Noctua NT-H2 vs Honeywell PTM7950

There’s been a lot of discussion about thermal compounds and whether switching from a traditional thermal paste to a phase change material like Honeywell PTM7950 can improve cooling performance. In this comparison, we put Noctua NT-H2 vs Honeywell PTM7950 to the test to see how they measure up. We’ll be looking at CPU and GPU temperatures, power draw, and clock speeds to help you decide which is the better choice for your needs.

What is Honeywell PTM7950?

PTM7950 is a highly thermally conductive Phase Change Material (PCM) designed to minimise thermal resistance at interfaces, maintain excellent performance over time, and provide scalable applications at a competitive cost. Because of its novel polymer PCM system, PTM7950 offers excellent interface wettability within typical operating temperature ranges, leading to extremely low surface contact resistance.

Appearance and Variations

PTM7950 is a grey pad, though its exact shade may vary depending on the source. Some appear light grey, while others have a slight green tint.

To ensure accuracy, we purchased four samples from different sellers, with thicknesses of 0.2mm and 0.25mm. Since determining which sellers offer genuine products can be difficult, we opted for multiple sources for comparison. More on this in a future blog post.

Testing Noctua NT-H2 vs PTM7950

To compare the performance of Noctua NT-H2 and Honeywell PTM7950, we conducted a series of tests measuring CPU and GPU temperatures, CPU package power, and CPU frequency.

The test setup:

Laptop: Alienware Area-51m gaming laptop
Stress test software: Cinebench (CPU multi-core test, 10-minute duration)
Monitoring software: HWiNFO
Thermal paste: Original paste (before cleaning), Noctua NT-H2, and Honeywell PTM7950

CPU Temperature

Temperatures of the CPU hovered near 100°C across all tests, indicating that neither thermal compound significantly changed peak temperatures due to the laptop’s built-in thermal throttling mechanism.

CPU Power

The difference between NT-H2 and PTM7950 was minimal, suggesting that both compounds deliver nearly identical thermal performance.

CPU Frequency

Clock speeds remained nearly identical, stabilising around 4240–4390 MHz for both thermal solutions, indicating no significant advantage for either compound.

GPU temperature

GPU idle temperatures showed negligible differences between NT-H2 and PTM7950, indicating similar thermal performance. A full GPU stress test was not conducted.

Is Honeywell PTM7950 Worth It?

For this specific laptop, the difference between Noctua NT-H2 and Honeywell PTM7950 was negligible. However, one potential advantage of PTM7950 is its long-term stability. It shouldn’t dry out over time as traditional thermal pastes often do.Since all tests were conducted within two days of application, this evaluation does not account for long-term performance. Future testing will provide a better idea of its durability over months of use.

Should You Buy It?

If you’re interested in testing whether PTM7950 makes a difference in your laptop, there’s no harm in giving it a try. However, if you expect a dramatic improvement in performance, you may not see the results you’re hoping for.If you’re interested in how cleaning alone impacts laptop performance, check out our previous blog post where we compare CPU and GPU temperatures before and after cleaning.

If your laptop is running hot and you’re unsure about applying thermal paste or thermal pads yourself, we are here to help.

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