Are Coollaboratory Liquid MetalPad good if I can burn them in?

[Dabombinable]

I've discovered that I can a lot of 3 for $9 AUD, and I was wondering will they be good? I know that I can get my GTX 970 past 80^oC with an overclock+Furmark, and I can do the same with my 4790K under Prime95 at stock or at 4.6GHz locked (under Prime95 at stock settings it runs at 4GHz). I was also going to use 1 pad on this laptop, but since it started falling apart 10-15 minutes ago, I'm saying screw it and replacing it outright.

[Oshino Shinobu]

They perform well, but are conductive. I wouldn't really advise using them unless you're going for very high overclocks. 

[Cyracus]

gpus from my understanding recommend a veritable mountain of thermal paste, like enough to overflow the die and get to the electrically sensitive stuff. with CPU's if you don't mind what looks like a pain in the butt application it won't provide any big changes, about the equivalent of going from the best air cooler to the best AIO cooler from the numbers I've seen

[Dabombinable]

7 minutes ago, Oshino Shinobu said:

They perform well, but are conductive. I wouldn't really advise using them unless you're going for very high overclocks. 

The main thing for me is that I can afford them, they should not "go off" like normal thermal pastes. And I was also considering them as I can trim them to size and apply them more accurately than the actual liquid metal TIM.

[ThomasD]

Not sure what you mean by "burn them in."  They are liquids at operating temperatures, so really only need a very clean surface to work optimally.

[Dabombinable]

1 hour ago, ThomasD said:

Not sure what you mean by "burn them in."  They are liquids at operating temperatures, so really only need a very clean surface to work optimally.

Apparently They are about as good as mediocre TIM when you don't burn them in at about 80^oC

[ThomasD]

On Sunday, May 08, 2016 at 1:12 AM, Dabombinable said:

Apparently They are about as good as mediocre TIM when you don't burn them in at about 80^oC

Says who?

 

And how do they explain the need for that temperature?  Not like 180 degrees Fahrenheit is even sufficient to fully remove any trapped moisture...

[Dabombinable]

2 hours ago, ThomasD said:

Says who?

 

And how do they explain the need for that temperature?  Not like 180 degrees Fahrenheit is even sufficient to fully remove any trapped moisture...

It needs to melt to be more effective-if it doesn't its not filling in the imperfections on the waterblock/cooler and heatspreader, and I might as well put a piece of copper between them. http://www.coollaboratory.com/product/coollaboratory-liquid-metalpad/

[ThomasD]

22 hours ago, Dabombinable said:

It needs to melt to be more effective-if it doesn't its not filling in the imperfections on the waterblock/cooler and heatspreader, and I might as well put a piece of copper between them. http://www.coollaboratory.com/product/coollaboratory-liquid-metalpad/

Ok, thanks, now I see where you are getting that terminology.  Although, judging from the quality of the translation "melts with just less heating (BurnIn-process)"  I'm not even sure what the Hell they think they are talking about. 

 

 

So yeah, what they are calling 'burn in' is really (as you note) just melting.  Which, in the case of this product, occurs near 58 degrees Celsius.  Which should not be hard to reach at all.  the most important thing when using liquid metal products is to properly degrease the surfaces - otherwise contaminants can interfere with the wetting process.

[Dabombinable]

1 hour ago, ThomasD said:

Ok, thanks, now I see where you are getting that terminology.  Although, judging from the quality of the translation "melts with just less heating (BurnIn-process)"  I'm not even sure what the Hell they think they are talking about. 

 

 

So yeah, what they are calling 'burn in' is really (as you note) just melting.  Which, in the case of this product, occurs near 58 degrees Celsius.  Which should not be hard to reach at all.  the most important thing when using liquid metal products is to properly degrease the surfaces - otherwise contaminants can interfere with the wetting process.

I do have plenty if methelated spirits if need be. I have been reading some reviews, and apparently the tube "liquid ultra" version goes bad after 12-18 months (temps start increasing), so I might just apply 1 pad after buying them.

[ThomasD]

22 hours ago, Dabombinable said:

I do have plenty if methelated spirits if need be. I have been reading some reviews, and apparently the tube "liquid ultra" version goes bad after 12-18 months (temps start increasing), so I might just apply 1 pad after buying them.

Yeah, I assume the degradation is due to oxidation of one or more of the component metals. 

 

Which is what has kept me from trying the liquid metal products - if the oxides end up adhered to the IHS/heat sink surfaces then the problem can become effectively permanent unless you are willing to abrade the surfaces sufficient to expose fresh metal.