Thermaltake wants to revolutionize the way how you apply Thermal Paste

[soldier_ph]

Summary

Thermaltake, the Taiwanese Case, PSU and cooling components manufacturer, releases two new Thermal Pastes, the TG-30 and TG-50, with a special twist: It includes a uniquely shaped stencil that is just as big as a LGA 11xx or AM4 IHS. The Stencil has a Honey comb pattern that allows you to evenly spread out the Thermal Paste onto the IHS. The packaging of each the TG-30 and TG-50 include the Thermal Paste itself, a spudger, the stencil with the Honey comb design that is made out of Acrylic and two Alcohol cleaning wipes. The TG-30 boasts a thermal conductivity of 4.5 W/m-k, while the TG-50 delivers up to 8 W/m-k. Thermaltake sells the TG-30 and TG-50 for $8.99 and $11.99 MSRP, respectively. 

 

Photos and GIF

 

 

Quotes

Quote

-Quote from Tom's Hardware-

Thermaltake have launched the TG-30 and TG-50 thermal compounds that come with an interesting way of applying them to the processor's IHS (integrated heat spreader). The biggest novelty with the TG-30 and TG-50 is that Thermaltake includes a honeycomb-patterned stencil and a small spatula to paint the thermal compound over the IHS. The stencil is compatible with both Intel and AMD processors.

The company didn't reveal the thermal compounds' composition and the product page only hints to the presence of some mysterious diamond powder that reportedly helps with thermal conductivity. Thermaltake claims that the TG-30 and TG-50 don't dry up or crack easily either.

 

The rationale behind Thermaltake's idea is that the CPU cooler exerts uniform pressure over the honeycomb droplets so they spread and cover the entire IHS on the processor. Think of it as a simpler version of the credit card method. The only caveat we see with Thermaltake's approach is that you waste a good amount of thermal compound in the application process.

Thermaltake sells the TG-30 and TG-50 in 4g syringes. In addition to the stencil and spatula, the brand also includes two alcohol rubs to remove existing thermal compound from your processor or for cleaning the stencil after use.

The TG-30 boasts a thermal conductivity of 4.5 W/m-k, while the TG-50 delivers up to 8 W/m-k. Thermaltake sells the TG-30 and TG-50 for $8.99 and $11.99, respectively.

 

My thoughts

This is bit a ridiculous, like they don't have to reinvent the Wheel here. Thermal Paste application is already easy enough, just place a decent sized dot in the middle and you're good to go. IMO. But I think this might be a bit helpful for those people who built a PC for the first time but then you gotta clean the stencil and spudger afterwards and you waste quite a bit of the Thermal Paste in the process. Well I guess to each their own but I will stick to the normal application method with Higher End Thermal Pastes like NT-H2 and Thermal Grizzly.

 

Sources

Hot News by UFD Tech

 

Tom's Hardware

 

Thermaltake TG-30

 

Thermaltake TG-50

[Moonzy]

2 minutes ago, Pascal... said:

and you waste quite a bit of the Thermal Paste in the process.

that's their goal, get you to buy more

 

imo the pressing plexi glass by hand method to show spread is BS, not nearly enough pressure to truly simulate the spread when mounting a cooler

[startrek03]

9 minutes ago, Moonzy said:

imo the pressing plexi glass by hand method to show spread is BS, not nearly enough pressure to truly simulate the spread when mounting a cooler

Besides the fact that they don't even do this test with just a dot. They are only showing that their system works. It's not even compared to common application techniques...

[thechinchinsong]

Really reaching here with this one. I'm surprised Thermaltake think this is good enough of a marketing strategy here to increase sales versus just selling the paste without this weird marketing thing. I guess their sales team ran the numbers and it made sense.

[Arika]

i can see how this makes sense for MOST people. the "wasting" paste would only affect a very small number of people. the majority of people would apply paste once and then never touch it again.

[theninja35]

To be fair, when I use thermal paste I end up with like half a tube left and then I lose it before it's time to reapply...so I don't know if I'd really end up buying more than I do, just from the perspective of an average consumer who likes computers.

Edited August 13, 2020 by theninja35
I accidentally said the same thing as Arika S but I began my post before s/he made hi/ers and didn't refresh the page before I posted.

[Onehandstander]

I love how in the video  example theres barely a difference between standard application and thermaltakes.

[zeusthemoose]

At least it’s optional. Experienced builders definitely won’t use it, but I could see new or less knowledgeable builders using it and wasting a ton of thermal paste in the process.

[Skipple]

I was nervous as hell my first time applying thermal paste, so I kinda get the appeal.

 

But after 1 or 2 times doing it I had no problem and I knew how to do it from then on. 

 

I kinda get nervous that new builders will have no idea how to do it in the future without extra tools to help them.  

