MAINGEAR's EPIC T1000 Phase Change Thermal Interface Material Cools off the Lab - Installation

ETIOnly a few weeks after we showed you the performance of the MAINGEAR Epic180 we have another product from MAINGEAR in the labs. This is their DIY thermal interface material called the MAINGEAR EPIC T1000 (yes it is a terminator reference). The EPIC T1000 is a phase change alloy that changes from a solid to a liquid when exposed to heat. This creates and flow that is capable of filling in any and all pores and lines in both the CPU heat spreader and the head of your cooler (whether it is water cooling, air or other). This, technically can beat even the smoothest thermal paste on the market in terms of fill and also should be able to outperform them in terms of thermal transfer as the head of your cooler and the CPU are almost soldered together for an even and continuous surface contact. So let’s take a look at what you get with this new DIY kit from MAINGEAR and also see if it really can improve performance.

 

Installation -
You can check out our video on how to install the T1000 ETI below; it is something of a process, but if you want the best results we recommend you follow the directions closely. It is very important to remember that you need to expose the T1000 to some serious heat to make sure if flows over the CPU. During this time you will want to continue to tighten the side of your cooler along the “thick” side of the ETI. This will force the T1000 material to flow over the rest of the CPU properly.

      

On the off chance that you get an improper flow all is not lost. Unless the T100 material slid off the surface of the CPU or managed to leak out from under your cooler you can always attempt a reflow. To do this simply put the material under high heat (say by running WinPrime95) and see if you can tighten down your cooler any more on the “thick” side. If you can the material did not completely flow across the CPU surface, if not you could still see an improvement in your temps as the first flow might not have completed properly.

 

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