Noctua's $25 Space-Grade Thermal Pad Could End CPU Repasting For Good

Noctua just announced its new NT-CP1 thermal pad that leverages Carbice’s carbon nanotube technology. According to Noctua, the combination of Carbice’s technology with the thermal pad’s design allows it to retain a similar performance profile over the course of several years, once it has settled in after a few thermal cycles.

Noctua also tried to make installing the thermal pad as easy as possible, using what the company is referring to as a “peel, press, peel” process. The NT-CP1 is able to stay in place thanks to its polymer coating, which helps it stick once it’s placed on top of the CPU. There’s also the added benefit of no longer having to consider the spread pattern of thermal pastes and whether or not you used too much (or too little).


So how does the NT-CP1 hold up against the company’s traditional NT-H1 thermal paste? The company shared some performance benchmarks utilizing an AMD Ryzen 9 7950X. After allowing the thermal pad to settle in the CPU’s temperature stayed at 44°C while the thermal paste held it to roughly 46°C. A similar story unfolded while testing the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X, where the thermal pad helped keep it 2 degrees cooler than the thermal paste.

For the NT-CP1’s launch it will only be available to those with AMD socket AM4 and AM5 based CPUs, and interested buyers can pick it up right now. Hopefully the company ends up releasing an Intel version in the future.