Ketchup, Cheese, and Potatoes tested as heat conducting material
A study from ComputerBase community member “AssassinWarlord” has been updated with very unusual products.
GPU cooling does not always have to rely on expensive compounds dedicated to such purpose. In case there is ever a supply issue of such products, GPU fans may be forced to seek alternatives. In the worst-case scenario thermal products may have to be replaced with something one finds in a freezer, such as ketchup or cheese slices.
ComputerBase member tested a various daily used products from hand cream to potatoes as heat conducting materials on Radeon R7 240 GPU. This is a 30W graphics card, so definitely not a powerful GPU. Such TDP would easily work with passive cooling.
Ketchup, Cheese and Potato on GPU, Source: ComputerBase/AssassinsWarlord
The tests have proven that ketchup is a fairly good thermal compound alternative, reaching as high 71°C after 5 minutes in Furmark. Toothpaste is worse, heating the GPU to 90°C peak temperature. Gamers should probably avoid using baby creams, potatoes or cheese slices, as all these products have easily reached 105 degrees Celsius, which is far from ideal even for such a small GPU.
Ketchup, Cheese and Potato on GPU, Source: ComputerBase/AssassinsWarlord
| GPU Conductivity Thermal Test | ||
|---|---|---|
| Product | Notes | Temperature |
| 0.5mm Arctic TP2 | 79 °C | |
| 0.5mm EC360 Blue | Throttle level 2 | 105 °C |
| 0.5mm EKWB | Throttle level 3 | 105 °C |
| 1mm Alphacool Apex 11W/mk | 66 °C | |
| 1mm Arctic TP2 | Throttle level 1 | 105 °C |
| 1mm Arctic TP3 | 61 °C | |
| 1mm EC360 Gold | 76 °C | |
| 1.5mm Arctic TP2 | Throttle level 2 | 105 °C |
| 1.5mm Arctic TP3 | 68 °C | |
| 1.5mm TG Minus8 | Throttle level 1 | 105 °C |
| Double sided thermal pad with aluminum | Shutdown | 105 °C |
| Copper tape | Throttle level 3 | 105 °C |
| Cheese Slice | Throttle level 1 | 105 °C |
| Potato | Throttle level 3 | 105 °C |
| Arctic MX4 | 49 °C | |
| Corsair TM30 | 54 °C | |
| Amasan T12 | 63°C | |
| Silver conductive paste | 65 °C | |
| Ketchup | 71 °C | |
| Toothpaste | 90 °C | |
| Penaten baby cream | Throttle level 1 | 105 °C |
| Copper paste | Throttle level 1 | 105 °C |
This highly scientific approach to thermal testing provides answers to questions no one even dared to raise. How well would edible and bathroom products perform as thermal conductive materials.
It goes without saying, but such products are highly not recommended for such use. As the study has shown, many of them may not even work for a 30W GPU. Furthermore, products that contain water will increase the risk of damaging the GPU permanently. But that’s the cost of doing science.
Source: ComputerBase
