Noctua's New NT-H2 Thermal Compound
by Gavin Bonshor on January 29, 2019 1:00 PM EST
Noctua has today unveiled its new NT-H2 thermal compound as well a new cleaning solution with the NA-SCW1 cleaning wipes. The NT-H2 looks to improve upon the already existing NT-H1 thermal paste with a new chemical structure and zerocuring time.
The new Noctua NT-H2 thermal compound builds upon the previous success of the NT-H1 material with a new blend of metal oxide microparticles for an improved and lower thermal resistance. The lower bond-line thickness with conventional mounting pressures allows for less air cavity concentration which should provide better thermal conductivity between the heatsink plate and the heat spreader. As with the Noctua NT-H1 compound, the new NT-H2 doesn't require a curing period and Noctua state that an application of NT-H2 can be used effectively for up to 5 years on a CPU.
The Noctua NT-H1 thermal paste was tested in a 50-paste round-up I did back in 2017
Noctua, as per their own in-house testing, determined that the NT-H2 operates up to 2°c lower than NT-H1. The NT-H2 is also non-corroding and non-conductive so there's no risk of short-circuiting components and is suitable to use with all types of heatsinks including copper, aluminium and nickel plated.
Noctua has released the NT-H2 thermal paste in two different packages; a standard 3.5 g and larger 10 g tube. Packaged with the smaller NT-H2 3.5 g paste is three new NA-CW1 cleaning wipes while the larger NT-H2 10 g will come with ten. The new Noctua NA-SCW1 cleaning wipes are designed to clean CPUs, GPUs and the contact surfaces of heatsinks. Each individual wipe is moistened with a custom detergent mixture for enhanced cleaning capability, but Noctua hasn't highlighted which materials have been used. Noctua's NA-CW cleaning wipes are available seperately in packs of 20.
On the back of the NT-H2 announcement, Noctua has revealed that it will be launching its NT-H1 thermal compound in a new 10 g package which is set to retail for 14.90 USD/EUR; the existing NT-H1 3.5 g costs 7.90 USD/EUR. There is currently no indication whether or not the new NT-H1 10 g package will include the cleaning wipes.
The new NT-H2 3.5 g will cost 12.90 USD/EUR with the 10 g package will cost 24.90 USD/EUR, while the NA-SCW1 20 pack of cleaning wipes will retail for 7.90 USD/EUR. All of these are set to hit Amazon channels within the next few days, while the stock is set to filter through to partners and retailers shortly.
Source: Noctua
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quorm - Tuesday, January 29, 2019 - link
It's important to add an additional layer of NT-H1 so your processor doesn't get cold during the winter.dakishimesan - Tuesday, January 29, 2019 - link
lolSamus - Wednesday, January 30, 2019 - link
lmaogavbon - Tuesday, January 29, 2019 - link
Thanks for pointing that typo out - Editedikjadoon - Tuesday, January 29, 2019 - link
"up to 2°c lower" = "up to" is the key phrase here.Presumably, Noctua's coolers will still bundle the cheaper NT-H1? Surprised they're keeping this older version around; Noctua's never been one to shy from premium pricing.
Curious how this performs against the Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut.
ydeer - Tuesday, January 29, 2019 - link
I tried Kryonaut and NT-H1 and strongly prefer the latter for its ease of application.The consistency of the Noctua paste was so much easier to work with than the Kryonaut which was almost chewing-gum like.
I suspect a perfect application of Kryonaut would perform slightly better but seems much harder to achieve, so I strongly prefer the Noctua.
ikjadoon - Wednesday, January 30, 2019 - link
Oh, that's a great point. Huh, Tom's Hardware said NT-H1 was more viscous and harder to apply than TG Kryonaut? But perhaps they took shortcuts.https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/thermal-paste...
I know TG now includes a flat applicator, but perhaps it's still too thick.
FastCarsLike - Sunday, April 26, 2020 - link
In the video they added, it says it's 1C cooler. In my mind, not worth upgrading to NT-H2. Also all the other pastes I've seen that cool better than Kryonaut tend to be conductive, liable to short circuit electronics..JoeyJoJo123 - Tuesday, January 29, 2019 - link
Looks OK. Reasonable product for Noctua's loyal customer base, especially if they don't want to dabble with liquid metal products.I still personally like using the liquid metal tube I got from Thermal Grizzly like 2 years ago in most places, even GPU reapplications. I never use aluminum heatsinks (ex: intel box cooler), and it performs well in copper or nickel plated copper surfaces, and a single tube lasts for quite a few applications since you use so little and spread it thin. No issues with corrosion here, just the usual light surface marring/staining which doesn't affect performance. I also protect the surrounding area with a good electrical tape, too. Liquid metal doesn't seem to harden or lose thermal properties over time, and still has its "wet" texture after dismounting the heatsink, and the better thermal transfer means better performance/lower fan rpm, depending on how you tune your settings after the fact.
modeonoff - Tuesday, January 29, 2019 - link
I just received an i9-9900K to be used with a Noctua NH-D15S. Is it better to use this new paste or just use the one that came with the NH-D15S?