Thermal Grizzly Carbonaut - 25x25x0.2 Thermal Pad, Black (TG-CA-25-25-02-R)

Thermal Grizzly's Carbonaut carbon fiber thermal pad, pre-cut to 25 x 25 mm and 0.2 mm thick, the size Thermal Grizzly lists for Nvidia GPUs such as the RTX 2080. For an RTX 2080 Ti it lists the 31 x 25 mm pad.

Properties

• Size: 25 x 25 mm
• Thickness: 0.2 mm
• Material: Carbon fiber
• Electrically insulating: No
• Operating temperature: -250°C to +150°C
• Color: Black

A pad in place of paste

The high-tech carbon thermal pads of the Carbonaut series are sold as an alternative to mid-range thermal pastes, an excellent one in Thermal Grizzly's words. They have a surface that is highly elastic and adaptable, allowing even the smallest component differences to be effectively compensated. The pad is flexible and easy to use. Thermal Grizzly advises against reusing a sheet after removal and recommends a new one when the cooler is changed. Thermal Grizzly's graphene pad is KryoSheet, which we stock in the same 25 x 25 mm footprint.

Material properties and thermal conductivity

The pad is made from carbon fiber. That carbon fiber structure ensures what Thermal Grizzly calls outstanding thermal conductivity, while a specially developed polymer gives the pad its flexibility and its "Soft Gap Filler" properties. The high thermal conductivity it offers is one it can already achieve at very low contact pressure.

Long-term stability

What the pad provides over paste is extreme long-term stability. A carbon pad does not dry out, so it maintains consistent thermal transfer and its performance stays consistently high. Additionally, Thermal Grizzly's data sheet rules out the "pump-out" effect, in which paste is pushed out of the gap between cooler and CPU as the heat spreader deforms with heat. Thermal Grizzly calls that ideal for systems that are not regularly maintained or that see an excessive number of operating cycles.

Fit and product-specific notes

Note: Carbonaut is electrically conductive! Thermal Grizzly's page lists its Shield protective coating, which protects against short circuits, alongside the pad.

Between a CPU die and a High Performance Heatspreader (HPHS), thermal sheets such as this one and KryoSheet may dissipate less heat when the mounting pressure is insufficient. For Direct-Die coolers and the HPHS, Thermal Grizzly explicitly recommends liquid metal between the die and the cooler or HPHS instead.

Other pre-cut sizes

The pad is available in many pre-cut standard CPU/GPU sizes. Besides the two above, Thermal Grizzly lists:

• 32 x 32 mm: Intel Desktop CPUs (115x), e.g. 6700K, 7700K, 9900K
• 38 x 38 mm: Intel 20xx HEDT CPUs and AMD Desktop CPUs, e.g. 7900X, 7980XE, 2700X, 1800X, 6950X
• 51 x 68 mm: AMD Threadripper CPUs, e.g. 1950X, 1920X, 2990WX

In the box

• 1x Carbonaut pad, 25 x 25 x 0.2 mm