About to apply liquid metal to m17 r3.. ?

[mrdoubtfull]

Hey guys,

 

So I wanted Linus's videos about liquid metal on laptops and I'm about to take the leap. I understand the risks but have a couple questions that hopefully someone can help me out with..

 

Can I use nail polish top coating instead of conformal coating? I've seen it mentioned a few times but want to make sure as I'm about to start the tear down now.

 

and

 

Should I use both electrical tape and conformal coating?

 

Any tips or advice???

 

Thanks!!!

[Shimejii]

Best tip or advice? Dont use LM on a laptop. Just use a really good thermal paste. 

 

I would honestly do the conformal coating on everything near it, the tape may rip it off if you ever try to take it off if something doesnt line up or go correctly.

[mrdoubtfull]

1 minute ago, Shimejii said:

Best tip or advice? Dont use LM on a laptop. Just use a really good thermal paste. 

 

I would honestly do the conformal coating on everything near it, the tape may rip it off if you ever try to take it off if something doesnt line up or go correctly.

I have Kryonaut and Conductonaut right in front of me but the I have the enthusiast in me screaming to just do liquid metal lol.. I REALLY want to, but I also can't really afford to just replace the $3k laptop.. 

 

Is nail top coating good enough because I don't have conformal coating..

[Shimejii]

Do not put LM on a 3000$ laptop. Beat the fuck out of the enthusiast screaming inside you until its but a murmur. It aint worth the attempt.

[mrdoubtfull]

4 minutes ago, Shimejii said:

Do not put LM on a 3000$ laptop. Beat the fuck out of the enthusiast screaming inside you until its but a murmur. It aint worth the attempt.

haha fine. I'll go with the Kryonaut first..

[Falkentyne]

22 hours ago, mrdoubtfull said:

Hey guys,

 

So I wanted Linus's videos about liquid metal on laptops and I'm about to take the leap. I understand the risks but have a couple questions that hopefully someone can help me out with..

 

Can I use nail polish top coating instead of conformal coating? I've seen it mentioned a few times but want to make sure as I'm about to start the tear down now.

 

and

 

Should I use both electrical tape and conformal coating?

 

Any tips or advice???

 

Thanks!!!

Liquid metal can work very well but it requires a LOT Of prep work.  And on Alienware's crappy imbalanced tripod heatsinks (their last good system was the old Ranger), it requires even more work.  Before you even consider liquid metal, do a pressure paper test and make sure your heatsink is perfectly balanced and has good pressure.  If it does, then LM may work.  In most cases, it won't be.

 

https://www.amazon.com/Innovation-Cooling-Contact-Analysis-Heatsink/dp/B07CKHRKHQ/

[mrdoubtfull]

16 hours ago, Falkentyne said:

Liquid metal can work very well but it requires a LOT Of prep work.  And on Alienware's crappy imbalanced tripod heatsinks (their last good system was the old Ranger), it requires even more work.  Before you even consider liquid metal, do a pressure paper test and make sure your heatsink is perfectly balanced and has good pressure.  If it does, then LM may work.  In most cases, it won't be.

 

https://www.amazon.com/Innovation-Cooling-Contact-Analysis-Heatsink/dp/B07CKHRKHQ/

I ended up changing it to Kryonaut because apparently I didn't have enough LM. It worked pretty well but I wasn't getting much better results. 

[TehDwonz]

I'd say no to LM in a laptop too - the benefits are minimal. Something I occasionally do when reconditioning a laptop, is place very thin copper shims (0.1mm thick) on the CPU and/or GPU with fresh thermal paste. This slightly increases mounting pressure, which I find less risky than LM.

[mrdoubtfull]

3 hours ago, TehDwonz said:

I'd say no to LM in a laptop too - the benefits are minimal. Something I occasionally do when reconditioning a laptop, is place very thin copper shims (0.1mm thick) on the CPU and/or GPU with fresh thermal paste. This slightly increases mounting pressure, which I find less risky than LM.

Do you put thermal paste on both sides of the shim? Do you think this is between regular paste and LM or just equivalent to paste?

[TehDwonz]

12 hours ago, mrdoubtfull said:

Do you put thermal paste on both sides of the shim? Do you think this is between regular paste and LM or just equivalent to paste?

Both sides, but very sparingly. No idea on specific performance, but I generally notice the air coming out is hotter and thermals reported by HWInfo are lower, which was my goal. On a new (and expensive) laptop, if the thermals were too high for my liking I'd probably just replace the paste/pads with a decent after-market paste first and check for a difference.

What is your goal? If you're just curious about trying LM more than anything, I'd suggest getting a cheap second-hand laptop to mess with instead. Linus only did it because he can, and for our entertainment ultimately. 

[mrdoubtfull]

14 hours ago, TehDwonz said:

Both sides, but very sparingly. No idea on specific performance, but I generally notice the air coming out is hotter and thermals reported by HWInfo are lower, which was my goal. On a new (and expensive) laptop, if the thermals were too high for my liking I'd probably just replace the paste/pads with a decent after-market paste first and check for a difference.

What is your goal? If you're just curious about trying LM more than anything, I'd suggest getting a cheap second-hand laptop to mess with instead. Linus only did it because he can, and for our entertainment ultimately. 

I applied LM first and then ended up with Kryonaut because I kind of ran out of LM. I tried to use 1g between both CPU and GPU and it just turned out not to be enough. 

 

I'll be going back to liquid metal but instead of using a foam damn I'm considering using silicon as it can tolerate extreme heat and it will mold perfectly when I seal everything up.. Any thoughts on this? I haven't seen it suggested anywhere but I'm a contractor and use it every day and don't see an issue with it.. 

[TehDwonz]

7 hours ago, mrdoubtfull said:

I applied LM first and then ended up with Kryonaut because I kind of ran out of LM. I tried to use 1g between both CPU and GPU and it just turned out not to be enough. 

 

I'll be going back to liquid metal but instead of using a foam damn I'm considering using silicon as it can tolerate extreme heat and it will mold perfectly when I seal everything up.. Any thoughts on this? I haven't seen it suggested anywhere but I'm a contractor and use it every day and don't see an issue with it.. 

The black thermal silicone? Yeah, that's pretty much what they use to bond the IHS anyway - it's something I considered for when my TIM testing is finalised.

1 gram?! That's way too much for sure. Use a cotton-bud/Qtip to spread the LM over the die AND the inside of the IHS where it will make contact. It won't stick right away, but just rub it in and it will wet the surface properly. Just remember, it's a liquid, and if your CPU is in a vertical tower, it's going to gradually pool in the direction gravity pulls it - so some maintenance might be needed now and then, even if it is sealed in.

[mrdoubtfull]

On 7/6/2020 at 5:24 AM, TehDwonz said:

The black thermal silicone? Yeah, that's pretty much what they use to bond the IHS anyway - it's something I considered for when my TIM testing is finalised.

1 gram?! That's way too much for sure. Use a cotton-bud/Qtip to spread the LM over the die AND the inside of the IHS where it will make contact. It won't stick right away, but just rub it in and it will wet the surface properly. Just remember, it's a liquid, and if your CPU is in a vertical tower, it's going to gradually pool in the direction gravity pulls it - so some maintenance might be needed now and then, even if it is sealed in.

Is there a reason I should use the foam tho? I figured the silicone will keep the liquid metal from spilling or running onto the motherboard.. But everywhere I look I see foam dams around the CPU/GPU die recommended.. Does the CPU/GPU need to breathe or is solid silicone just fine to keep the liquid metal from escaping? 

 

I'm doing this on my m17 r3 laptop..