Thermal Hero Thermal Compound Review

Testing thermal compounds is similar to testing headphones.  The results are subjective and highly dependent on environment and the person doing the tests.  For these tests I have setup an actual computer with a DIY watercooling loop.  This is to ensure that my thermal testing can be consistent and repeatable to allow the results to be compared together.

ASUS STRIX Z690-E Gaming WiFi – Z690 Chipset
Intel Core i7 12700k (3.2Ghz) Sixteen Core 12+12 32KB L2 Cache 9+9 x 1.25MB L3 Cache 25MB 

Cooler
Watercool Heatkiller IV LGA1700
280mm Radiator
2x 140mm Fans
XSPC Photon Pump Res Combo

Compounds Tested
Noctua NT-H2
Thermal Hero ULTRA
Thermal Hero QUANTUM
Thermal Hero METALLIQ

The onboard temperature probe was used to obtain and record system temperature data and being that this is a multi-core processor we need something that will work across all of the cores at once.  For this task we're using Prime95 set to Small FFTs and enough instances to cover all the cores

Editors note: Even though the Windows 10 task manager reported 100% processor usage we could never attain a 100% of the rated heat output as documented by Intel when using Prime95 as a basis for that heat production. Knowing this we ran the stress test until the maximum temperature was attainted and stabilized.

Other things to consider when judging software induced heat output.

a) Clock throttling by the processor at high temperatures.
b) Normal software isn't designed to produce maximum heat output.
c) Variances of cooling temperature.
d) Variances in CPU load.
e) Inaccuracies in thermal diode readouts.
Of course the list goes on..

Our testing methodology is aimed to provide a real world look into this heatsink given the test system provided.

Core speed was 4.9Ghz @ 1.3v.  Prime95 was used to simulate the heat load.  Temperatures were recorded after 3 loops of Prime95 and a second run was done once the CPU temp reset back to idle.

Ambient Temperature at the radiator: 16c

What amazes me about these results is how linear the results turned out to be.  As expected, the Metalliq offered the best thermal performance and was very stable when compared to the silicon based compounds.