Thermal Interfaces Roundup: Retail Products. Page 9

[03/03/2011 12:39 PM | Cooling]
by Sergey Lepilov

Our first massive roundup is going to talk about 26 different thermal grease choices that can be purchased individually, without the cooler itself. We are going to find out which ones rock and which ones fail.

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Tuniq TX-3 and TX-4

The Tuniq TX-3 has been manufactured for over a year and a half already and is considered one of the best thermal interfaces for overclocking. It comes in a transparent blister wrap with a paper insert. You can find the product specs on the back of the packaging:

The small tube, manufactured in China, contains only 3 grams of thermal grease which will cost you $5.

The TX-3 is gray and dense. Its thermal conductivity is specified to be 6.2 W/(K·m). Its operating temperature range goes from -45 to +200°C.

The Tuniq TX-3 is similar to the ARCTIC MX-3 in consistency and density, so it is not very easy to spread it out thinly. Anyway, if you apply enough force, you should get a uniform layer:

The newer Tuniq TX-4 is the next step in the development of this thermal interface. It is rumored to be the ARCTIC MX-4 selling under the Tuniq brand, by the way. I don't know if this is true, but the Tuniq TX-4 comes in original packaging which is compact, reliable and rather informative.

A plastic card for spreading the thermal grease on the CPU is included with the 3-gram tube.

Take note that the sizes of the heat-spreaders of modern CPUs are marked out on that card.

The Tuniq TX-4 differs from the TX-3 in having a somewhat higher thermal conductivity (6.53 W/(K·m)), a different operating temperature range (-45 to +160°C), and different consistency. It has become more fluid and thus easier to apply on a CPU surface. The color hasn’t changed:

Tuniq says that the new TX-4 should be 1°C more effective than the TX-3.

Here is the imprint left by the Tuniq TX-4 on the graphics processor and cooler:

The amount of thermal grease being the same, the Tuniq TX-4 is twice as expensive as the Tuniq TX-3 and costs $10.

Xigmatek PTI-G3606

Like the Tuniq and many other thermal interfaces, the Xigmatek PTI-G3606 is packed into a plastic blister wrap.

The 3-gram tube is manufactured in China and costs about $6. A small spatula is included with it for spreading the thermal grease on a processor surface.