The LAST Thermal Paste you'll ever need??

The video opens with a playful setup in a small room that doubles as Linus Tech Tips’ test bench, launching into a discussion of a new cooling product called the IC Graphite thermal pad. The host explains the product’s core claim: it can replace traditional thermal paste in long term applications, offering easy application, extreme durability, long life, and high resistance to thermal changes. The presentation emphasizes the material being graphite, a carbon allotrope, and highlights its dry, non-liquid nature as a key differentiator from conventional pastes. The segment then dives into the practical implications, including electrical conductivity concerns and the necessary care when handling graphite pads to avoid short circuits, contrasted with the non-seeping nature of the material compared to liquid metals. By the end of the first act, the host frames the product as a potential paradigm shift in CPU cooling due to its supposed lifetime and leak-proof reliability. A hands-on testing sequence follows, with measurements across multiple CPUs and cooling conditions. The team compares the IC Graphite pad to established thermal pastes, including liquid metal formulations, reporting temperatures across cores and discussing averaging methods. The narrative explains the key metric of thermal conductivity, 35 watts per meter kelvin, and interprets it for viewers by contrasting it to higher-end pastes. They show the practical steps of cutting and mounting the pad, noting the convenience and the lack of liquid components, while acknowledging a challenge: the pad’s thick profile may not cover very large dies such as Threadripper or big Xeon heat spreaders. The tests reveal that temperatures with the graphite pad approach, but do not dramatically exceed or undercut results achieved with premium pastes, illustrating that the pad can be competitive and less error-prone for many builds. In closing, the video debates the long-term value proposition of the IC Graphite pad, suggesting it could negate the need for conventional thermal paste in many scenarios, while acknowledging caveats like die coverage and the handling risks of a conductive material. The host connects the product’s real-world applicability to common uses such as gaming PCs, workstations, and overclocked rigs, and highlights the growing trend of novel carbon-based cooling technologies finally entering consumer hardware. A sponsor segment and practical takeaways wrap the piece, leaving viewers with a sense of cautious optimism about a future where thermal management could be dramatically simplified without sacrificing performance. Overall, the video blends science communication with hands-on experimentation to evaluate whether this new dry cooling solution truly lives up to its bold claims.

Topics · computer hardware · tech explainer · computer cooling · overclocking