Review – GD-2 Thermal Paste from AliExpress – Great performance and price!
In this article, I will be testing the GD-2 thermal paste, which is one of the compounds sold by the famous Chinese thermal paste manufacturer “GD Brand”. The paste is available in various formats, ranging from 1g syringes to 30g syringes and even a 150g pot. The sample I tested came in a 30g tube, which included a spatula and two finger cots.
According to the manufacturer, the GD-2 thermal paste has a thermal conductivity of 7.5 W/mK, a density of 2500 kg/m³, and an operating temperature range of -50°C to +120°C. This means that in an extreme overclocking scenario, it is suitable for use even with dry ice or a “single-stage” unit.
When it comes to using the product, simply apply the thermal paste onto the processor’s integrated heat spreader (IHS) using your preferred method, with an “X” pattern being used here. Unlike the more watery consistency of the GD900, the GD-2 is much more viscous and can be slightly challenging to spread evenly in some cases. It’s worth noting that the GD-2 is non-conductive
If anyone is interested, here’s the link to the official manufacturer’s store on AliExpress where you can find the GD-2 thermal paste (commissioned link): https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_DmQK40v
Hardware used:
CPU:AMD Ryzen 7 2700X (obrigado AMD!)
MOBO: ASUS TUF X570-Plus Gaming (Obrigado Terabyteshop!)
RAM: 2×8 GB Crucial Ballistix 3200CL16
GPU: ASRock Radeon RX 5700 XT 8 GB
PSU: Seasonic SS-750AM
COOLER: XPG Levante 240 mm (Obrigado XPG!), Thermal Grizzly Carbonaut, IC Graphite, GD900-1, GD-2, Deepcool Z3, Cooler Master Mastergel Maker, Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut, Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut Extreme, Kingpin Cooling KPx,Thermalright TF7, Corsair TM30.
SSD: Sandisk 120 GB
Software: Windows 10 x64, Blender 3.1.2, HWiNFO 7.26.
Testing Objectives:
The purpose of the review is to evaluate the performance of the GD-2 and compare it to other thermal interface alternatives that have been previously tested. For more details on the methodology and how the tests were conducted, please refer to the following texts.
Testing results:
In these tests, was used the Ryzen 7 2700X @ 4.1GHz 1.3375V LLC 3 and VDDSOC 1.025V, with memory set at 3200MHz XMP. We used Blender to render the “Classroom” demo for 30 minutes to obtain the results.
We tested the thermal paste immediately after application/cooling assembly and again in the next day, after a few “heat-cool” cycles, alternating between 40 minutes of idle and 40 minutes of stress in AIDA. The idea is to verify whether the thermal paste has any curing time, i.e., whether there is a difference in performance between the freshly applied product and the one that has undergone some thermal cycles.
It’s worth noting that this article’s focus is on testing the thermal solutions’ performance. It would be highly valuable to evaluate how these solutions perform after multiple thermal cycles to gain a better understanding of their durability after application. However, conducting such tests would be relatively expensive, requiring a fixed bench to be occupied for a considerable period or the development of specialized equipment. Therefore, for the time being, we won’t be able to carry out these tests.
The graphs below shows the delta T (ΔT), which is the difference between the CPU temperature (in this case) and the ambient temperature, thereby eliminating the ambient temperature from the equation.
In terms of performance, the GD-2 is certainly an upgrade from the GD900-1, thanks to its superior thermal conductivity. In fact, the GD-2 demonstrated a performance advantage of between 2.5 °C and 3 °C over GD900-1. What’s more, this extra performance put it in the same league as the Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut and the Thermalright TF-7, which is an impressive feat.
Another great advantage of the GD-2 is that it showed no change in performance even after a few thermal cycles, which is the known curing time required for some thermal pastes to achieve optimal performance.
Conclusion:
The GD-2 performed exceptionally well in the tests, securing the third spot in the comparison and outperforming its famous predecessor, the GD900-1. It also performed closely with products such as the Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut. Furthermore, it maintained its excellent thermal performance even after some curing time, which is a great!.
The cost of the GD-2 is also worth mentioning, as a 30g tube can be purchased from the manufacturer’s official store on AliExpress for around 8.30 USD, representing an excellent cost-benefit ratio when considering the performance demonstrated in the tests and the generous amount of product for the price. The only unknown factor is the long-term durability of the product after application, but based solely on its performance, the GD-2 is definitely recommended!
