If you've ever wondered why your brand new copper based heatsink doesn't seem to be doing it's job, it could be because of 3 simple reasons:

1) You're using an inferior thermal interface material, such as a thermal pad, or el cheapo paste.
2) You're not using any thermal interface.
3) You've mounted your heatsink improperly.

Though there's not much they can do about #3, have some products they hope to help you if you're suffering from the first two scenarios. Started up in 1981 by Edward and Scott Gallmeyer, they bring over 20 years of manufacturing experience to the table. Well traveled in the OEM and manufacturing industry, ESG invented Nanotherm to compete in the highly competitive market of aftermarket CPU cooling. Well, speaking specifically about thermal paste, there really only is Arctic Silver and everyone else, but ESG hopes that their Nanotherm line will give the Arctic Silver giant something to tremble about.

So what is Nanotherm? According to ESG, "Nanotherm Ice and Nanotherm Blue are unique, new "Nanocomposite" Thermal Interface Compounds comprised of high-tech ceramic "Nano" and Thermally Conductive fillers compounded into a special high pressure, high temperature non-silicone based carrier matrix."

Uh, what this means I think is that their products are non-silicone based, like Pamela Anderson :), and it contains microscopic traces of a high-tech ceramic. These micro particles make up the "Nano" in Nanotherm.

Before we continue, first a refresher on why thermal paste is so important. A thin layer of thermal paste is needed to fill in the tiny imperfections that are a result of a heatsink's manufacturing process. No matter how smooth a heatsink appears to be, there will always be these imperfections. A thin layer of paste will fill in these gaps, that when left alone, will impede cooling efficiency. Below are two diagrams illustrating this...

No Thermal Paste/Pad Applied

Thermal Paste/Pad Applied

By filling in the gaps, the is no longer any air pockets trapping heat, and your CPU will be much happier. To a nonenthusiast, this doesn't really matter, but to an overclocker, or a paranoid server administrator, heat is bad, and anything that even knocks a degree or two will mean a great deal.

Specifications

Cost-Effective, High Performance Thermal Interface Material
High Thermal Conductivity
Low Thermal Resistance
High Temperature Resistance
Electrically Insulative
High Pressure Resistance
Chemically Inert
Invisible to Microwave Radiation
Fills Micropores & Grooves on Contact Surfaces
Excellent Barrier Properties to Oxygen and Moisture
Viscous, Sticky Consistency
Resistant to Separation, Leeching and Drying Out
Spreads Smoothly & Evenly in Thin Layers
Fast, Easy Cleanup - No Mess

Scott, at , was kind enough to send me some samples of various Nanotherm products. Pictured above, from left to right, are Nanotherm "Blue", Nanotherm "Ice", and a new prototype Nanotherm product. Not pictured is a thermal epoxy. Though it will be tested, it will not be tested on a CPU, but rather my GeForce 3.

Nanotherm Ice (left) and Nanotherm Blue (right)

As stated in the specifications previously, like Arctic Silver, one selling point of the Nanotherm product is it's resistance to drying out. What this will mean is that if you're not the type to change CPUs or heatsinks often, the Nanotherm products will retain it's consistancy longer than generic paste. Although I haven't used Nanotherm for as long as I've used generic paste, I can say that most of the cheap pastes I've used became powdery after a couple of months. For my tests, I dropped a bead of each Nanotherm product on to my scanner window (except for the epoxy, since that's essentially glue, and we know what a hassle it is to clean THAT up), and let it sit there for a couple of days. It faces a window, so sunlight hits it for a few hours each day, plus it's fairly dry in the office, so it should give enough of a test to see if it dries out a little. I placed a piece of paper on top, and closed the scanner door down to get these pictures. As you can see, the Nanotherm products flatten and spead out nicely, so I guess it passes that test. Alright, it's hardly scientific, but you get the point.

Nanotherm Prototype (left) and Nanotherm applied (right)

I found all three products to be as consistent as tooth paste, mixed with chaulk. The prototype seemed to be a bit more runny, and not as "dry" as the Ice and the Blue. By the way, the differences between the Ice and Blue is merely cosmetic from what I can tell. There doesn't seem to be much at the outlining the difference, and the nanotherm Blue likely is Nanotherm Ice with a bit of blue dye mixed in. Certainly, it looks pretty, but when you put a heatsink on top of it, and it goes inside your case, I don't really see the point.

