Looking for the best thermal imaging camera for $300 or less

cleric_warlock · May 25, 2023

I’m looking for a good thermal imaging camera that can be used to accurately measure temperature on any visible point of running pc equipment (preferably with crosshairs) to help with diagnosing any potential thermally related issues - also i want it to be able to help me judge when to stop applying heat to a cpu that i’m trying to delid so that i don’t accidentally cause heat damage when trying to loosen adhesive. What is the best thermal camera that fits these use cases and is 300 USD or less? Is there a camera that breaks this budget that has features that would be worth the extra expense?

DreamCat04 · May 25, 2023

16 minutes ago, cleric_warlock said:

I’m looking for a good thermal imaging camera that can be used to accurately measure temperature on any visible point of running pc equipment (preferably with crosshairs) to help with diagnosing any potential thermally related issues - also i want it to be able to help me judge when to stop applying heat to a cpu that i’m trying to delid so that i don’t accidentally cause heat damage when trying to loosen adhesive. What is the best thermal camera that fits these use cases and is 300 USD or less? Is there a camera that breaks this budget that has features that would be worth the extra expense?

NorthridgeFix have made a good video about a budget thermal cam that runs at 30FPS iirc and it's pretty inexpensive compared to the features it gives you.

this is the video they made about it, they find it very good for the price.

But while delidding, you won't heat damage the CPU because it can only take damage if there's current running through it while it's at 150°C or more. Edit: but you shouldn't get it too hot to not melt any solder on the CPU

Edited May 25, 2023 by DreamCat04

MONIXMARU · May 25, 2023

Klein Tools TI250 Rechargeable Thermal Imaging Camera

I found this thermal imaging camera that's actually very good.

I checked some youtube reviews as well, plus this camera is actually great for PC diagnosis .

cleric_warlock · May 25, 2023

2 hours ago, DreamCat04 said:

NorthridgeFix have made a good video about a budget thermal cam that runs at 30FPS iirc and it's pretty inexpensive compared to the features it gives you.

this is the video they made about it, they find it very good for the price.

But while delidding, you won't heat damage the CPU because it can only take damage if there's current running through it while it's at 150°C or more. Edit: but you shouldn't get it too hot to not melt any solder on the CPU

This thermal camera seems to be my ideal choice, but the discrepancies in pricing for it are wild. The amazon listing is like $450 by the official manufacturer, on ebay it's $300 (seller has high volume and a lot of reviews with high satisfaction rate), and there are some suspiciously low listings on ali express for like $50. Is this camera really flippable or are there some scammers making listings?