Antec Formula 7 TIM

[Gunslinger]

I had a chance to test out some new TIM from Antec called Formula 7. I thought I'd share some quick air and dirty air cooling results I put together over the last few days. I tested it against the only other TIM I had on hand which was Artic Silver 5. The viscosity of the 2 compounds is very similar, but I was very surprised at the performance difference between them.



Test setup:
i7 980X
EVGA X58 Classified
Adata DDR3 2x2GB
Antec 1200 OC
Thermaltake FRIO aircooler, fans in push pull on high speed.
Ambient temps= 68F



I had never ran this CPU on air before, so I ran a small OC for 8 hours to get some heat into the mount and help spread the TIM out. After the initial burn in, I worked the CPU speed up to increase the load. Each mount ended up running about 2 days non-stop once the stable OC speed was found. Both tests were just a single mount, and the contact patern on disassembly showed good, even contact on both heatsink installs.

Artic Silver 5 application



Artic Silver 5 contact pattern





Artic Silver 5 8 hour burn in



Artic Silver 5 20 Prime95



Formula 7 application



Formula 7 contact pattern



Formula 7 8 hour burn in (notice the vcore difference)



Formula 7 20 hour Prime95



Conclusion:

While I'm not much of an aircooled overclocker, I sure can't ignore these kind of results. I was very surprised at the large temperature difference between the 2 compounds in the 20 hour Prime test. The 8 hour burn in results are a little skewed, I only now noticed I was feeding more vcore on the Formula 7 run, yet it still beat the AS5 by a few degrees. Without a doubt I'll be using Formula 7 instead of AS5.

[Panther_Seraphi]

Thats good to see but i doubt that 12 degrees is an accurate result.

I think this may have to be tested more thoroughly and against more pastes to really see whats going on or is it just that AS5 is getting long in the tooth?

[CrazyNutz]

WOW Nice TIM that formula 7 is. I will have to get me some.

As for the AS5 I never get good results with the application to the center. The only way I can get good results with AS5 is by spreading a super-ultra-micro-thin layer with a razor blade, apply good pressure almost to the point to where it wipes the AS5 off. It sounds crazy but I've seen a good 15c difference with the ultra thin layer.

[Johnny87au]

seems as if this new antec formula is quite good, can you test it up against mx-3/ocz freeze?

[sin0822]

12c is a huge difference. You should retest. but good job!

[Hondacity]

where can i get these?

[sin0822]

myb idk where they sell it i think its new.

[zalbard]

Someone else re-test and confirm, please! Against MX-2, preferably! These results appear to be way too good right now, I want to know if that is so!

[Gunslinger]

I don't have MX-2, only AS5 and Ceramique.

I'm also not sure if it's gone retail yet, I'll check and report back.

[Monstru]

Someone else re-test and confirm, please! Against MX-2, preferably! These results appear to be way too good right now, I want to know if that is so!

Here you go

Antec Formula 7 Review | lab501 | Translate

[danielkza]

Here you go

Antec Formula 7 Review | lab501 | Translate

I'm getting 'page not found' errors on all but the first page. Is it not fully up yet?

[Monstru]

Fixed, nut I have a feeling that in Google Translate it is still not working.

[Afrokalle]

here are some of my tests...

i think thermal paste always works different from chip to chip (TDP) and from cooler to cooler...

...some coolers works a little bit better with this paste and another with that paste.

Also TDP and the temperature of the chip is important and for some paste even running time (burn in).

But one is for sure: here are now 3 different tests/reviews up and in all is Antec Formula 7 best paste



Antec was so kind to send me a box from their new thermal paste the "Formula 7"




The thermal paste comes in a elegant retail box and the tube contains 4g ...



Antec Formula 7 Nano Diamond Thermal Compound:

• Diamond paricles for optimal heat transfer (rated at 8,3W/mk)
• Diamond concentration is more than double that of lesser Diamond Compounds
• Stable temperature range 50°C to 250°C
• Good for Overclocking

I found some other thermal paste in my lab to compete with the new Antec Formula 7:

• Antec Formula 7
• Artic Cooling MX-2
• OCZ Freeze
• Thermalright Chill Factor
• Xigmatek Soft Pak (came with the cooler)

Testsetup:

Intel Core i5 670
Asus P7P55D
G.Skill 8GBRH
Antec HCP-1200W

Cooling:

Xigmatek SD-1283
Nanoxia (1918RPM)


Every Paste was tested with LinX. 10 minutes for little burn in - then restart and the 10min measured run. After that changed paste and cleaned cooler and cpu...


Antec Formula 7:




Artic Cooling MX-2:




OCZ Freeze:




Thermalright Chill Factor:




Xigmatek Soft Pak:




...the difference between the top 3 is not that big but the Antec Formula 7 is the best paste and really stable (no temperature jumping and need no time for burn in) :




I will do more testing next week (i will try to get some other thermal paste and do some longer tests). With Gulftown and higher TDP the results should be a bit different. I think the temperature difference between the paste's will get bigger....

Some sub zero results will also follow soon...

Thanks to Antec for sending me that nice thermal paste

Afrokalle

Sorry for the bad english - translated that review from german to english in a few minutes

[M.Beier]

Being me....
Where can I get some 20-40-60-80 or the best one 100g tubes?
4g last for 1 bench night at my place

[Wumpus]

would love to see some results under cold for all of the popular pastes. need some new TIM...

and I agree with the people here who suggested a re-test because 12c is quite a large gap for just TIM

[Stelios]

Someone else re-test and confirm, please! Against MX-2, preferably! These results appear to be way too good right now, I want to know if that is so!

I made a similar test a few days ago with my 920 . I used AS5 & MX-2 .
With linx stress test , the MX-2 is about 12C better than AS5 .

Gunslinger results seems to be correct for me .

[zalbard]

Here you go

Antec Formula 7 Review | lab501 | Translate

Excellent, thanks!
Looks like it's the new best TIM out there. I suppose Liquid Metal still beats it, though. But then again it's not really a paste...

[nickshih]

I am glad to provide some samples ...If u can post some feedback for me ..

[youngpro]

hm i am not the guy that will speak about a product i don't believe in, and i will never speak without doing appropriate testing for myself..

i have run this paste up a little on my rig over the past few weeks and had some nice results.. i think the paste is performing nicely off the bat is due to the fact it doesnt require a curing time..

Test platform:
ASUS RIIIE
Gulftown 980X 1.4v
Noctua NH-D14

Please forgive that I only test a few thermal pastes, I tested what I had available to me at the time of testing..

My testing consists of the following, install application of paste, boot system and load my settings of 4000mhz, 1.4v and idle in windows for 5 minutes, then LinX load for 30 minutes, then another 5 minutes recovery idle temperature.







this paste makes alot of sense, if you are changing your paste on a regular basis like we all probably do, then this will definatly suit you.. install and paste is performing very well out of the box..

[hiwa]

cool tests guys, i tested it under cold -180, same card benched 80/100MHz
yeah Antec you can believe it

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...43#post4656143

tested on 2 cards since now 5870 and 580, this thermal Paste is damn crazy for no CB cards try it and yu will see

[sofos1990]

When this paste will hit the retail market ?

May someone compare it with Titan nano grease ?

[Johnny87au]

wow new top dog on the market, cant believe its from antec tho lol