lol, not even this can save it from the 10th gen Shintel CPU temps and false TDP. Wonder if they put a "real" 100+W TDP coolers or they cool the fake 35W TDP with a fan being capable of doing only that.

Guessing this is Intel-only, given that it's the only way to keep those things from completely slowing to a crawl after a few seconds. Also guessing this is what they used on the Zephyrus Duo. So this is what Intel has been up to: deals to guarantee that the flagship laptop products use the wildly inefficient Intel solutions in exchange for kickbacks. Using liquid metal TIM isn't that impractical cost-wise, given that they're getting money back from Intel for this.

I mean, you choose a good quality thermal interface for your products. Do you have to call it a secret project?

Isn't liquid metal supposed to be reapplied 1-2 months after first being applied?

Webhiker:

Isn't liquid metal supposed to be reapplied 1-2 months after first being applied?

I'm not sure, but I doubt they'd resort to this if that was the case, even with the Intel kickbacks. A premium product like this going awry after only six months or so could do immense damage to a brand.

I see lots of returns due to failures from leaked liquid metal with these if they launch! Also the heatsinks of laptops are notoriously 'un-flat' so therefore making leaking even more likely, but also making loss of contact over time an issue with the liquid metal drying up due to poor mating of the 2 surfaces. If they can crack those issues and decrease the manufacturing tolerances so the heatsinks fit more precisely, then perhaps this could work....they gotta really tighten up their tolerances though, this is the opposite of cheap, but thankfully also the opposite of crap (which resides with most laptop cooling systems nowadays)!

With liquid metal you do need a wetting period of a few weeks. It's basically priming the surface first before applying the finished product. Same with any TIM, you get better results if you first apply and then remove then re-apply. This method just fills in all the unseen micro pores/scratches first then second coat works better.

Webhiker:

Isn't liquid metal supposed to be reapplied 1-2 months after first being applied?

Only when applied to raw copper heatsinks, since the material will alloy with the copper and get soaked up. Adding more LM after some has been alloyed should prevent dry out down the line. I personally have seen dry out multiple times though only on raw copper cold plates.

Webhiker:

Isn't liquid metal supposed to be reapplied 1-2 months after first being applied?

From my experience no,i used the same liquid metal application for about 3 years on my 6700k ,i had it applied between die and heatspreader and heatspreader and heatsink(was delidded). Had to sand the heatspreader though because it wasn't making good contact,anyway. The liquid metal didn't look much different. There was some blackness like corrosion on the heatsink,but i get that from normal paste as well,nothing serious. I THINK i'm using liquid metal now as well on my current cpu for some time now,can't really remember what thermal compound i used as its been some time since i cleaned my loop. I know i tried using it on GPUs but for some reason PC didn't boot on both tries, i think the GPU heatsink doesn't apply enough pressure for Liquid Metal.

This would be one of those times to say yes to the extended warranty. Liquid metal even if done right(not mixing alloys, enough mounting pressure, etc) can still be problematic in a couple years.

Sounds like a misplaced April 1st joke 😉 Maybe to gauge the reaction.

Is it going to make any difference thermally? Laptop is basically having the same principle as direct die cooling. But it's good because it never dries out if asus uses nickel plated coldplate.

I think it is the right answer for the wrong question, I like the idea of using the best TIM possible, but not because of a product (in this case the CPU) low efficiency, I don't think it will be too much of a problem, Asus can make people go to an authorized service to reapply the liquid metal each year, that plus better tolerances and a nicked plate cooper base it should not be that bad.

Doesn't this stuff contain gallium, and doesn't gallium just "melt" aluminium when it comes into contact with it? Seems like a not great idea.

isnt liquid metal also a form of TIM?

more marketing than real needed...

scoter man1:

Doesn't this stuff contain gallium, and doesn't gallium just "melt" aluminium when it comes into contact with it? Seems like a not great idea.

Yes,yes and its not a great idea only if its used with aluminium. That would be nasty.

So far i only applied it once (HS+copper block) unless i swapped cpus, but usually in use for more than 1y without any problem to remove the block (make sure to twist, not "pull" on the block) or any kind of "drying out". Never seen any leakage, especially when properly applied, its a lot less material than what you usually apply with normal TP, its similar to wetting the surface (HS) with a water like fluid. Especially when using a proper quality cooler/block that's flat and TIM doesnt need to fill a gap.

The difference between the proper amount and a bit too much is extremely subtle and will lead to leakage. Liquid metal will actually change state to liquid at high temperatures, as the name implies. I did burn a mainboard with my i4770k; first time I applied it and I thought it was right. But it wasn't, just a micro drop more than needed. With time and gravity, on a tower, the liquid metal will slowly find it's way downward and will escape the CPU heat spreader. After 7-8 months after POST, zap, system off, board dead. I tried to make a "wall" to contain a possible leakage using a non conductive adhesive tape at the bottom. But it's really challenging with an air cooler, you have to set it up after the cooler is mounted. Did my best but it wasn't enough; these micro drops are incredibly small and they are able to go though infinitely small openings. Had to look with a lens for 40 minutes to find it; but I knew it was there because once I removed the cooler the liquid metal had clearly moved from top to bottom. Enough to be a bit dry on top and a bit more dense on the bottom. I have now a Ryzen 3800x and didn't apply it again; for now I stick to Kryonaut. The only safe way I've seen to apply it is a perfectly fit silicon mask around the heat spreader; it's how HP is applying it in their notebooks. I hope some day Roman "der8auer" will jump in and make a professional grade product 🙂 The 10-20 degrees are just marketing; unless they are comparing it with one of those terrible TIM they still use in cheap notebooks. The real difference from my previous high end TIM was 2-5 degrees; it's amazing cause nothing else can do that but very far from those numbers.

The only way to live these days.... Liquid metal for the win baby!! Have this on my 3900X and 3960X and these bad boys are cold as ICE!.!.! Damn 3960X doesn't pass 50C under massive load! Then again she's under a huge amount of H2O with an EK block...