[SOLVED] Does anyone have experience with liquid metal in a laptop?

Kupp1

Prominent
Sep 26, 2020
4
1
515
So i bought some Thermal Grizzly Conductonaut for my laptop because it is hot and loud AF.
I just realized, that when I'm walking to school during winter in -15ºC, the laptop probably gets cooler than 10ºC, which is the minimum recommended temperature for the conductonaut.
Apparently the thermal conductivity of the metal decreases a lot at that temperature, but I was wondering if anything else happens to it, and if it's bad that it freezes twice a day for a few months.
 
Solution
I wouldnt use LM on a laptop, with it being moved around all the time there is to much at risk of the LM going somewhere its not meant to be. You also need to see what the heatsink is made out of as LM does not do well with aluminum.

Like Eximo says you should change out the LM yearly but my 8700k has been under Thermal Grizzly Conductonaut for over 2 years without a change and temps have not changed as well.

If your worried about low temps you can always look at Kingpin KPx thermal paste which is used by most overclockers using LN2.

Eximo

Titan
Ambassador
Well, unless you are exposing the laptop directly to the elements, it isn't likely for the temperature to drop that rapidly. It carries quite a bit of thermal mass so short trips inside of a backpack shouldn't be an issue.

The thermal conductivity at ambient isn't super important, once the computer is on the liquid metal will no longer be at ambient and be a liquid again.

Thermal expansion and contraction is one of the more damaging things that happens to computer components over time. I imagine it isn't super great to have the metal phase change constantly. Liquid metal is not really a great thermal compound, it should be regularly replaced, at least annually.

(People certainly leave it longer than that though)
 
I wouldnt use LM on a laptop, with it being moved around all the time there is to much at risk of the LM going somewhere its not meant to be. You also need to see what the heatsink is made out of as LM does not do well with aluminum.

Like Eximo says you should change out the LM yearly but my 8700k has been under Thermal Grizzly Conductonaut for over 2 years without a change and temps have not changed as well.

If your worried about low temps you can always look at Kingpin KPx thermal paste which is used by most overclockers using LN2.
 
Solution

Kupp1

Prominent
Sep 26, 2020
4
1
515
Well, unless you are exposing the laptop directly to the elements, it isn't likely for the temperature to drop that rapidly. It carries quite a bit of thermal mass so short trips inside of a backpack shouldn't be an issue.

The thermal conductivity at ambient isn't super important, once the computer is on the liquid metal will no longer be at ambient and be a liquid again.

Thermal expansion and contraction is one of the more damaging things that happens to computer components over time. I imagine it isn't super great to have the metal phase change constantly. Liquid metal is not really a great thermal compound, it should be regularly replaced, at least annually.

(People certainly leave it longer than that though)
Thermal expansion/contraction is exactly what i'm afraid of. After taking the laptop out of my bag, it definitely feels cool to the touch. Not quite sure if it gets down to 10 degrees though.
If I decide to use it, i will definitely replace it at some point.
 

Kupp1

Prominent
Sep 26, 2020
4
1
515
I wouldnt use LM on a laptop, with it being moved around all the time there is to much at risk of the LM going somewhere its not meant to be. You also need to see what the heatsink is made out of as LM does not do well with aluminum.

Like Eximo says you should change out the LM yearly but my 8700k has been under Thermal Grizzly Conductonaut for over 2 years without a change and temps have not changed as well.

If your worried about low temps you can always look at Kingpin KPx thermal paste which is used by most overclockers using LN2.
If i apply it i will use conformal coating and electrical tape on the pcb so even if it goes on it, it shouldn't kill anything.
Also i swapped the thermal paste to Noctua NH-T1 and it didn't change anything so i doubt the kingpin paste will help much.