Paste Dow Chemical DOWSIL TC-5888 (2025, China)
Product Images
General Information
Manufacturer Specifications
Notes and Recommendations
Measurements
Material Testing and TIMA Protocol (on request)
Microscopy and Particles
Measurement Process
Thermal Resistances Rth
Let's start with the most important aspect, the thermal resistance Rth. The key feature of Rth is that it correlates linearly with the layer thickness, while thermal conductivity follows a different curve and is far from linear. But experienced readers already know this. We are mainly interested in layer thicknesses of 200 µm or less for CPUs, and usually 100 µm or much thinner for GPUs, depending on bending.
I have now prepared a bar chart comparing the relevant layer thicknesses from 50 to 400 µm for Rth.
Minimum Possible Layer Thickness
That's exactly why I wanted to see how far we could go with a bit of pressure and how much a paste can still be compressed. Here, I use the usual 9N pro cm², which is more than sufficient and higher than what, for instance, a GPU cooler would achieve.
Effective Thermal Conductivity and Cooling Simulation
As is always the case in my other reviews: once you have Rth, λeff (effective thermal conductivity) is not really needed. We can also see how the values change across BLT (Bond Line Thickness), though we can't expect a linear curve anymore due to the included area and BLT.
I have now prepared a bar chart comparing the relevant layer thicknesses from 50 to 400 µm for λeff.
CPUs with Heatspreader
CPUs without Headspreader / Direct Die
GPUs
