Nanotherm Silver XTC Thermal Grease

Author : Wayne Date : 14th November 2002

...Product	Nanotherm Silver
...Manufacturer	ESG Associates
...Supplier	ESG Associates
...Price	£149.99 + VAT

 

 

Performance :

Before we look at the performance of Nanother Silver and Nanotherm EXP there are a couple of points I want to mention that explain why you may not see the same results we have. The whole point of a thermal interface material (TIM) is to fill the microscopic air pockets that are created between the base of the heat sink and the CPU die due to minor imperfections in the base, the die or sometimes both.

No TIM Used

 

TIM Used

 

The base finish of most modern heat sinks has improved dramatically over recent years meaning heat transfer is more efficient and so the influence of the TIM becomes less pronounced. In theory the poorer the base of your HSF the more dramatic will be the impact of using a high quality grease over a poorer one and it's testament to manufacturers that I didn't have an HSF to hand that could really be desribed as "poor". To complicate the matter I'm now using the new Thoroughbred core 2400+ in our test rig which has taken away the detail etching from the die surface so even this is flatter and smoother than it was. All these factors conspire to make the differences between one TIM and another much smaller than it might be with less expensive sinks or with pre Thoroughbred CPUs.

Synthetic Performance :

The synthetic testing was done with the compounds straight from the tube with no settling in or "burn-in" time. Heat was increased steadily over a period of five minutes and an Akasa AK821 was used for cooling as it offered reasonable cooling levels without being too aggressive. All temperatures were taken using a digital thermometer with a flat thermal probe..

As the heat first begins to accumulate at the 1 minute period it's neck and neck between the Nanotherm Silver and EXP but as temperatures begin to rise we see the Silver pull ahead quite convincingly.

 

Actual Performance :

For testing real world performance each compound was applied to the Tbred XP2400+ and then fitted with a Thermalright SLK800 heatsink and run for three days prior to benchmarking. To get things cooking nicely Hot CPU Tester Pro 3 was run for a full hour while idle temperatures were taken after 15 minutes running while booted to the BIOS. As with the synthetic tests temp[eratures were monitored using a thermal probe as the motherboard in our test system currently doesn't support monitoring from the thermal diode.

Here we see a reversal in fortunes as the Nanothern EXP takes the performance trophy with the Nanotherm Silver following close behind. In all honesty I'm not used to seeing large variations in TIM performance and I was expecting a spread from best to worst of little more than a degree or so. Even with synthetic testing there are a lot of variables that can alter how any given compound will perform under any given conditions. Things like HSF base surface finish, ambient temperatures, heat output, contact surface area, airflow speed and focus, retaining clip clamping pressure and more can all factor in to the results and really do make HSF and TIM testing a fairly imprecise science, or more accurately a science that only stays true on the system and in the room where the original testing was performed. That doesn't however mean that direct comparisons can't be made under test conditions and based on this it seems that Nanotherm Silver and EXP are set to lead from the front beating ASII (and the small amount of ASIII I had left) in some style.

Conclusion :

If you've ever spoken to Scott from ESG Associates you'll know that he eats, sleeps and breathes cooling and is forever tweaking and refining his compounds until things are the very best they can be. ESG took a chance with Nanotherm trying to offer a revolutionary new compound into an industry well and truly sewn up by Arctic Silver and though the first formulation was a fraction behind the newer Arctic Silver formulations in performance it was infinitely easier to work with and to clean up. Nanotherm II however has improved the performance while remaining simply the easiest TIM on the market to apply and remove. With Nanotherm Silver ESG have once again made a justified claim for the thermal grease crown with a compound that not only outperforms ASII and III, it also remains incredibly easy to clean off your processor when the need arises.

Scott tells me that they're just waiting for the arrival of the finished retail labels before they start to ship so you should find stocks of Nanotherm Silver XTC begin to filter through to the channels by late November. The secretive Nanotherm EXP should be launched around December time though this is tentative at the moment. Either way we should see it available early 2003 along with more details about its formulation.

I really want to hand this product an editor's choice but while I'm confident that NS XTC is outperforming the competition I'm not confident that we can accurately demonstrate by how much. What is clear is that I need to do a bit of brainstorming and design and build a test setup capable of accurate, repeatable and unquestionable results. If you have any ideas or represent a company or an industry who may be able to help in this regard please contact me.

 

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