I put Coollaboratory's Liquid Ultra on my GTX 680 FTW

S

skadebo

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Feb 27, 2005
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Just wanted to give everyone my experience in case someone wants to try.

On the one hand, load temps did not drop, I reached 79 degrees as before which was disappointing. However, I realized that my fan was quieter than before. Sure enough, the fan was going to around 55% as opposed to 70%. If I manually bump up the fan speed to 65% (which to me is right on the threshold of being too loud) my temps go to around 69 to 71 C which allows for full boost clocks. Previously I would throttle to 1124 mhz in unigine but now I get the full 1150.

I know this isn't scientific as I thought that the fan speed would just ramp up like it normally does but it appears the card will select a lower fan speed while allowing the card to get up to 80C which is silly IMO.
 
Its good stuff but not good enough to justify its cost. There just isn't much to be gained from switching between any high end TIM unless you just feel like spending money for the hell of it. Its certainly not like going from a slice of cheese to Arctic Cooling MX.
 
it is a liquid metal of some sort, however that being said, if the metal isn't perfectly flat then I don't see it being any better then a decent TIM with a nice layering as you ensure without a doubt there is no air being trapped and you rely on the qualities of the TIM-heatspreader-flux-die. I suppose that is the direct issue not a proper layer=not proper results, that and you can clean TIM off if need be :p
 
dragonstongue said:
it is a liquid metal of some sort, however that being said, if the metal isn't perfectly flat then I don't see it being any better then a decent TIM with a nice layering as you ensure without a doubt there is no air being trapped and you rely on the qualities of the TIM-heatspreader-flux-die. I suppose that is the direct issue not a proper layer=not proper results, that and you can clean TIM off if need be :p
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are you listening to yourself?

liquid

metal

I know of only two metals that are liquid at room temperature, mercury and gallium, they claim the stuff is 100% metal

this stuff scares me
 
jojo69 said:
are you listening to yourself?

liquid

metal

I know of only two metals that are liquid at room temperature, mercury and gallium, they claim the stuff is 100% metal

this stuff scares me
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It's an alloy of gallium, indium, rhodium, silver, zinc, and stannous.

MSDS: http://www.coollaboratory.com/pdf/safetydatasheet_liquid_pro_englisch.pdf

I wouldn't be too worried about it since it's not mercury, as long as you don't plan on drinking/eating it.

I have to say it's a pretty odd MSDS:

Effects at humans:
So far as the generally applicable regulations of industrial hygiene were adhered to, any harmful
effect on the health has not become known.
After swallowing: Leaves the body on natural way.
After skin contact: With frequent skin contact skin defatting is possible
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Blkout said:
Its good stuff but not good enough to justify its cost. There just isn't much to be gained from switching between any high end TIM unless you just feel like spending money for the hell of it. Its certainly not like going from a slice of cheese to Arctic Cooling MX.
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For thos of us that want the best possible temperatures, it sure is. I have used Arctic Cooling MX-2, IC Diamond, and the CL LP..The LP was by far the best of the bunch..SonDa5 and many others that have followed in the delidding trend all report the same thing.
 
jojo69 said:
are you listening to yourself?

liquid

metal

I know of only two metals that are liquid at room temperature, mercury and gallium, they claim the stuff is 100% metal

this stuff scares me
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http://www.indium.com/thermal-interface-materials/other/liquid-metal/
http://blogs.indium.com/blog/carol-gowans/indium-gallium
But, combine the two [Gallium, Indium], add a little tin, and the resulting alloys are liquid at, and below, room temperature (8°C to 25°C) and are very effective in conducting or dissipating heat away from temperature sensitive components. They can also conduct heat and/or electricity between metallic and non-metallic surfaces.
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There's a chart at that first link with various liquid metal alloys listed by composition.
 
Kovalen said:
Just don't put it on anything aluminum and its some good stuff.
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Correct, aluminum will corrode into a mushy mess if even a little bit gets on there.

Re: the price, it's actually really good value if you have a proper contact or two flat surfaces because this stuff spreads extremely thin. I used a literal 1/3 grain of rice amount to spread it. Not a fat grain of rice (uncle ben's) either but a thin one.

I previously used this stuff between cpu die and bottom of the IHS for a 11 to 14 degree reduction in load temps compared to MX4.
 
skadebo said:
Correct, aluminum will corrode into a mushy mess if even a little bit gets on there.

Re: the price, it's actually really good value if you have a proper contact or two flat surfaces because this stuff spreads extremely thin. I used a literal 1/3 grain of rice amount to spread it. Not a fat grain of rice (uncle ben's) either but a thin one.

I previously used this stuff between cpu die and bottom of the IHS for a 11 to 14 degree reduction in load temps compared to MX4.
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Is the stuff about it drying nonsense? Also, is it equally effective in water cooling setups or mostly for air cooling with higher deltas?
 
