Conductonaut on laptops

[D13H4RD]

I reckon many of you have seen Linus’ video on the Thermal Grizzly Conductonaut thermal compound, which is a liquid metal compound that is popular with those delidding their desktop Intel CPUs as it promises better heat transfer and lower temperatures than the stock solution, sometimes drastically so.

 

In that video, the Acer PREDATOR Triton 700 had an up-to 20 degree drop in peak CPU temperatures, and also allowed its GPU to be overclocked up to desktop levels.

 

So cool beans, eh? If you have a laptop known to run very warm like the ASUS GL502/503VS line, MSI GS63/73, GE63/73 w/ GTX 1070, Razer Blade and a few others, Conductonaut might be a great solution. However, not all is Hunky Dory. 

 

Liquid metal can do wonders for thermal efficiency, but it also has to be applied in a specific proper manner. Of course, all forms of thermal compound has to be applied in a proper manner to ensure best performance but it's especially true for liquid metal, as because it is metal and as such, electrically conductive, if it seeps out or lands onto parts of the mainboard circuits, it may result in a short circuit, and can render the laptop damaged beyond economically repair. 

 

It's not THAT scary, but also not something that you would want to do if you're inexperienced. Personally, I would suggest practicing on something that is not worth anything. Maybe get an old laptop board and do some practice. And read up while watching on guides for proper liquid metal application. If you're really unsure, you can have a professional do it, though they can charge quite a bit. 

 

If you do though, and if it's done properly, your laptop should run quite a bit cooler and maintain turbo clocks without issue and as a bonus, fan noise may be reduced as well. 

 

[Guest]

Don't forget the chemical reaction that it has with aluminum. That would not be a fun experience (Unless your destructive of course)

Edit:

Spoiler

 

 

Edited March 6, 2018 by Guest

[WereCat]

1 minute ago, tjcater said:

Don't forget the chemical reaction that it has with aluminum. That would not be a fun experience (Unless your destructive of course)

Not just with aluminium but with solder as well. You may cause an accidental spill on other parts and clean it without causing any short, but some small traces of the LM may be enough to eat the solder away and parts will start to fall out from the PCB.

[D13H4RD]

Yeah, LM is risky especially for newbies. 

[Superpotions]

I just applied Conductonaut on my MSi GS63VR. my results were around 11-13c lower than the stock paste

album of my process: https://imgur.com/a/SYO1s

[D13H4RD]

34 minutes ago, Superpotions said:

I just applied Conductonaut on my MSi GS63VR. my results were around 11-13c lower than the stock paste

album of my process: https://imgur.com/a/SYO1s

Solid improvement. 

 

I reckon I could make my GL502 run a little better with it. It doesn't throttle per se in gaming loads, but I'd like to make it a tad quieter.

[InertiaSelling]

Don't forget that, unlike thermal paste, LM is liquid. It is not suited for a laptop that gets moved around a lot, it could very well leak over time and stop making contact or even damage something. I don't understand why nobody ever warns about this. Yes, it's conductive and corrosive, but that wouldn't be an issue if it would stay where one puts it.

[MyckZz]

On 3/6/2018 at 4:17 PM, D13H4RD2L1V3 said:

Solid improvement. 

 

I reckon I could make my GL502 run a little better with it. It doesn't throttle per se in gaming loads, but I'd like to make it a tad quieter.

did you use it on your GL502 laptop? whats the result

[warrentheo79]

On 3/7/2018 at 3:06 AM, InertiaSelling said:

Don't forget that, unlike thermal paste, LM is liquid. It is not suited for a laptop that gets moved around a lot, it could very well leak over time and stop making contact or even damage something. I don't understand why nobody ever warns about this. Yes, it's conductive and corrosive, but that wouldn't be an issue if it would stay where one puts it.

The reason is that while that is true, you have to have enough extra there to make a droplet of it when it squeezes out (surface tension is a thing)...  If instead you follow the installation instructions that doesn't happen, so it really isn't a thing...

 

I think the real question however is how much of a difference is there between the relative ease and safety of kryonaut vs the real potential danger of conductonaut...  kryonaut is safe enough that is is even offered on the order page for my laptop (for 50$, but at least it is there) Is the potential benefit enough to go DIY on your warranty?  With kryonaut being safe enough that it is even offered by some OEM's, the fact that it should not be able to void the warranty is a bigger pusher of this issue for me...

[Imglidinhere]

On 3/6/2018 at 2:30 AM, D13H4RD said:

Yeah, LM is risky especially for newbies. 

No, it's risky for daily operation. It doesn't solidify, so it's always running a risk of leaking. High end pastes dry up, yeah, but they're infinitely safer since none of them are conductive. Even experienced peoples say to not bother with LM. It's not worth the chance of destroying your product.