Liquid Metal Thermal Paste vs Thermal Paste
Is Liquid Metal Thermal Paste vs Thermal Paste worth it or not.
but if you don’t know what we are talking about let us first define some things: { you can skip to the part you are looking for from the menu first thing in the article, please share if you like}
What is thermal paste?
Thermal conductor Electrical insulator material.
How to apply thermal paste properly?
We need to apply the thermal paste to cover all the areas of the Integrated Heat Spreader (IHS). Which is the area designed to absorb the heat from the component or the IC so it works as a layer between the CPU or the IC and the heatsink.
How to apply thermal paste on a processor?
AMD recommends spreading five dots – four dots in each corner and one in the center
Intel recommends one dot in the center.
Personally, I use the AMD method, we don’t recommend the Intel method due to the thin coverage which affects the life span of the IC.
Note that if you remove the heatsink you would need to clean the unit and the heatsink with isopropyl alcohol.
Best thermal paste brands
What is the structure of Thermal paste?
It includes: Aluminum oxide, boron nitride, zinc oxide, silver, Ceramic, anti-oxidation agents.
Depending on the ratios we can control viscosity and electrical conductivity.
Best thermal characteristics
Viscosity=> Higher is Ideal.
Thermal Conductivity=> Higher is Ideal. W/mK || Watts per meter-Kelvin || Watts per meter square per kelvin per meter.
Density: Lower is Ideal.
Thermal paste vs heat, what is the relation?
Thermal conductivity – much higher in liquid thermal, while the normal thermal paste is about 8.5 W/mK liquid paste is about 71 W/mK.
Characteristics
Liquid metal thermal paste
- Density 6.24 g/cm³.
- Recommended Temperature: 10 °C – 140 °C.
- Operating Temperature: -50° C – 200°C.
- Additional Information: Do not use it with aluminum heat sinks.
Thermal paste
Thermal conductivity: between 4-10W/mK
Is it better using liquid metal than normal paste?
When it comes with thermal conductivity of 8.5W per mK while the liquid metal features a conductivity of 73W per mK which is quite the difference.
So the logical conclusion would be that liquid metal is superior and we should simply abandon thermal paste.
Where to buy liquid metal?
It’s on Amazon for around 12€ which is more expensive than normal thermal paste, but it’s relatively still affordable, so why should not we try it?!
What’s included with liquid metal?
- Pack of thermal liquid
- Two tips for placing the metal and removing it,
- Manual.
- Two q-tips for distributing the metal onto the surface.
- Alcohol pads for cleaning your CPU surface.
- Warning not use liquid metal with aluminum heat sinks.
It has Gallium “Which is a chemical element used primarily in electronic circuits, semiconductors and light-emitting diodes (LEDs).”
It reacts with some metals to produce an alloy which would not conduct heat.
The good news is that the liquid metal does not react with the exposed metal part of MOSFETs or other power switches and of course CPU.
That means the usage in power supplies is possible if we would replace the aluminum heat-sink in them.
Worth to mention that it sticks which allow you vertical mounting position.
Liquid Metal Thermal Paste vs Thermal Paste is it worth it?
Should we change to it or not?
Let me tell you my personal opinion, No I would not change to liquid metal, I would prefer using normal thermal paste and let me tell you why.
- First it reacts, Gallium reacts which would cause pitting on your hardware with long time of usage.
- The temperature difference between it and normal thermal paste is not that much.
- It’s hard to apply, if you apply too much it could short your board because it’s electrical conductive.
Of course it can suits some specific applications but for normal applications I would prefer normal thermal paste
If you tried it please let me know in a comment
till next time
