Introduction
When we think about achieving better cooling performance, we often focus on hardware solutions. However, the quality of the thermal compound/paste that interfaces between the chips and the cooler is another critical factor in getting better cooling performance from your cooler. Most people I know either use a well-known brand or the generic stuff that comes with their components. But there are others on the market who strive to compete and produce solutions on-par with the incumbents. Today we’ll take a look at a thermal compound from GELID, a new company on the block, known GC-1. Will this product stand up against the more popular brands? We will attempt to answer that question in today’s review.
About Gelid:
Check out their website www.gelidsolutions.com
GELID Solutions Ltd. is a Hong Kong based company with Swiss Management and founded in 2008 by Gebhard SCHERRER and VC TRAN. Both have worked in the PC Cooling industry for a number of years and successfully built up an IT company with their expertise.
GELID designs and manufactures thermal solutions, CPU coolers, fans, and other computer hardware for both gamers and silent enthusiasts. We provide computer hardware distributors, retailers and system integrators with innovative, virtually silent, high- performance and top quality thermal solutions.
Quality and innovation are key. And, being Swiss, we leave nothing to chance. That’s why we provide a total solution – from bearings to thermal compound, from design to shipping, from the moulding of the fan to the print on the box – with state-of-the-art machines and experienced staff.
Features:
* Optimal Heat Conductivity
* Non-Electrical Conductive
* Low Thermal Resistance
* Non-Corrosive
* No Bleeding
* Non-Curing
Specifications:
Viscosity (Poise): 2850
Specific Gravity (g/cm3): 3.96
Net Content (g): 5
INCLUDED: Applicator
The product:
Please click on thumbnails to get bigger pictures
The GELID GC-1 thermal compound comes well-packaged in a clear plastic package with a colorful green color scheme. The back provides a list of the specification and some typical performance numbers.
Please click on thumbnails to get bigger pictures
Opening the package, we find a rather large syringe filled with the thermal compound. The syringe comes with 5g of compound, which is generous as most companies only provide 3.5-4g. A small rubber cap keeps the thermal compound in the syringe. Also included is a plastic applicator, which is a nice touch that is new to me.
If you look at the features of the product, you’ll notice the long list of “non” features, such as non-conductive, no bleeding, non-curing, etc. These features aren’t seen but are very important nonetheless, especially the non-conductive nature of the compound. This will prevent accidental shorts and other failures due to excessive thermal compound.
Installation:
Please click on thumbnails to get bigger pictures
To test out the GC-1 thermal compound, I applied the compound to both a CPU application and a video card/GPU application. I found the application to be very similar to that of our favorite compound, the Arctic Silver 5 compound, though the GELID thermal compound was a little less viscous/thick, making it slightly easier to spread. Thanks to the applicator, the application went very smoothly.
Testing:
Test System:
AMD 64+ X2 3800+ AM2
ECS GeForce 6100SM-M
Rosewill CPU Cooler
Super Talent 2GB DDR2-1000 RAM
GeForce 7600GS video card
Hauppauge TV tuner card
Maxtor 200GB 7200 rpm harddrive
Maxtor 250GB 7200 rpm hard drive
Sony DVD writer
Idle temperatures were taken running Windows and full loads were taken while running gaming loops. Temperatures (in degrees Celsius) were recorded.
CPU Cooling:
As seen in the chart, GC-1 compound performed slightly better the Arctic Silver 5 compound by about 1-2 degrees, which is a very surprising result given the solid performance of the AS5 compound. I typically find that AS5 takes a little bit of time to burn-in however, so the results may not be so conclusive in a long duration test.
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