Noctua Unveils NA-TPG1: A Thermal Paste Guard for AMD AM5

[CommanderAlex]

 

Summary

 Noctua has unveiled a thermal paste guard to prevent excess thermal paste squeezed out from getting in between the notches of the IHS on AMD's new socket AM5 CPUs. This is simply a molded plastic cover that sits on top of the retention bracket that reduces the chance of thermal paste from seeping down the IHS between the notches where it can get messy. Will be available as a separate set and Noctua's NT-H1 and NT-H2 3.5g thermal pastes. The kit comes with 10 of Noctua's cleaning wipes. 

 

Quotes

Quote

Vienna, October 6th 2022 – Noctua today announced its new NA-TPG1 thermal paste guard for AMD’s latest AM5 based Ryzen processors. When the mounting pressure of the cooling solution is applied, excess thermal paste will be squeezed outwards. With AM5 CPUs, this excess paste tends to accumulate in the cut-outs at the sides of the heat-spreader and may become difficult to remove. Simple and risk-free to apply, the NA-TPG1 prevents this undesired phenomenon.

“While there’s no denying that AMD’s new Ryzen 7000 processors perform fantastic, we found that the cut-outs at the side of the heat-spreader tend to attract thermal paste that can be challenging to clean off” says Roland Mossig (Noctua CEO). “This is where our new thermal paste guard steps in: it’s a simple yet highly effective tool for keeping your new Ryzen 7000 series CPU nice and clean.”

Prices start at 7.90 EUR/USD for the NA-TPG1 kit with 10x NA-CW1 cleaning wipes. 

 

The NT-H1 3.5g and NT-H2 3.5g has a separate model, NT-H1 3.5g AM5 Edition and NT-H2 3.5g AM5 Edition respectively, start at 9.90 EUR/USD for the NT-H1 kit and 13.90 EUR/USD for the NT-H2 kit.

 

My thoughts

 

Interesting to see Noctua reveal such a product considering Intel's HEDT has similar notches (no SMDs, so maybe they want to prevent the paste from getting in between them?), albeit bigger IHS and didn't have to have a guard in place for their products. I just don't think it's necessary and seems gimmicky for a product like this to come from Noctua. 

 

For those that apply a lot of thermal paste, here's a product for you! 

 

Sources

https://noctua.at/en/noctua-presents-na-tpg1-thermal-paste-guard-for-amd-am5

[Fasterthannothing]

This is absurd that AMD built a product that is designed in such a way to even have a market for this 

[starsmine]

I dont think anyone needs it unless using electrically conductive thermal paste.
And iirc, none of noctua pastes are.
But if you say wanted to use liquid metal or artic silver then yea. 

[GoodBytes]

You know, all they needed to do is sell thermal paste with just enough to do 1 CPU, so as you use the whole tube, assuming you put it at the center, it won't spill out, as you can't put more than what is given. Much simpler.

[TrigrH]

1 minute ago, GoodBytes said:

You know, all they needed to do is sell thermal paste with just enough to do 1 CPU, so as you use the whole tube, assuming you put it at the center, it won't spill out, as you can't put more than what is given. Much simpler.

Lets hope you don't make a mistake, also plenty of waste, especially if you use a syringe. 

[Mihle]

This seems pointless to me.

[WereCat]

This is one of the most gimmickest gimmick I've seen in years 

[ZetZet]

10 hours ago, Fasterthannothing said:

This is absurd that AMD built a product that is designed in such a way to even have a market for this 

There really isn't a market for this. Most people apply thermal paste to the CPU once. And even if there is squeeze-out it doesn't do anything at all. This product is for tech reviewers and people who have some sort of OCD. 

[DuckDodgers]

"Problem still not found!" -- The solution

[MageTank]

4 hours ago, Mihle said:

This seems pointless to me.

Oh it is, lol. I've repasted a ton of times on these AM5 processors and have never had trouble with paste getting in these grooves, and I am known in our lab as the "guy that went to MSI's school of thermal paste application". By that, they mean this:

 

At worst, there is a small overhang near the grooves that can be easily wiped away, but the SMDs almost never get touched with paste, even with excessive amounts used. This is definitely solving a problem nobody has.

[CommanderAlex]

4 hours ago, Mihle said:

This seems pointless to me.

 

2 hours ago, WereCat said:

This is one of the most gimmickest gimmick I've seen in years 

With all that being said (and I completely agree with you guys), I really wonder what their "Next Generation NH-D15" is going to be after being delayed numerous quarters and for this "thermal paste guard" to take precedent to be launched before the new NH-D15 does. What?? Another heatpipe??? Maybe industrialPPC NF-A15 140mm fans instead?? 

[Sauron]

inb4 people forget to remove it before installing the cooler

13 hours ago, CommanderAlex said:

Prices start at 7.90 EUR/USD for the NA-TPG1 kit with 10x NA-CW1 cleaning wipes. 

