Liquid Metal on the 9900k IHS AREA51m

[i.bakar]

yesterday i tried conductonaut liquid metal between the IHS and the heatsink of the area51m. 

 

temps were ok when it booted between 40 and 52 degrees C , however once i started the stress test, it spiked to 95 then 100 in a few seconds which is not the normal behaviour i see with KPX thermal paste (spikes to 70s the goes up gradually from there ) 

 

so this means to me that the liquid metal doesn't have a good contact between the IHS and the heatsink. but i added a suitable amount of it and my temps are stable with the KPX thermal paste...

 

unfortunately i didn't take any pictures. 

 

i am trying to rack my brain what else could be the issue,  any idea what could be the cause, could it be that there is a gap between the IHS and the heatsink but it only shows with liquid metal because it is too thin ?

[crz]

@i.bakar Most likely, you really have insufficient contact of the radiator to the IHS, which leads to high temperatures under load. Also make sure that you apply liquid metal to both surfaces after degreasing them as much as possible, otherwise it will definitely not give the desired result, it must be carefully rubbed on each side.

[i.bakar]

On 6/5/2024 at 6:09 PM, crz said:

@i.bakar Most likely, you really have insufficient contact of the radiator to the IHS, which leads to high temperatures under load. Also make sure that you apply liquid metal to both surfaces after degreasing them as much as possible, otherwise it will definitely not give the desired result, it must be carefully rubbed on each side.

thanks for the reply @crz  both side has been degreased and the liquid metal applied correctly - as i did in the past application on my other laptops ... 

 

by radiator i suspect you mean the heat sink .

 

however i reapplied the liquid metal a week ago and the temps are much better since , i used - as far as i can tell from the photos i took the first time - same amount as the last time i found that the old one dried out so you might be correct about the quantity ... also i suspect that most of the liquid metal migrated to the copper heatsink which left the area dry. so in summary i think to  apply liquid metal to laptop for the first time -to that laptop- i need to add extra more because of migration issue... BUT it is too dangerous to use excessive amount. so the best way is to apply one time then wait a month until it dries then apply again... 

 

which to be honest too much hassle specially  since the honeywell PTM7950 pad gives almost 99% of the times the same performance as liquid metal with much less risk 

 

so i might try the honeywell and see. 

[crz]

@i.bakar you are welcome. I assume that your positive changes are due to the fact that the liquid metal began to have better adhesion on the heat sink side over time and this is a very important thing in this case, it is quite difficult to apply since it sticks to the surface poorly and many people even suggest slightly scratching the surface for better contact. If you just apply it without trying to rub it into both surfaces, it won't work the best way.

 

You definitely need to be extremely careful not to get on the electronic components and not damage the device.