Another selling point, when compared to the "high-performance" compound is that it's electrically non-conductive. Mind you, most are, but even being "minimally" conductive, it isn't wise to put Arctic Silver on any traces. I wouldn't spread Nanotherm on these traces instead either, because that's just plain silly.

Testing

AMD Athlon Thunderbird 1.4GHz (1.75v), w/Vantec CCK-6027D
Abit KG7-RAID, with socket thermal sensor touching the bottom of the CPU
Antec SX1030B Case, with only the Enermax power supply fans on, and side panel off
Prime95 is run for 20 minutes
Room temperature is maintained at ~23C/74F

Tests are run at stock speed. I'm not going to BS you with a bunch of overclocking benchmarks, since that's not the focus of this article. I'm back tracking a bit, and putting the trusty Thunderbird back in for testing. I'm choosing this because it runs hotter than my Athlon XP, and it makes testing more consistent with what I've done in the paste. In order to stress the various compounds more, I'm using the Vantec CCK-6027D with the 6000rpm Delta. It cools well, though not as much as the Swiftech I normally use. Finally, I aquired some new silicone based thermal paste from a local shop. It's only a dollar (about 0.55$ for you Americans :P), but the guy told me it's a heck of a lot better than what I was using before, which I already knew sucked ass. Arctic Silver 2 will also be thrown into the grill. On to the scores...

Well, Arctic Silver pulls ahead, which is fairly consistent with other results I've seen on the web. I was shocked to see the "generic" paste that was supposed to be so much better, seemed to perform the same as what I had previously. Nanotherm falls in the middle, with their prototype sample nipping at Arctic Silver's heels. Let's see if the video card tests show any trend...

MSI StarForce 822 240/515, w/Thermaltake Crystal Orb

Not much of a change here. I may have applied the epoxy a little too thick, which may explain why it didn't score as well as the others. Thankfully, unlike most epoxys manufacturers use for their video cards, Nanotherm's was easy to remove after warming the card up (through use, not in the oven :P). You have to act fast though, or the epoxy gets tougher to remove.

Final Words

Although beaten quite clearly by Arctic Silver, ESG has developed a wonderful product that I can recommend. Although it doesn't beat Arctic Silver 2, it comes close, and it certainly beats any generic paste I've used. A few oddities I did notice is that there is basically no performance difference between the Nanotherm products. The prototype is the best performer, and I think the reason may be because it's close to the consistency of regular thermal paste (!).

Some of you no doubt question the need of these exotic compounds for everyday use, and to be honest, I don't really disagree with that thinking. If you're not an overclocker, you don't need anything fancy. Although much cheaper than Arctic Silver 2 (you do get less though), Nanotherm products will still ring in more than three or more dollars than the cheap stuff, so it may not seem worthwhile.

For the most part though, I think that a quality thermal compound will pay off in the long run. For one thing, enthusiasts should care about lowering temperatures, even by a degree will help. For non-overclockers, but those who still purchase aftermarket coolers, should look into these compounds to get the most of their product. Then again, it all comes back to this one or two degree difference, which may be human error on my part. I've seen results from other people who have used generic paste attain better numbers than what I have gotten. I can't speak for them, but the generic I used certainly sucked, though a heck of a lot better than any thermal pad out there. Finally, if you don't change heatsinks often, a high quality compound will give more even results over time, because of the fact that they won't chemically break down as quickly as generic paste. I can't say if this will be the case after twelve months, but it's not likely.

If you've read my Arctic Silver 2 review, you'll know that I loved the performance, but hated the syringe. Although I've been informed by many of you that the trick is to pull back on the syringe as the AS 2 comes out solves the problem, not everyone is going to know that. Another problem with AS 2 is the fact that the silver is really hard to get off. Instructions can be found if this is the case for you, but Nanotherm comes right off with some rubbing alcohol. Nanotherm comes close to AS 2 performance, and is in my opinion, easier to work with, and to clean.

I would like to thank Scott Gallmeyer at ESG Associates for the review samples. You can find a list of resellers at

Pros: Works well, compared to generic paste, easy to apply, relatively cheap.

Cons: Doesn't outperform Arctic Silver, unremarkable performance between the Nanotherm products.

If you have any comments, be sure to hit us up in our forums.

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