Before you dive into Benchmark Reviews latest thermal interface material roundup, you must realize that there are 80 different TIMs being tested.  They run from popular cooling companies to tubes bundled with heatsinks to TIMs lifted from other applications; no Cheez Whiz though.  To make the roundup a little easier to deal with, they’ve graded the results, running from ‘D’ which is poor for enthusiast applications to ‘A’ which is the best that you can get.  Along the way they explore the philosophy of application, how your approach should change depending on the shape and surfacing of the cooler you will be using, to the proper size for an X.

“Prior to our 33-Way Thermal Compound Comparison article published back in March 2008, there had not been another project of its size available online. So when Benchmark Reviews revealed our test results, it was a surprise to find that many overclockers had been ill-informed by marketing hype and misleading enthusiast opinions. Benchmark Reviews later published several other complimentary articles for performance hardware enthusiasts, offering an instructional guide on Thermal Paste Application Methods and testing for the Best CPU Cooler Performance. As the author to both of those articles, I have discovered that the most critical factors pertaining to thermal cooling performance seems to be overlooked. In this massive follow-up article, which was built from entirely new project data taking over one year of research to publish, our collection of test material has grown to include every product we could acquire from the marketplace. Benchmark Reviews has received advice of industry experts, manufacturers, and elite overclockers to bring you this comprehensive 80-Way Thermal Interface Material cooling performance comparison benchmark test.”

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