News TikToker Improves CPU Cooling by Adding Salt to Thermal Paste

[Admin]

An enthusiast with the handle @mryeester found that salt can lower CPU temps by 2 to 3 degrees.

TikToker Improves CPU Cooling by Adding Salt to Thermal Paste : Read more

 

[husker]

Maybe the makers of thermal paste already know this. Maybe they also know that salt can be corrosive over time.

 

[Eximo]

Would need repeated tests to be certain, that could have just been variance in mounting or test conditions. And we don't know what the salt would do long term to the thermal compound.

Most organic compounds will perform worse. Just the nature of CHNO molecules.

 

[targetdrone]

Take everything from tick tok with a grain of salt and a teaspoon of NyQuil

 

[-Fran-]

I mean... No need to go too far:

https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/thermal-paste-performance-benchmark,3616-16.html

All in the name of science, obviously.

Regards.

 

[DRagor]

Next time let's try using sugar.

No, not that kind of sugar.

 

[BX4096]

The lengths people will go to get their 15 minutes of fame...

 

[Eximo]

You know, the new Ryzen IHS are probably thick enough for a tiny vapor chamber to take their place...

 

[TechieTwo]

For those who do not know - TIM is only intended to fill in the minute surface imperfections between the heatsink and CPU IHS. Nothing is better than 100% contact of the heatsink to the CPU IHS. Since 100% contact of the two surfaces is impossible the absolute thinnest amount of TIM produces the best heat transfer. If the TIM is more than a translucent film you have too thick a layer or very warped contact surfaces. Less TIM is always better as long as you have full surface contact between the IHS and heatsink.

 

[alceryes]

I don't see how this is possible. Thermal conductivity of salt compounds is already known and documented. The compounds don't come near the conductivity of good thermal paste.
He probably didn't have good contact between the CPU and heatsink, originally.

 

[Discount Bassy]

Cool Ranch Dorito powder has promise. Maybe just wait until food is flavored with thermal paste...

 

[InvalidError]

Nothing is better than 100% contact of the heatsink to the CPU IHS.

If you covered the IHS with wick material to become the hot side of a vapor chamber, I'm pretty sure the ~10% contact of the vapor chamber through pillars to allow condensate on the "cold" side to return via capillary action would outperform direct contact by a pretty good margin - that's why GPUs use a vapor chambers to make contact with the GPU die instead of solid copper.

I don't see how this is possible. Thermal conductivity of salt compounds is already known and documented. The compounds don't come near the conductivity of good thermal paste.

Salt is only about 6W/mK, much worse than most generic ZnO/Al2O3 pastes at 10-14W/mK. And you don't need to worry about corrosion with zinc/aluminum pastes which are practically inert and non-conductive. I don't see how salt is supposed to help either.

 

[USAFRet]

Please don't let this become a 'thing', like baking a faulty GPU.

 

[SethNW]

Problem with salt likely is that it is corrosive. Plus I am not sure if it even is more thermally conductive.

Also for liquid metal, you really do have to commit to it. Mixing it with paste won't work. Also I would put my money on him forgetting that liquid metal needst to be spread on both sides, heatspreader or die, in case it is delided, and also cooler, because it is actually really bad at connecting or bonding with other materials. You can't just plop drop in the middle like thermal paste. Also to protect components around it you can use nail polish to create non-conductive layer on components around CPU. Also to prevent leaks you need to apply just right amount. Though having paste around, it likely would squish it away anyway, but at least liquid metal would have some kind of chance.

 

[kep55]

An enthusiast with the handle @mryeester found that salt can lower CPU temps by 2 to 3 degrees.

TikToker Improves CPU Cooling by Adding Salt to Thermal Paste : Read more

Any cook will tell you salt will raise the boiling point of water. Any property manager can tell you salt will lower the freezing temp of water. As will adding pretty much any solid to water. All he did was apply well known basic physics to a different fluid. And risked destroying his computer at the same time.

 

[bit_user]

You know, the new Ryzen IHS are probably thick enough for a tiny vapor chamber to take their place...

