Private company

Arctic Silver

Logo: Arctic Silver Inc., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons3

Privately owned engineering corporation

Arctic Silver Inc. is a privately owned engineering corporation which develops and manufactures thermally conductive compounds and thermal adhesives for the application of heat sinks to high-powered electronic components such as processors, LEDs, chipsets and other electronic devices. Founded in 1999, the company's facilities are located in Visalia, California, US.2 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

1999Founded1
Arctic silver 3
Photo: User:Shawnc, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons5

Arctic Silver Inc. is a privately owned engineering corporation which develops and manufactures thermally conductive compounds and thermal adhesives for the application of heat sinks to high-powered electronic components such as processors, LEDs, chipsets and other electronic devices. Founded in 1999, the company's facilities are located in Visalia, California, US.2

The story

The Arctic Silver company was founded by Nevin House in 1999. Headquartered in Visalia, California, USA, House's original product was a custom modified version of HP's Turbocooler heatsink design from servers and workstations. That experience led to research in thermal compounds, and their material composition. House experimented with silver based solutions, and success with improved formulas led to a change in business focus, to thermal interface compounds.

A succession of silver formulations were its leading products in the mid-2000s, as is the current Arctic Silver 5. Other developments include ceramic (non-conductive) compounds as well as thermal interface epoxy adhesives for use where permanence is desirable, or where no other heatsink attachment method is available.

From Wikipedia’s article on Arctic Silver, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4

Products and brands

  • computer hardware

Listed on Wikidata.1

All products are RoHS compliant.

Arctic Silver 5 (AS-5)

The current version of the company's eponymous thermal interface material, Arctic Silver 5, is a compound of silver, aluminum oxide, zinc oxide, and boron nitride in a polysynthetic oil base. It does not contain any silicone.

In a 2009 BenchmarkReviews.com review which compared 80 thermal pastes, AS-5 tied for first overall, with an A+ "enthusiast grade"; it cooled a test system 12% better than the last-place finisher. (This is useful for overclocking, though it is insignificant in most scenarios.)

Claims and test results

The company claims that AS-5's thermal conductivity is 8.7 W/(m·K). However, a study led by the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory found that it was only 0.94 W/(m·K). The study lauded Shin-Etsu X-23-7762-S and Dow Corning TC-5022 for their better thermal performance.

Read the full text

The company also claims that its greases will never dry out or set.

Matrix

Matrix is the company's most recent thermal compound in collaboration with TIM Consultants. It consists of a silicone oil base containing aluminum, aluminum oxide, and zinc oxide particles.

The 2009 BenchmarkReviews.com 80-product review gave Matrix (Labeled TIM Consultants T-C Grease 0098) an A, "enthusiast grade"; it cooled a test system 11% better than the last-place finisher.

Arctic Alumina

Arctic Alumina is a ceramics-based polysynthetic thermal compound using aluminum oxide as a thermal transfer medium. It is a lower-cost product than Arctic Silver 5.

The 2009 BenchmarkReviews.com 80-product review rated Alumina in the Good class, with a B+ "enthusiast grade"; it cooled a test system 10% better than the last-place finisher.

Céramique

Céramique is a composite of boron nitride, aluminum oxide, and zinc oxide. All of these are ceramic substances, that is they have crystalline molecular structures. Céramique's suspension fluid is a polysynthetic oil base. It is an electrical insulator, which makes it a better choice than pastes that contain metal (such as AS-5) when there is a possibility that the thermal compound could come in contact with the pins of an integrated circuit: for example, exposed resistors on the tops of some chip packages or a tightly packed circuit board or expansion card.

The 2009 BenchmarkReviews.com 80-product review rated Céramique in the Good class, with a B+ rating; it cooled a test system 10% better than the last-place finisher.

From Wikipedia’s article on Arctic Silver, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4

Timeline

  1. 1999Founded Founded1

Funding

Where the company's money came from, by calendar year: private offerings filed with the SEC, federal grants, loans, contracts and other assistance from USAspending.gov, and PPP loans from the SBA. Each bar links to the records below.

Money received by year$195.8K 2020–2020
Money received by yearMoney received by year, 2020–2020: $195.8K in all. PPP loans $195.8K.$0$50K$100K$150K$200K2020 · PPP loans: $195.8K2020
Figures by year
YearPPP loansTotal
2020$195.8K$195.8K

PPP loans

Paycheck Protection Program loans of $150,000 and up, approved April 2020 to July 2021, from the SBA6. Matched to this company by name and state.

  1. Apr 16, 2020$195.8K PPP loan (first draw) from Citizens Business Bank6To ARCTIC SILVER INC., Visalia CA; $198.4K forgiven Aug 27, 2021