The chomerics stuff is orders of magnitude better than the cheap stuff. We tested dozens of thermal interface materials and the difference between the good stuff and the cheap stuff is astounding. That said, you’re very correct - the best thermal interface would be one lapped so cleanly that it didn’t require paste. If you’re getting good atomic/molecular level metal->metal contact, the paste becomes pretty irrelevant.
PPtk
Where can you buy the chomerics? googled it, but just found phone #'s for reps per state.
I always order it directly form Parker-Chomerics. They’re very friendly to work with.
Chomerics North America
Parker Hannifin Corp.
77 Dragon Court
Woburn, MA 01801
USA
Tel: + (1) 781 935 4850
Fax: + (1) 781 933 4318
chomailbox@parker.com
Thanks!
If you’re looking for regular (non adhesive) thermal material - I seriously suggest taking a look at that Aavid Ultrastick that I linked to. It’s really awesome, and far less messy than most thermal ‘stuff’… Very reasonably priced (One stick goes a LONG way) and very easy to get (Mouser, Newark, etc).
PPtk
Yes, I missed that. We deal with these vendors at work - for the UltraStick, Mouser has stock for $19, Newark has a lead time of 113 days (?) - something wrong there, Digi-Key also has no stock but at $43. Arrow has a listing for it, but no price, looks like no stock.
Mouser it is...
I’ve absolutely no doubt it is superior, I just don’t have any reproducible way of quantifying any difference between it and the cheap stuff. It does its job and I’m happy with it, even more so because it was free and will last me a considerable amount of time 