I know “hardcore tweakers” sounds like I’m talking about meth addicts, but I mean people who get involved with every aspect of their computer and care about every component. If you’re not familiar with the term, a thermal compound is a sort of heat-conducting paste, often metallic in composition. It’s used as a middle layer between a component that generates heat (a chip or DIMM) and a heatsink, increasing the rate at which heat is dissipated.

For as long as I’ve been putting together PCs, the de facto standard in thermal compounds has been Arctic Silver. It’s just been what you use. But TweakTown has checked out this new Gelid stuff that has a leg up on it in a couple ways: it’s nonmetallic so you don’t have to worry about it getting anywhere it shouldn’t and shorting some circuits, and it requires no curing or drying so it’s even easier to apply than other thermal compounds. Furthermore, you get more for your money, as it costs about the same as other gels and comes in a somewhat larger tube. I know pastes aren’t really the most exciting gadget news, but for the hardware nerds out there this is good news.