Today we are reviewing the latest thermal paste from Corsair, the XTM70. It is a high-end thermal paste sold at a golden price with an interesting bundle. Let’s see if its performance is up to its price. This new thermal paste is available for order directly from Corsair for $24.99. 
Thanks to Corsair for providing this thermal paste for this test. [nextpage title=”The Corsair XTM70:”] The Corsair XTM70 is sold in a cardboard packaging, with the colors of the brand. On the front, there is a picture of the product and on the back, its technical information.
Inside, we have the thermal paste tube coming with its bundle composed of three wipes, two applicator films and a spatula. The bundle is very nice and the packaging is entirely made of cardboard, so easy recycling.
For the syringe, we will notice the opening on the side of the syringe, allowing to see the remaining level. One point to note is that this tube seems to contain more than 3g of thermal paste. Unlike the purple cryofuze from Cooler Master, here we have three times as much thermal paste for a volume only 50% larger.
Regarding the specifications of this paste, we are on a density of 2.7g/ml. This is the only information, too bad we don’t have at least the viscosity. Here are the tables of the different thermal pastes tested on our configuration. The XTM70 is therefore the most expensive paste tested to date for an equivalent volume.
[nextpage title=”The test configuration:”]
Here is the configuration that will be used for the test:
- Motherboard : EVGA Z690 DARK KINGPIN (BIOS 1.15)
- Processor : INTEL CORE I9 12900KS
- Memory : 2x16gb SK Hynix A die
- Graphics Card: NVIDIA RTX 3080 Founder Edition
- Cooling system : Watercool Heatkiller IV basic + MO-RA3 420
- SSD : Western Digital SN850 500gb
- Power supply : Be Quiet ! Dark Power Pro 12 1200W
- Operating System: Windows 11 64 bits (version 21H2)
- Screen : DELL S2421NX
[nextpage title=”Results:”] Our thermal paste test protocol is very young, it is based on an Intel Alderlake platform with an I9-12900KS and an EVGA Z690 DARK KINGPIN. The tests are performed under the same conditions with a Heatkiller IV waterblock at constant pressure.
Protocol:
The I9 12900KS is set to get 250W of load on cinebench R20. The Pcore are at 5200MHz, the Ecore at 4000MHz and the cache at 4400MHz for a voltage of 1,335V bios LLC +25%.
Thermal paste applications are done crosswise on the CPU, this is the method that works best with all thermal pastes on the market. The waterblock is mounted and tightened to the screw stop to let the springs apply the right pressure.
Then, a cinebench R23 stress test is run to warm up the thermal paste with 10min of heavy load. To finish, three R20 cinebench are launched in a row. While taking well into account to have the same water temperature between each beginning of benchmark.
Each thermal paste is applied three times with three cinebench R20 per application. The minimum delta T° value between the water and the CPU is recorded among these nine measurements.
Results:
As can be seen, this XTM70 outperforms all other thermal pastes. It is true that the gain is only 0.5 to 1°C but it is well ahead. Moreover, we noticed during the application that this thermal paste is very well suited for use on GPUs. We will soon update the protocol with the addition of a test on an RTX 3080 FE under waterblock.
The measurements were made with water at 28-29°C and a flow rate of 233L/h. Here are the details of the best measurements out of nine readings per thermal paste.
Corsair Tool Application:
For our thermal paste comparison, we used the cross application method. This is the best method of application with the spread, but it always provides the same application with all pastes. For this XTM70 that comes with an application kit, we wanted to see if this would save on temperature. The answer is yes, if you are not a virtuoso of thermal paste application. But, in fact, we obtained the same results as with a cross application at 0.1 °C. With a much higher paste consumption and a lot of waste.
[nextpage title=”Conclusion:”] We are coming to the end of this test. With this XTM70, Corsair offers a high performance paste at a golden price. Because yes, even if this one is slightly ahead of the NT-H2 from Noctua or TG-001 from KFA². It will cost three to four times more for the same quantity. But in fact, we can not blame Corsair for having released a thermal paste as efficient. We only regret that a version without accessories at a reduced price is not available for sale. As a reminder, this thermal paste is available for directly from Corsair for 24.99 €.
Corsair XTM70
We liked:
- The bundle with spatula, applicator and wipe
- Performance on CPU
- Excellent hold on long load (ideal on GPU ?)
- Easy application with a spatula
We would have liked:
- A lower price
- A version without bundle
Corsair offers us with this XTM70 the best thermal paste tested to date. Performances that unfortunately go hand in hand with the staggering price of nearly 24 € for only 3g. We regret this price and we would have liked to see a version without bundle at lower cost available for sale. We award it the GOLD for its remarkable performances even if it deserves more.
