[SOLVED] AMD CPU 3600X or 5600X

Seabass101

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Jan 18, 2016
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Hi, I currently have a Asus Viii Hero WiFi motherboard with a 3600X and will be upgrading to a 5600X.

I want to ask if Thermal Grizzly Conductonaut (Liquid Metal) is safe to use on the IHS only, cooler is Corsair AIO H115i

Thx
 
Solution
Define safe?

Liquid metal TIM often smudges off the labels on the IHS, and can also leave stain marks that look like it corroded part of the IHS or the cooler plate. Supposedly this tarnishing is normal and does not impact performance.

A more serious problem would be applying a little too much and having it leak into the socket. It happens.

That said, it is a pretty good product. I've played around with various liquid metal TIMs including Conductonaut. I noticed a much more drastically improved temperatures by delidding IHS that had paste instead of solder between chip and IHS, than by using liquid metal instead of paste between IHS and HSF. My recommendation is just use something like MX-4.
Define safe?

Liquid metal TIM often smudges off the labels on the IHS, and can also leave stain marks that look like it corroded part of the IHS or the cooler plate. Supposedly this tarnishing is normal and does not impact performance.

A more serious problem would be applying a little too much and having it leak into the socket. It happens.

That said, it is a pretty good product. I've played around with various liquid metal TIMs including Conductonaut. I noticed a much more drastically improved temperatures by delidding IHS that had paste instead of solder between chip and IHS, than by using liquid metal instead of paste between IHS and HSF. My recommendation is just use something like MX-4.
 
Solution
Does it's performance degrade fairly rapidly?

The the risk of contamination and damage to the motherboard alone would keep me from using it.

Not that I noticed compared to typical paste type TIMs. The longest I went between changing liquid metal was about 3 years and that was only because I swapped CPUs, so it might have lasted longer but who knows. What we do know is that the PS5 is going to be using liquid metal TIM with no IHS.