As someone who builds countless PCs, I loathe the messiness of thermal paste, so it should come as no surprise that I’m champing at the bit to check out Noctua’s new NT-CP1 thermal pad. Partnering with Carbice, the Austrian firm is pitching an alternative to traditional thermal interfaces that should be easier to apply and last much longer.
The NT-CP1 differentiates itself from many other thermal pads by way of carbon nanotubes, which is where Carbice’s expertise comes into play. You’ll find this same technology at work in satellites, providing excellent thermal conductivity and low resistance to keep temperatures in check. Noctua is aiming to use this space-grade tech but on a less cosmic scale, namely to keep AMD CPUs cool.
Noctua says the combination of carbon nanotubes and a phase-change polymer coating allows the NT-CP1 to actually improve its cooling performance as time passes. This is in stark contrast to thermal paste, which typically dries out over time, in turn decreasing thermal conductivity.
Across the first few hundred thermal cycles, which describes the rise and fall of temperatures through normal usage, Noctua says the thermal pad progressively adheres to the shape of your cooler’s cold plate and processor’s internal heat spreader (IHS) on a microscopic level. It does so without the risk of uneven applications, as you might get from too much or too little thermal paste, and it’s far less messy.
In short, this is as set-and-forget as thermal interfaces get. There’s little room for error in application too, with a simple “peel, press, peel” technique, rather than having to worry about the amount and manner in which you apply paste. However, like the grey goo with which we’re all familiar, you’ll need an entirely fresh application if you swap out your CPU and/or cooler.
There’s no word on whether we’ll see a pad catering to LGA1851 processors, but I’d imagine Noctua has its sights on LGA1954 instead for any Intel offering. In the meantime, you can pick up the NT-CP1 for your AM5 or AM4 PC from today for £20.95 / $24.95 from Amazon with availability via other retailers coming in the near future.