 

Teach them the right way. Don't hold their hand so much that they don't know how to do it on their own in the future

 

[Bombastinator]

There is a precedent with tile mastic that also needs to be applied in a coat of specific thickness.  The dot method was used there too.  Then came gratings like those described above.  The most common current one is a toothed trowel that has Vee or square shaped notches on the edge which allow a specific mount of mastic through.  Might be the next step.  The dot method still works for tile mastic though.

[TrigrH]

9 minutes ago, Skipple said:

I was nervous as hell my first time applying thermal paste, so I kinda get the appeal.

Same as above, just replace "thermal paste" with "forcing the CPUs lid off with a vice".

[Tech_Dreamer]

LMAO! why doe? this is outright wasting excess thermal paste that doesnt stick to the contact regions & spreads like any other thermal paste application in a similar pattern.

[Bombastinator]

8 minutes ago, Tech_Dreamer said:

LMAO! why doe? this is outright wasting excess thermal paste that doesnt stick to the contact regions & spreads like any other thermal paste application in a similar pattern.

Yep.  I think it will fail.  The gratings and trowels work well for tile mastic because there are multiple tiles and any extra easily can be wiped back into the bucket. If you’re just replacing one tile though the dot method is still preferred.

[Tech_Dreamer]

5 minutes ago, Bombastinator said:

Yep.  I think it will fail.  The gratings and trowels work well for tile mastic because there are multiple tiles and any extra easily can be wiped back into the bucket.

wouldn't it be sorta contaminated at this point? no reason to reintroduce it back & mush it with the fresh set.

[Bombastinator]

12 minutes ago, Tech_Dreamer said:

wouldn't it be sorta contaminated at this point? no reason to reintroduce it back & mush it with the fresh set.

Doesn’t matter that much for mastic.  It’s just glue.  It depends on how much debris is on the floor you’re gluing to. Not infrequently it’s brand new clean concrete, so not much foreign material.  Something really dirty though yeah, sure. Wouldn’t want to do it with cpu paste at all.

Edited August 13, 2020 by Bombastinator
Gah! How did autocorrect get “stuff” out of “at”?!

[Windows7ge]

First thought that entered my mind was waste of paste unless you plan to scrape whatever left off the stencil and reuse it somehow.

 

I do like the hexagon pattern though. Try doing that freehand :3

[RejZoR]

Thanks, I'm just gonna spread it old way with a thin flat screwdriver across entire IHS surface.

[atxcyclist]

I truly believe some people put way too much thought into thermal paste application. Out of all the maneuvers required to build a computer, this just never struck me as difficult.

[ravenshrike]

Either spread it with a credit card or use a honking big dollop. Or 3 peas if on AM4. There's no such thing as too much thermal paste unless it's conductive or capacitive.

[GDRRiley]

given I buy the large tubes of NT-H1 now, I don't see the point in wasting half

[Trik'Stari]

*The Verge would like to know more*

[paddy-stone]

8 hours ago, Pascal... said:

Snip!

Yes, I completely agree with your take on it. For most people that are already enthusiasts, they don't need the stencil etc... but for beginners, this could be the difference between not enough paste, and too much paste.

 

Personally if I'm mounting a new cooler that I haven't used before and so don't know the mounting pressure, or advice to noobs... is to put a pea sized amount in the centre (depending on platform), and then mount the cooler and screw it down... then unmount immediately to see what the spread looks like. If it looks too little add a tiny bit more (very tiny) and try again... if the spread was over-applied wipe with a lint free paper towel or even run a small spatula round the sides of the IHS, then re-mount and it should be good. TBH you might not NEED to wipe any away as you know, but I just got into the habit of checking, and if you're checking anyway, then you might as well wipe away any excess while you're there.

[TVwazhere]

3 hours ago, GDRRiley said:

given I buy the large tubes of NT-H1 now, I don't see the point in wasting half

Same

Spoiler

[Doobeedoo]

I mean, I guess cool for like applying just enough for those that may not know well or how much is good. Though it just looks like factory pre applied in the end. Seems unnecessary. 

Thermal pads are more interesting. 

[Twinsenito]

I feel like this solution is something I would buy. Thermal paste application is one and only procedure in computer building which is measured by eye, you just have to apply "enough" which is not as straight forward as attaching new card or something where you have just one way of doing it and nothing can go wrong at all. So this package would make it as straight forward as putting a graphics card in PCI-e slot. I've built a few computers successfully but I still feel a bit stressed when I have to apply a thermal paste. I personally love this new approach.

Speaking of wasting more than you could without this approach, I renew my paste not so often so when it happens the package is either lost already or it's dried out already. So I buy a new package every like 5 years or so and it's not that expensive for this kind of regularity.