They should just include this as a bonus with their thermal paste tubes, that way it would still be pretty pointless but kinda nice to have... whereas this way it just seems like a scam.

7 hours ago, GoodBytes said:

You know, all they needed to do is sell thermal paste with just enough to do 1 CPU, so as you use the whole tube, assuming you put it at the center, it won't spill out, as you can't put more than what is given. Much simpler.

But then if you have to reapply it for some reason you need another tube, not ideal.

[Doobeedoo]

Yeah I can see it more usable for reviewers. I'd maybe use it just for giggles but to get it yeah it's pricey for what it is.

[Kid.Lazer]

21 minutes ago, Sauron said:

inb4 people forget to remove it before installing the cooler

I'm pretty sure you're supposed to leave it on under the cooler. That's kinda the point, no?

 

It's still stupid though.

 

13 hours ago, starsmine said:

I dont think anyone needs it unless using electrically conductive thermal paste.

And even then, it still has gaps, so it's not a perfect solution. If electrical conductivity became an issue, just shoot some silicone in those gaps (sans guard) and call it a day.

[DoctorNick]

14 minutes ago, Doobeedoo said:

Yeah I can see it more usable for reviewers. I'd maybe use it just for giggles but to get it yeah it's pricey for what it is.

Yeah I agree with that, if constantly swapping paste, then it might be useful

[Sauron]

Just now, Kid.Lazer said:

I'm pretty sure you're supposed to leave it on under the cooler. That's kinda the point, no?

Maybe? I thought it was meant to prevent spills from you accidentally squeezing too hard

[Kid.Lazer]

22 minutes ago, Sauron said:

Maybe? I thought it was meant to prevent spills from you accidentally squeezing too hard

The intended usage is to leave it there to catch any over-spill when the cooler squeezes the paste out the sides. If you look closely at the picture, it sits on the retention bracket, but it is still lower than the IHS, so it shouldn't cause any interference.

[Ultraforce]

1 hour ago, CommanderAlex said:

 

With all that being said (and I completely agree with you guys), I really wonder what their "Next Generation NH-D15" is going to be after being delayed numerous quarters and for this "thermal paste guard" to take precedent to be launched before the new NH-D15 does. What?? Another heatpipe??? Maybe industrialPPC NF-A15 140mm fans instead?? 

I believe their next gen 140 mm fans are supposed to be released before the new NH-D15 successor.

[CommanderAlex]

3 minutes ago, Ultraforce said:

I believe their next gen 140 mm fans are supposed to be released before the new NH-D15 successor.

Correct, but the 140mm fans on the NH-D15 use 120mm mounting holes for the clips to hold onto the heatsinks.

[Poinkachu]

Seems Thermal Grizzly is making one too ?

Which from the looks and sounds of it, a bit more solidly built & useful ?

 

https://www.thermal-grizzly.com/en/products/565-amd-ryzen-7000-cpu-guard-en

 

 

[Dr_Whom]

8 minutes ago, Poinkachu said:

Seems Thermal Grizzly is making one too ?

 

https://www.thermal-grizzly.com/en/products/565-amd-ryzen-7000-cpu-guard-en

 

 

He showed the prototype of this off in his delid video (I think it was in that one), and the way he talked out it there he put a lot of emphasis on it being insulation for sub-zero cooling and then like the ad here says for liquid metal applications. Both of which make more sense than this Noctua one.

[Poinkachu]

1 minute ago, Dr_Whom said:

He showed the prototype of this off in his delid video (I think it was in that one), and the way he talked out it there he put a lot of emphasis on it being insulation for sub-zero cooling and then like the ad here says for liquid metal applications. Both of which make more sense than this Noctua one.

Well, I'm not a liquid metal nor a sub-zero player, but from how it looks in the video after he installs it, it seems to have less gap than the Noctua one atleast.
Whether or not it might become a heat trapper though..... no idea.

[Sir Beregond]

17 hours ago, Fasterthannothing said:

This is absurd that AMD built a product that is designed in such a way to even have a market for this 

I really think they borked up the AM5 socket design just in general besides just this. The thicker IHS to maintain z-axis compatibility with AM4 coolers just ironically made the chips hotter too.

[ToboRobot]

If AM5 isn't great, then long socket life and time until we get the issues resolved, isn't such a good thing is it?

[CommanderAlex]

8 minutes ago, Sir Beregond said:

I really think they borked up the AM5 socket design just in general besides just this. The thicker IHS to maintain z-axis compatibility with AM4 coolers just ironically made the chips hotter too.

That alone, was a pretty terrible solution and AMD should have just made them thinner and force changes be made to the cooler mounting hardware. Instead, we get a half-assed product as a result.

 

8 minutes ago, ToboRobot said:

If AM5 isn't great, then long socket life and time until we get the issues resolved, isn't such a good thing is it?

I'm curious to know if there is going to be a AM5 revision that will slightly change the socket and make the IHS thinner.