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GELID Solutions GC-1 Thermal Compound


Date
: 02/21/09 – 11:17:10 PM

Author
:

Category
: Cooling

Page 1 : Index

Manufacturer
: GELID Solutions

GELID Solutions is a recently founded company specializing in cooling products. With their Gamer and Silent product lines, they are slowly expanding from case fans to CPU coolers and other accessories. We have already looked at a few of their products included the Silent TC and PWM fans and the Silent Spirit CPU cooler.

From the Gamer line, we have their new thermal compound, the
GELID GC-1
.

Page 2 : Package & Contents

The Gamer line from GELID is signified by the green color theme and this is very apparent in the simple, yet effective, packaging. The front is designed to attract attention, thanks especially to the fact that you can see the actual tube of GC-1; an applicator is also included. In large text, we see the GC-1 billed as a ‘high performance thermal compound’. Furthermore, we have a list of a few features and graphics showing awards that the GC-1 has won.

Flip the package over and we get more information. Specifications can be found as well as snippets from other reviews praising the GC-1. There is even a chart comparing the GC-1 to the ubiquitous Arctic Silver 5.

Though we saw these already through the well-designed package, the contents are comprised of just the 5g tube of GC-1 and the applicator which has a sticker featuring GELID's logo.

Since the package did not go into too much detail about the features and specifications, let's take a closer look at those now.

Page 3 : Features & Specifications

I went to GELID's website and easily located the page for the GC-1.

Here is their description:

Features:

The specifications:

In general, the features and specifications are similar to those of several other thermal compounds in the market. I especially like the fact that the GC-1 is not electrically conductive.

Page 4 : Installation

One thing I would have liked to see included with the GC-1 is a manual. Even though most users know how to apply thermal compound, it is always good to have a reference. In any case, you can find the manual online here.

The first step to installation is to of course install your CPU and make sure it is clean.

Then, squeeze out a small amount of GC-1 from the syringe and onto the heatspreader of your CPU.

Using the included spreader, evenly spread the thermal compound over the surface of the heatspreader. This is where a manual would have been useful because some thermal compounds do not need to be spread – the heatsink does the job when mounting. The GC-1 was very easy to spread and not at all sticky.

The final result is a smooth, thin and even layer of GC-1 over the CPU.

At this point, you can install the heatsink of your choice following the mounting instructions.

I am curious to see how the GC-1 performs so that's what we'll look at next.

Page 5 : Testing & Performance

I installed the GELID GC-1 on my Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 CPU and used the Intel stock cooler for testing purposes. I will be testing the performance of the GC-1 in comparison to Arctic Silver 5, naturally, on the same CPU and heatsink combination.

I will be measuring the CPU temperature at both stock and overclocked speeds and under idle and load conditions. Temperature measurements were taken using Lavalys Everest Home Edition 2.20. Each thermal compound was installed and allowed to cure for two days by leaving the computer on and running SP2004 Orthos. Idle measurements were taken with the computer idling at the desktop for 2 hours and no CPU or hard drive intensive programs, such as antivirus software, running. Load temperatures for the CPU were taken while running SP2004 Orthos for 2 hours three times and taking the average.

The ambient temperature was about 25ºC throughout all the tests.

First up we have the CPU temperatures at 1.86 GHz.

To my surprise, the GC-1 performs a lot better than the Arctic Silver 5. There was a 3 to 4 degree difference in each case.

With the CPU overclocked, the differences become more apparent, with the GC-1 pulling ahead by a fair amount.

In analyzing the results, it is probable that different testing conditions come into play. For example, the cure time of two days may not have been enough for the Arctic Silver 5 to cure completely. The GC-1 is claimed to not require any curing time. A better comparison between the two thermal compounds, instead of looking at absolute temperatures, could be to look at the ‘delta’ or temperature difference between the idle and load temperatures. Either way, the GC-1 performs better due to its smaller ‘delta’ in all the tests.

Page 6 : Conclusion

Arctic Silver 5 has long been hailed as the king of thermal compounds but it seems the king is finally dead. The GELID GC-1 trumps the AS5 in a couple of aspects. Letting the temperatures speak for themselves, the GC-1 does a much better job at conducting heat (or maybe, not impeding it as much). There is a caveat here, however, as the ‘delta’ temperatures were somewhat close. With that said, the GC-1 did have a smaller ‘delta’ between the idle and load temperatures in every test.

One other thing I liked about the GC-1 is that it is easy to apply, thanks to the included applicator. Also, its consistency is runnier compared to Arctic Silver 5, which aids in spreading. Combine that with no curing time, and the fact that it is electrically non-conductive, it is easily apparent that the GELID GC-1 holds many advantages over the outdated Arctic Silver 5.

Apart from the fact that a manual isn't included, which is not a major shortcoming by any means, the GELID GC-1 is a perfect thermal compound.

Advantages:

• Good performance

• No curing time, electrically non-conductive
• Easy to apply, applicator included
• Value-oriented (5g for $7)

Disadvantages:

Overclockers Online would like to thank GELID Solutions for making this review possible.