I really wonder if there's some way to do this so the bottom of the vapor chamber is formed by the substrate and dies. Perhaps the dies would have to be coated in some kind of epoxy with capillaries somehow etched in.

 

[bit_user]

The idea of using salt crystals to transmit heat reminds me there are some TIM compounds that claim to contain powdered diamonds (certainly synthetic).

 

[InvalidError]

The idea of using salt crystals to transmit heat reminds me there are some TIM compounds that claim to contain powdered diamonds (certainly synthetic).

Diamonds have extremely good heat conductivity at ~2000W/mK, 2.5X better than electroplated pure solid copper. They are a logical filler option for high-performance thermal pastes where electrical conductivity is not a problem and practically all thermal pastes are nothing more than a colloidal suspension of micron-sized particles in a base oil for ease of application.

Not sure why you think diamonds would need to be synthetic though, both should work equally well as long as there aren't large clumps of impurities mixed in and diamonds that don't make the gemstone grade are pretty cheap. You can buy 200 grams (100 carats) of micron-sized (literally 0.5-2um) diamond dust for $50 retail.

Edit: found prices for natural vs synthetic dust and it turns out natural dust costs about twice as much. Might as well stick to the more consistently pure synthetic stuff.

 

[KaihatsuJai]

Maybe the makers of thermal paste already know this. Maybe they also know that salt can be corrosive over time.

The material used for IHS are nickel-plated copper.
Nickel plating salts are used in the nickel plating process.

 

[The Historical Fidelity]

Pretty sure you are risking electrical conductivity by mixing salt to the thermal paste

 

[InvalidError]

Pretty sure you are risking electrical conductivity by mixing salt to the thermal paste

Thermal paste is usually just silicone oil with thermally conductive fillers. Without water to dissolve the salt and allow it to form ions, nothing should happen to oil-waterproofed salt. Whatever moisture may be in or near the paste won't last long when the CPU is at 50+C case temperature.

 

[The Historical Fidelity]

Thermal paste is usually just silicone oil with thermally conductive fillers. Without water to dissolve the salt and allow it to form ions, nothing should happen to oil-waterproofed salt. Whatever moisture may be in or near the paste won't last long when the CPU is at 50+C case temperature.

I completely agree, but I’m thinking condensation during low cpu temp with high gpu temp scenarios in high humidity environments. With the GPU heating the air inside the case, and let’s say a water cooler where colder outside air is used to cool the radiator, the cpu cold plate becomes the coldest part inside the PC which is all the conditions necessary for condensation to form. It’s a long shot which is why I said “risk”. It could be a risk depending on use case and environmental conditions.

 

[SyCoREAPER]

Why are you endorsing stupidity like this by reposting it?

Salt is corrosive and maybe, just maybe, thermal paste engineers who do this for a living don't add plain old Salt for a reason.

 

[InvalidError]

I completely agree, but I’m thinking condensation during low cpu temp with high gpu temp scenarios in high humidity environments. With the GPU heating the air inside the case, and let’s say a water cooler where colder outside air is used to cool the radiator, the cpu cold plate becomes the coldest part inside the PC which is all the conditions necessary for condensation to form. It’s a long shot which is why I said “risk”. It could be a risk depending on use case and environmental conditions.

To have condensation, your "coldest point" needs to be colder than the dew point in order to be able to absorb the heat released by the vapor-to-liquid phase transition. You basically cannot have condensation on a heat source, only a heat sink. Since practically everything inside a PC is releasing heat, everything will be warmer than ambient and condensation will be impossible.

Unless by "outside" you actually meant OUTDOORS in weather colder than the dew point for your indoor air.

 

[The Historical Fidelity]

To have condensation, your "coldest point" needs to be colder than the dew point in order to be able to absorb the heat released by the vapor-to-liquid phase transition. You basically cannot have condensation on a heat source, only a heat sink. Since practically everything inside a PC is releasing heat, everything will be warmer than ambient and condensation will be impossible.

Unless by "outside" you actually meant OUTDOORS in weather colder than the dew point for your indoor air.

Again agree with everything you said, and yes, people in colder regions place their radiators outside. Like I said “certain use cases and environmental conditions”. I do appreciate the refresher course on HVAC science though 😉