There’s no practical reason for thermal paste — the goo that you spread on your CPU before finishing off your PC build with a cooler — to come in multiple colors. But Cooler Master offers multicolor thermal paste because it knows PC builders can’t resist being extra.
In fact, Cooler Master just showed off the possibilities by using its new multicolor paste to make a tiny little landscape on an Intel CPU in an actual motherboard. Bob Ross would be proud.
Yes, I realize that this is just a promotional video for Cooler Master’s CryoFuze 5 thermal paste, which comes in six different colors and previously made headlines for some truly dumb “AI” marketing. Producing and providing different colors of a product that by its very nature is hidden is the definition of superfluous.
But I can’t be cynical about this. The tiny painting is genuinely impressive, the kind of thing that would get an approving nod from even the most obsessive Warhammer miniature painter
And since people spend weeks of their own time — and who knows how much money — making custom case modifications that are genuine works of art, I think it’s entirely possible that PC builders will pursue this as yet another avenue of creative expression, making itty-bitty paintings that are effectively destroyed the minute the cooler is installed.
In the words of Terry Pratchett, “It is such a shame that some masterpieces are so transitory.”
Author: Michael Crider, Staff Writer, PCWorld
Michael is a 10-year veteran of technology journalism, covering everything from Apple to ZTE. On PCWorld he's the resident keyboard nut, always using a new one for a review and building a new mechanical board or expanding his desktop "battlestation" in his off hours. Michael's previous bylines include Android Police, Digital Trends, Wired, Lifehacker, and How-To Geek, and he's covered events like CES and Mobile World Congress live. Michael lives in Pennsylvania where he's always looking forward to his next kayaking trip.