Thermal Grizzly X-10 heat sink compound

X-10 - Born From German Innovation
Polartherm introduces the X-10, a new thermal paste designed with an excellent price-performance ratio, specifically aimed at the experienced mainstream PC user. With a higher viscosity compared to the X-8, the X-10 is easy to apply, although it is recommended to use the included application tools. This increased viscosity has the advantage of making the thermal paste less affected by the pump-out effect. The thermal conductivity of the X-10 surpasses that of the X-8, making it suitable for processors with a TDP of over 70 watts. This covers Intel’s Core i7/i9 and Core Ultra 7/9 processor series, as well as AMD's Ryzen 7 and 9 series.

Thermal paste, known in English as "Thermal Interface Material" (TIM), is used to transfer heat away from key components. TIMs include materials such as thermal paste, thermal pads, and liquid metals, all of which help dissipate waste heat. In PCs, waste heat is generated wherever there is significant power consumption: primarily in the CPU (processor) and GPU (graphics card). Other components, like memory and SSDs, also benefit from good cooling. Thermal paste consists of a base material, such as silicone oil, containing microscopic particles like aluminum oxide or zinc oxide. For example, the paste is applied to the CPU’s heat spreader (IHS) before mounting the CPU cooler. This fills microscopic gaps between the surfaces of the IHS and the cooler, effectively transferring waste heat.

With its relatively high viscosity, Polartherm X-10 is only minimally affected by the pump-out effect. The pump-out effect gradually squeezes out thermal paste between the heat spreader and the base plate of the CPU cooler due to deformation (concave or convex) caused by heating and cooling cycles. When cooling down, materials like silicon and copper revert to their original shape (flat), leading to variations in thermal expansion rates that particularly intensify the pump-out effect in setups like copper coolers on graphics chips.