Conclusion

I don’t think it makes sense to hunt down every half a degree in the conclusion to our today’s roundup. Especially, since a small difference like that lies within the accepted measuring error. Therefore, I would like to say that out of all thermal interfaces we tested today we wouldn’t recommend such solutions as AiT Cool Silver, Pro-Thermal 81 and Zalman ZM-STG1. SilMORE thermal compound is the worst solution of all we checked out this time and we strongly advise to replace it immediately. And those cooling solution manufacturers who bundle their products with a pack of SilMORE compound should definitely reconsider if they want to score high. Arctic Alumina turned out the best of the worst thermal interfaces, however, it delivers high thermal conductivity at extremely low temperatures, which might be handy for extreme overclocking fans.

As for the winners, I can certainly single out liquid metal from Coollaboratory and Coollaboratory Liquid MetalPad with a few remarks regarding its proper use that should be taken into account. The new OCZ Freezer Extreme performed extremely well as a highly efficient, relatively inexpensive and very easy to work with. The good old Arctic Silver 5 still holds on to its leading position successfully, although now it has at least eight worthy competitors to worry about. Overall, it is very pleasing to see that there are more than 2-3 worthy thermal interfaces around. And of course, do not forget that thermal interface is simply a substance to fill into the micro-pores between the cooler base and the processor heat-spreader. You have to make sure that both these surfaces are very even, because no “millimeter” layer of thermal compound usually applied by newbies and several “experienced” testers out there will guarantee efficient cooling and objective cooler comparison.