Some thoughts on the rest of the contenders:

There really didn’t seem like too much of a difference in performance between the contenders ranked from third through seventh.  It really doesn’t seem fair to judge the “frag tape” in this group either because it has its place in certain applications where other materials won’t “cut the mustard.”  Here are some points to consider:

·         The CircuitWorks silver paste used to be the “big dog” on the block and it does perform well.  The main shortcoming with this compound is that it’s electrically conductive and you have to be especially careful in handling it.  I was a bit disappointed in the consistency of this compound, too.  But it may have been a bad batch.

·         The third choice as far as the performance indicated is Overclockers’ Hideout copper thermal paste.   It measured in at  just few degrees hotter than the silver compounds.  So, comparing the $5.50 to the $13.95 and $19.00 price tags of numbers one and two, this compound is a logical choice if your budget doesn’t allow for you to spend a lot of cash on thermal compound.

·         The M.G. Chemicals compound was a surprising “sleeper” coming in at a not-so-shabby fourth place in our competition.  I didn’t expect this to do so well and for only $2.00 per package you just can't lose!

·         The remainder of the silicone/ zinc oxide compounds performed just about as well as I expected them to.  Using any of those compounds definitely won’t hurt and one advantage is that they’re easily accessible. 

·         While not being a top performer in the conductivity department, the 3M “frag tape” has a place in video chipset and motherboard chipset applications. 

Afterthoughts:

I hope that this “deathmatch” helped you with any questions you may have had about thermal compounds.  Or, at least I hope I didn’t confuse you more than before your read this!  ;-)  But, even the very best cooling setup is absolutely worthless with insufficient heat transfer between the CPU and the heatsink.  In order to reach proper heat transfer some sort of interface material is imperative.   Today, the ability to find a decent thermal compound is much easier than in “days of yore.”    The type of thermal compound you chose is almost as important as the heatsink you choose.  So, don’t make this decision hastily or you may pay dearly for that mistake in performance loss.   Good luck!

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