference in temp of less than a single degree (I sure as hell can't, and pretty sure neither can 99% of ppl) the variance will have a greater impact in PC temp than the thermal paste.
I put on a nitrile glove and evenly dab compound onto the heat spreader or die. Then I install the cooler, then remove it to see if there's full transfer. If there are bare spots on the cooler, they get dabbed. Minimal amount of compound, 100% coverage of contact surfaces.
What do I use? The white greasy stuff that never dries out.
thermal pastes NEED to be tested over a few months to ensure their performance do not drop dramatically.
LTT should use a torque screwdriver to apply the same amount of pressure on CPU across different tests. Just suggesting a solution for another variable that you guys can eliminate.