Thermal Hero Thermal Compound Review

As mentioned before a quality thermal interface material is a key component to getting the best performance from your cooling solution either it be a standard aircooler, AIO watercooler or DIY water loop.  Not only does it help increase thermal efficiency but also can compensate for those times when you don’t get the heatsink installed correctly.

In this review we took a look at the four flagship thermal compounds from Thermal Hero.  The NEO is a basic thermal compound and good for general purpose applications, is non-conductive and features an operating range of -50-220C.  I wasn’t able to test the thermal performance of this compound however, based on the specs the conductivity is only slightly below the ULTRA

The ULTRA compound is a high-performance thermal interface material that I would closely associate with the Noctua NT-H2 in performance.  The consistency offered a very smooth installation though appeared sticky and difficult to clean up.  I did notice that the compound did not spread very well and dried almost instantly under the waterblock pressure and heat from our tests.

QUANTUM is by far my favorite thermal compound from Thermal Hero.  It offered excellent performance and I would closely associate with the Gelid GC-Extreme compounds but, with better overall specs.  This thermal compound offers an operating range between -75-300C making it a good candidate for subzero Single Stage Phase and Dry Ice cooling but would be inappropriate for LN2, at least without testing it first.  I found the consistency of the QUANTUM compound to be stiff to install offering better application control and spread quite well.  Clean up was about the same as the ULTRA.

METALLIQ offered the best performance but also required the most effort to install.  The surface needed to be exceptionally clean and then manually spread across the surface to the processor and waterblock to ensure the best coverage.  Liquid Metal is compromised mostly of gallium and offers some amazing thermal performance provided the temperature is above the melting point.  Personally, I am not a fan of liquid metal compounds due to the electrically conductive nature and unfavorable reactions with aluminum.  Cleanup was a bit nerve wracking to ensure that everything was picked up.

One product I haven’t talked much about is the NEO Thermal pad.  Thermal Hero offers these pads in a variety of different thicknesses from 0.5mm up to 3.0mm in sizes of 100 x 100 mm.  In terms of performance, they feature a high thermal conductivity and are quite soft and pliable.

Overall, I am quite impressed with the Thermal Hero line of thermal compounds.  As was mentioned I find the QUANTUM to be my favorite as it offered extremely good performance and was a breeze to clean up.  As with most thermal interface material you can use these compounds on just about anything and for those of you looking to get better performance from their GPU cooler or waterblock the NEO line of thermal pads is a nice upgrade option.

Every Thermal Hero Thermal Paste comes with a single syringe and an alcohol wipe, silicon-based compounds come with as plastic spatula for those who enjoy spreading their thermal compound.  The METALLIQ compound comes with two alcohol wipe packages, two cotton swabs and two needle attachments for installation and removal of the thermal compound.

Easy to Install
Excellent Performance
Spreads Extremely well
Liquid Metal Option Available
Standard Compounds are Non-Conductive
Four Levels to Choose From
Thermal Pads Available in Popular Thicknesses

Not good for LN2
Sticky cleanup