INTRODUCTION

    Both CPU and GPU temperatures depend on many factors including ambient temperatures, case airflow levels, type of cooler and yes, they even depend on which thermal conductive material you end up using (the IHS - Integrated Heat Spreader - also matters but lapping or delidding it is not something most people would do). Yes, the thermal paste may not be as important as the CPU/GPU cooler or even ambient temperatures and airflow levels (in certain cases) but you'd be surprised as to what differences you can expect in terms of cooling efficiency between average and top-end models. THERMAL HERO is a new player in the market and since recently they sent over their entire thermal paste lineup (NEO, ULTRA, QUANTUM and METALLIQ) I decided to test them out and see which is the best of the bunch.

    THERMAL HERO is an international brand specializing in the development of high quality thermal paste and cooling solutions. Leveraging over 25 years of experience, our expert team strives to enhance electronic device performance and reliability. Emphasizing close collaboration, we customize solutions for unique project needs. Our global partner network, modern logistics ensure worldwide product availability.

    Back in the day when we were looking to get a thermal paste, we considered 3 compound specifications, thermal conductivity, density and viscosity. Thermal conductivity is measured in W/mK (Watt per meter Kelvin - higher is better), density is measured in g/cm³ (grams per cubic centimeter - number depends on the compound) and viscosity is measured in PAS (pascal seconds - again this depends on the compound). Today however things have vastly improved and so even by just looking at thermal conductivity there's a good chance you can see which thermal paste is the best (not always the case however). Now as some of you may know there are several thermal compound types out there and so aside the typical ones (low to high end) which are a combination of two materials (bonding and filler) and use acrylates, epoxies and silicones for bonding (urethane too) and aluminum, silver, ceramic or even diamonds as filler (high thermal conductivity) there are also liquid metal compounds available (ultra-high end) made of rhodium, gallium, silver, indium and many other alloys. A rather new player in the market called THERMAL HERO makes all of the above and so their current models are the NEO (12W/mK), ULTRA (13W/mK), QUANTUM (17W/mK) and METTALIQ (80W/mK) with the last one being as expected a liquid metal compound and yes, I've had them all in the lab for roughly 3 weeks now.