IC Diamond Thermal Compound Review

Posted by Gilgamesh on August 26th, 2009

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The Contenders

Shown below moving from left to right are IC Diamond, Artic Ceramique, Artic Silver 5 and Shin-Etsu X23 thermal compounds.

Artic Silver 5

Artic Silver has been around for many a year and all new compounds benchmark their products with it.. Known as the ‘Grand Daddy’ of thermal compounds it is known everywhere in the computer cooling industry and is the main-stay of thermal compounds! Though there ARE compounds that beat Artic Silver 5 hands-down it still is a product worth benchmarking against, as everyone knows of this thermal paste. The issue however with this compound is that since it contains flakes of silver, then this makes the compound capacitive. It should be fine for the CPU or the North and Southbridge. However for more delicate work such as PWM modules and GPU work it could never be recommended. In addition as far as thermal compounds go this would be of a mid-level viscosity. Artic Silver 5 is however crippled by its exceedingly lengthy curing time of two hundred hours.

Results:

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Fans Low-CPU Idle	Fans Low-CPU Full

Artic Ceramique

Artic Cermique shares a passing resemblance to the standard white goop that comes bundled in with various heatsinks. However this is where the comparison ends, as this compound uses a combination of Aluminium oxide, Boron nitride and Zinc. Unlike Artic Silver 5 however, Ceramique is non conductive and is ideal for of the more delicate work on Graphics cards, as well as their MOSFETS. Offering a similar viscosity as its older brother, it is just as easy to apply to a wide range of applications. However what does set Artic Cermique apart from the rest in the comparison test today is its operating temperature. This is one of the few compounds that can take temperature of minus 180 degrees-c! This makes it deal for the use of sub-ambient cooling, such as Phase-Change, Dry- Ice or liquid Nitrogen.

Results

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Shin-Etsu X23

Now that the standard compound tests have been completed, it is time to put IC7 Diamond to a more powerful test. Shin-Etsu is not well known and is often overlooked by most people. However it is one of the best performing compounds out on the market, simply demolishing rivals with ease. DFI bundled this with their high-end motherboards. Having used this for a number of years, one would freely admit that we are a fan of this compound.

A full sample of this product did not arrive for testing on time. However a quick raid of a DFI accessory box proved fruitful with two tubes of X23. With next to no curing time and a great reputation it was with eager hands that this compound was placed upon the CPU. As usual the viscosity of the X23 compound is very thick and is very difficult to spread. There are various techniques available upon the internet used to warm this compound up, making it easier to spread. However there had to be a more simple way, so this reviewer pefected a new technique.

Set the BIOS back to stock speeds ( if overclocked)
Take of Heatsink/Waterblock and clean CPU with Isopropol
Leave for a few moments then apply the compound.
Switch on the computer WITHOUT the heatsink /block installed
Leave on for between five to ten seconds until the CPU is warm
Switch off then immediately install the heatsink/waterblock, this spreads the compound evenly.

Test Results

Fans Full-CPU Idle	Fans Full-CPU Full

Fans Low-CPU Idle	Fans Low-CPU Full

IC Diamond

IC Diamond a rather unique product, using (as the name suggests) synthetic diamond. The thermal properties of this product promise that it will be amongst the leaders in the race for the throne of ‘Thermal Compound King!Â What is interesting to note is that this product has no electrical conductivity so it is safe to use on the most delicate of components, such as the Mosfets placed on a graphics card.Ã‚Â An important thing that is worth noting before use -is that this compound (since it is made from diamond) makes an excellent polishing compound. So much so that it is not unheard of for the Intel markings upon the top of your CPU being polished off! BUt this is only after at least a year of changing the compound every week or evenÃ‚Â every few days.

Be aware that the curing time on this product is dependant upon the IHS of your CPU. So this could be anything from two hours to one week!

The thermal properties of this compound look rather promising, however as they say the proof is in the pudding. So let us move on from here.

Results

Fans Full-CPU Idle	Fans Full-CPU Full

Fans Low-CPU Idle	Fans Low-CPU Full

As with the Shin-Etsu compound for best use please use the below method of application

Set the BIOS back to stock speeds ( if overclocked)
Take of Heatsink/Waterblock and clean CPU with Isopropol
Leave for a few moments then apply the compound- a small blob in the centre of the CPU at around 5mm in size.
Switch on the computer WITHOUT the heatsink /block installed
Leave on for between five to ten seconds until the CPU is warm
Switch off then immediately install the heatsink/waterblock, this spreads the compound evenly.

Two more thermal compounds were due to be tested in this roundup. OCZ Freeze and Indigo Extreme, as of yet the samples failed to arrive on time for the review.

For your convenience a series of graphs has been added to this review outlining all the temperature results displayed above.

Average Temperature Results