OCZ Freeze Extreme Thermal Compound Review

OCZ Freeze Thermal Compound Specifications

From OCZ:

Using the latest innovations in thermal management compounds, OCZ Freeze has higher heat conductivity potential than leading silver-based thermal pastes on the market today, offering an ultra-reliable solution for all computing environments. Combining low thermal resistance with high conductivity, OCZ Freeze is the premium choice for enthusiasts looking to get the maximum overclock from their CPU, and supports the stability needed to push your system to its limit.

Let’s hope the last part of that sentence is true! Here are some of the OCZ Freeze product descriptions:

- High Thermal Conductivity
- Low Thermal Resistance
- Non-Electrical Conductive
- Non-Capacitive
- Non-Curing Time needed
- Oxidation, Ozone and Solvent Resistant
- Environmentally Safe
- Non Toxic

• Thermal Resistance: 0.032 degrees C/W
• Dielectric Constant@ 1KHz: 10.0
• Specific Gravity: 3.5g / cm3
• Thermal Conductivity: 3.8 Watts / Meter –oC
• Net Weight: 3 grams syringe


While the more technical mumbo jumbo like thermal resistance may be lost on many, these specifications do tell an interesting story. The low thermal resistance means that the transfer of heat between the processor and the heatsink will be quick without the compound restricting it too much. The specific gravity measurement basically gives you the denisty of this compound and such a low number means that the OCZ Freeze should spread quite easity.

All of these specifications look exactly like what we would all want in a thermal compound; an instantly-curing, non-electrically conductive, environmentally safe product that can help cool off our hottest-running processors. Something that should be focused on is the fact that OCZ is trying to "go green" by making sure that their Freeze Extreme is non toxic.


How Thermal Compound Works

Let’s explain first what TIM (Thermal Interface Material) really is. Thermal Interface Material is a substance designed to take heat from one object and transfer it to another. It could be silicon based, metal based or ceramic based. We’ll use all three different ones today in our tests. It is mostly used in the computer industry for dissipation of heat through a heatsink. CPUs and GPUs generate tons of heat and we all know that heat is bad for our computers. So we want the product that is going to help us most in keeping our rigs cool. The workings of TIM are based on a difficult formula that looks like this:



Hold onto your hats folks, this is where it gets complicated.

Thermal conductivity = heat flow rate × distance / (area × temperature difference). In physics, thermal conductivity, "k" is the property of a material that indicates its ability to conduct heat. It is defined as the quantity of heat, "ΔQ", transmitted during time "Δt" through a thickness "L", in a direction normal to a surface of area "A", due to a temperature difference "ΔT", under steady state conditions and when the heat transfer is dependent only on the temperature gradient. (Thanks to Wikipedia.)

Well, that is not the only difficult part. When we're talking TIM, we also have to look at the density, viscosity, thermal resistance and now that OCZ claims that Freeze is non-conductive, we also have to look at a new term: Dielectric Constant. Our product has a density/gravity of 3.5 g/cm3 which is explained like this: Density is mass (m) per unit volume (V). To keep it short, OCZ Freeze is 3.5 times denser than water. Which is better for the thermal conductivity and thermal resistance. See how it all comes together? Viscosity is explained like this: the measure of the resistance of a fluid to being deformed by either shear stress or extensional stress. In other words: the thickness of a fluid. It is measured in cP (Poise). As for dielectric constant numbers, the lower its value, the less relative static permittivity is has. In Laymen’s terms: It is non-conductive.

Now, let us take the CPU/Heatsink combination for example. These two surfaces are never really flat, meaning that if you put the heatsink on the CPU, there will be AIR in between the two of them. And that is BAD. Air is 8000 times less efficient in conducting heat than your thermal paste. What the thermal paste does is basically fills up the minute gaps, scratches and dents in between the two, so that heat can dissipate faster.