My focus on OCZ products has mainly been on their insanely fast memory, which is why it took me by surprise when a very small box arrived from OCZ and contained an applicator of their newest thermal paste. Named as "OCZ Ultra 5+" the connections to Arctic Silver 5 will only become more obvious as we roll along the thermal paste's features. These connections are more than simple coincidence as this quote was provided by a spokesman for OCZ Technology "........we have contacted Arctic Silver Inc, and entered into a vendor agreement with them to supply OCZ thermal paste" This is a very interesting arrangement but not at all surprising when you look at all the comparable agreements made in the mainstream retail market. Many of the products that Wal-Mart sells with a Wal-Mart name on it are actually remarked products from another manufacturer. The Wal-Mart brand "Super Tek" Outboard Engine Oil is just one such product as it is a remarked bottle of a very popular Mercury brand oil.

     The benefit of this arrangement comes to the consumers in the form of money saved. In the instance with the motor oil, Mercury's oil can costs upwards of $13.99 per gallon while the remarked SuperTek will cost a little over $5 per gallon. In relation to our thermal compound, a 3 gram applicator of Artic Silver 5 can cost upwards of $14.99 while the same 3 gram supply of the OCZ Ultra5+ is selling for only $7.99, which adds up to a pretty nice savings.

     The attributes of OCZ Ultra5+ are;

     ● Contains 99.9% pure silver: OCZ Ultra 5+ uses three unique shapes and sizes of pure silver particles to maximize
        particle-to-particle contact area and thermal transfer.
     ● High-Density:  OCZ Ultra 5+ contains over 88% thermally Conductive filler by weight. In addition to micronized
        silver, Ultra 5+ also contains sub-micron zinc oxide, aluminum oxide and boron nitride particles. These thermally-
        enhanced ceramic particles improve the compound's performance and long-term stability.
     ● Not Electrically Conductive: OCZ Ultra 5+ was formulated to conduct heat, not electricity.
     ● Absolute Stability: OCZ Ultra 5+ will not separate, run, migrate, or bleed.

     The microscopic areas of imperfection on the surface of the heat sink and CPU (core or heat speader) are the target areas for the compound to fill and thermally bond the two surfaces together. If you frequently move your computer, this bonding can become interrupted by vibration, especially if you use any of the heavier heat sinks that are popular among the extreme Overclockers. Even the strongest clip or retention system can not totally prevent the heat sink from shifting. However, a strong/secure mounting system combined with the advanced physical bonding properties of OCZ Ultra5+ can greatly improve thermal bonding. The cure time on the advanced synthetic compound is very long, ranging between 150-200 hours which translates into a period of 6-8 days. During normal PC usage, the catalyst thins out in consistency to spread itself out among the surface of the bonded areas. After time, the compound begins its final stage of cure by transforming into a thicker solution with a higher degree of physical "holding" power. The end result is a compound that is more evenly distributed and with the highest degree of thermal transfer the industry has ever known.

     The above picture shows a side by side view of Arctic Silver 5 on the left and OCZ Ultra5+ on the right. The testing of the these two compounds was conducted on a specialized computer I have set up in my office. It acts as my own "in-house" file/printer server and remains powered-up almost 24/7 - 365 (366 this year). At the computer's heart is an Asus P4C800 motherboard using a Pentium-4 MOBILE 2.0 GHz (SL6V9) processor. With advice from BIGTOE, I acquired the P4-Moible and modified the processor, which turned it into an Overclockers dream on the P4C800 motherboard. The short story is, a Mobile processor defaults to a 100MHZ front side bus, along with a 12 multiplier on a desktop board. In addition to the higher thermal tolerance and lower Vcore requirements, the adaptation to a desktop board makes this processor a very lucrative subject. Though capable of higher speeds, I have chosen to run at 3.0 Ghz, on a 250MHZ Front Side Bus while only using 1.575 Volts. The core of the P4 Mobile does not have the large heat spreader that the other desktop processors use. Because it does not have a heat spreader, most typical Pentium-4 heat sinks that use the heat sink retention mechanism can not be used, as they bottom out against the bracket before making contact with the core. Oddly enough, the stock heat sinks that ship with Pentium-4 desktop processors will fit. To cool this processor, I am using the newly designed cooler that Intel is now shipping with their Prescott core processors. [This one came from a retail packed Prescott 2.8E] Aside from limiting what heat sinks can be used with this processor, considerable care must be taken during heat sink installation/removal to ensure the core does not get damaged.

     Enduring the long cure time was the hardest part of this test. Each setup was allowed six days before testing ensued to give both compounds a proper chance to bond. The room temperature was regulated at 75 degrees during both testing sessions, and a similar pattern of system usage was exhibited during both sets of cure times. All in all, fairness was reasonably maintained as well as possible for such a long cure time. For the final temperature readings, a sample was taken at idle as well as 100% CPU usage and recorded "for the record"