Being reviewed today is the latest thermal compound offering from GELID, the GC-Extreme.
Product on Review: Gelid GC-Extreme Thermal PasteManufacturer and Sponsor: Gelid Solutions
MSRP: USD 9.99 / Euro 6.99
Street Price: N/A at date of writing
GELID is a company that was founded only a year ago but amongst the array of companies out there, it has managed to build up a reputable name for itself in the cooling department, a successful feat in itself. With their latest thermal compound offering, they are hoping to dethrone the market leaders such as Arctic Cooling and Tuniq to become a household name amongst enthusiasts. Can GELID’s GC-Extreme really live up to its name? Let’s find out.
Firstly a few words on GELID as found on their website:
GELID Solutions
The English word “gelid” is derived from the Latin word “gelidus” (extremely cold, icy).
GELID Solutions Ltd. is a Hong Kong based company with Swiss Management and founded in 2008 by Gebhard SCHERRER and VC TRAN. Both have worked in the PC Cooling industry for a number of years and successfully built up an IT company with their expertise.
GELID designs and manufactures thermal solutions, CPU coolers, fans, and other computer hardware for both gamers and silent enthusiasts. We provide computer hardware distributors, retailers and system integrators with innovative, virtually silent, high- performance and top quality thermal solutions.
Quality and innovation are key. And, being Swiss, we leave nothing to chance. That’s why we provide a total solution – from bearings to thermal compound, from design to shipping, from the moulding of the fan to the print on the box – with state-of-the-art machines and experienced staff.
Our Vision:
Combine quality and ingenuity to set the standard in creating best- in- class products for global computer enthusiasts.
As their latest venture, GELID Solutions Ltd. is a privately owned limited liability company with a registered share capital of HKD 1’000’000. Strategically based in Hong Kong, “Asia’s World City”, it enjoys an unrivalled location at the geographical and economic centre of Asia. For our customers, this means easy and quick access to our vast manufacturing base in mainland China.
GELID’s main focus has been on providing high performance but silent cooling products, an enthusiast’s Nirvana!
Packaging
The GELID GC-Extreme comes packaged in a hard plastic covering, as found with most thermal pastes. The GC-2 also comes in a similar package. It’s very securely packed but can be hard to open without a pair of scissors.
The front cover gives a brief description of some of the paste’s key features such as being; non-conductive, non-corrosive & non-curing. The cover departs from the GC-2’s white background and settles for a dark green, almost menacing colour. There are also three independent awards listed on it from other review sites.
On the back, there’s an extract from another review site, in addition to a graph of results comparing it to other popular pastes. Furthermore is a small blurb of what we can expect from the GC-Extreme.
The tube is 10.5cm in length and contains 3.5g of thermal compound. What distinguishes GELID from other offerings is the GELID Applicator which is highly useful when trying to spread a thin layer on top of the processor.
The Applicator is a small spatula shaped, flexible object made out of plastic. It is easy to work with, and gives a more even and clean surface than the credit card method (In addition to that, you won’t have to explain what the grey goop residual is when handing your card at the cashier, so that’s an immediate win on that front).
Unlike the Tuniq TX-3 and Noctua NT-H1, they aren’t any specifications listed on the syringe itself.
The GC-Extreme has a more fluid-like consistency than most other pastes. It’s low viscosity allows it to be spread more easily and thinly for optimal efficiency.
Note: When applying the paste, do so directly on the processor rather than on the heatsink for the best performance.
Features and Testing
Features:
•Ultimate heat conductivity
•Non-electrical conductive
•Non-corrosive & non-curing
•No bleeding & user friendly
•GELID applicator
•Net content of 3.5g
Test Setup
CPU – Intel Core i7 920 – 4ghz
RAM – 6GB (3x2GB) OCZ platinum DDR3 1333mhz
Motherboard – Biostar T-Power x58
Graphics card – Gainward 896MB GTX260 216
Power Supply – Enermax Revolution 85+ 850W
Cooling – Noctua SE 1366 NH-U12P
Hard Drive – Samsung F1 320GB
Western Digital Caviar WD3200AAKS 320GB
Drivers – ForceWare 185.66
Thermal pastes:
Tuniq TX-3
Tuniq TX-2
Noctua NT H1
Arctic MX2
Thermolab Baram paste
GELID GC-2
GELID GC-Extreme
Program Suite:
Core Temp 0.99.5
LinX stress Test
PC Wizard
How I Tested:
Each paste was applied as recommended by the manufacturers and were test over a period of 48 hours to observe if they required any curing time. An initial test was done at stock (2.66ghz) speed and overclocked (4ghz) speed. The idle and load temperatures were measured using coretemp by looking at the minimum temperature while idling and the maximum temperature after 20 passes of LinX. This was repeated after 48 hours.
Due to varying temperatures, an average temperature was calculated and the ambient temperature was subtracted to obtain a delta value. This is presented in the graphs.
Test Results
CPU at 2.66ghz
At stock speed, the GELID GC-Extreme holds its own very well, only 0.5 degrees behind the Tuniq TX-3. It’s certainly a large improvement on the GC-2.
CPU at 4.0ghz
Again, the GELID GC-Extreme shows huge improvements from the GC-2 and while at load, it lags behind the Tuniq only by a slight margin, the idle temperature delta is just as good.
CPU at 2.66ghz after 48 hours
The tables turn when we look at the results 48 hours later, for the better. GELID’s GC-Extreme leads the pack here although all the pastes provide strikingly similar results.
CPU at 4.0ghz after 48 hours
At 4ghz, the GC-Extreme storms ahead to take the crown not only with outstanding load temperatures, but also at idle.
Curing time
Despite the paste not requiring any curing time, it’s still interesting to see any changes that might happen over the length of a few days and here we see a slight improvement in cooling.
Again we see the GC-Extreme performing better after 48 hours and conclusively taking the title.
Conclusion
The test were conducted in what the news were reporting as a heat wave, not the ideal conditions to compare the Gelid pastes against the others, and yet the GC-Extreme performed brilliantly. It certainly lived up to its name.Looking at the results, the GC-Extreme closely matched our previous best performing paste and even outclassed it at 4ghz load, which for an enthusiast, is the crucial test. In addition to this, GELID provides an excellent bundle in the form of the applicator, a simple but yet highly innovative touch that made applying the paste easy.
GELID\\\’s GC-Extreme is certainly worthy of being classed amongst the best thermal paste offerings out there. Once again, GELID have provided us with a brilliant product and if they continue along this path, I expect even better things out of them.
As with the Tuniq TX-3, this is not available yet in the UK but according to their site, it is set to be priced at a mere USD 9.99 / Euro 6.99. That is certainly a great price considering the inclusion of the Applicator.
The GELID GC-Extreme reviewed today will be given the Vortez Hardware Gold Award.
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