Stock Thermal Compound Performance

One of the concerns with a budget cooling solution is that the included thermal paste may not perform as well as retail thermal pastes. With this in mind, HC will attempt to provide comparisons between included thermal paste and a quality retail thermal paste for our air cooling reviews. In this instance Arctic Silver 5 was used as a comparison and contrast between the factory applied compound.



In the case of the Thermaltake TMG A1, very little difference was found between the factory stock compound and the venerable Arctic Silver 5. While the AS5 did lower temperatures slightly, the difference is statistical insignificant and can easily be dismissed due to slight temperature and/or humidity difference during testing conditions.

While one is certainly welcome to do so, it just not worth the extra time and added expense in replacing the stock compound with AS5. It is also safe to say that Thermaltake’s factory applied TIM is up to the highest standards and is a very good choice in and of itself.