Nice work. As for not worth it; well it's cheaper than adding an aftermarket heatsink :) Phyobia has similar stuff to liquid pro stuff for $6 a syringe.

Not sure I would risk it on my video card though, I heard once it drys it requires lapping to remove. Then again I plan to put it directly on my CPU die so I guess it's not too different.
 
skadebo said:
Correct, aluminum will corrode into a mushy mess if even a little bit gets on there.

Re: the price, it's actually really good value if you have a proper contact or two flat surfaces because this stuff spreads extremely thin. I used a literal 1/3 grain of rice amount to spread it. Not a fat grain of rice (uncle ben's) either but a thin one.

I previously used this stuff between cpu die and bottom of the IHS for a 11 to 14 degree reduction in load temps compared to MX4.
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Is that on your 4770K? Used this between die-->IHS then IHS--> cooler or are you running delidded? I might have to look into this as I'm hitting the thermal limit on my cpu now that I'm trying to push it harder.
 
hmm, if it corrodes aluminum, don't they use aluminum in the dies themselves for some of the fine wiring?
 
dragonstongue said:
hmm, if it corrodes aluminum, don't they use aluminum in the dies themselves for some of the fine wiring?
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That's all sealed.

I think it's funny they said you can drink it, not sure if that's responsible, but I believe it's true you can also drink some pure mercury as the body just wont absorb it and you'll shit it out.
 
Jeremy C said:
Is that on your 4770K? Used this between die-->IHS then IHS--> cooler or are you running delidded? I might have to look into this as I'm hitting the thermal limit on my cpu now that I'm trying to push it harder.
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I initially delidded my 4770K and removed the stock thermal paste and I removed the black glue that cements the IHS to the package. I spread MX4 on the cpu die and then put on the IHS, mounted on mobo, and then my Seidon 240m closed loop water cooler. This netted me maybe a 2 degree reduction in load temps, but probably nothing.

Next I replaced the MX4 that I put between the cpu die and the IHS with liquid ultra. Now I got a 11 to 14 degree reduction in load temp while still using MX4 between the IHS and the cooler's waterblock. So, with my max overclock of 4.5 I was hitting 85 to 89 degrees, I not hit 72 to 74 degrees which is good enough for me.

Cleanup: I haven't had it on long and I don't plan on opening it all up any time soon so I can't say how difficult it is to clean up long term.

However,as has been reported elsewhere, the liquid metal cleans up super easily off of the CPU die, even easier than regular paste. This is because the CPU die is not metal but some other material. It won't stick to the CPU die long term.

If you go to wipe it off the IHS, however, then it smears and really goes into the IHS surface. It looks like it's part of the IHS surface, it's much finer than paint. You can't get it off with paper towels and 99% isopropyl alcohol either. You must take the scouring pad included with the liquid ultra to get it out but even then it's super easy, you barely have to rub it a few times for it to come off. You're not taking much material if at all like you would with lapping. If your surface is rough, however, then the liquid ultra will probably get in deep and you'll psychologically want to lap it to get it all out. Not necessary IMO because if anything it is filling in air gaps that are in the surface anyway.
 
okashira said:
That's all sealed.

I think it's funny they said you can drink it, not sure if that's responsible, but I believe it's true you can also drink some pure mercury as the body just wont absorb it and you'll shit it out.
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Gallium is orders of magnitude safer than mercury, since mercury is definitely classified as toxic while gallium is not considered toxic although data is inconclusive. The thing about mercury is that it's absorbed very slowly. If you were to drink it, if you could guarantee that all of it got out of your body you would most likely be alright. However, if even the smallest bit got stuck on it's way through your body, you're going to be in trouble.
 
Looks like pretty decent results from the CLU. I was thinking about trying that for the TIM on my CPU but I'm not sure I want to deal with the cleanup.
 
well, your basically metal to metal contact between die-IHS if using liquidpro on it, no real difference there when it is fluxed on like they normally do as they(AMD/Intel/Nvidia and so forth)tend to use a very high temperature exchanging flux/flux-less solder as they don't want the parts to cook, well that is until Intel decided to do what that with Ivy/Sandy for some odd reason.

So yeh, metal to metal basically will sure as hell beat TIM to metal to TIM, did you try CL on the IHS cooler side? As if the difference is that much it would be worth it. Copper, Silver, Gold, Diamond, and now a nano-graphite have the highest ability to temp exchange, anything added to the mix might make it easier/safer to use but also ruins its performance, same can be said with glycol, just the right mix it does wonders, to much or to little, and it ruins it, hell water is like that as well :p
 
Blkout said:
Its good stuff but not good enough to justify its cost. There just isn't much to be gained from switching between any high end TIM unless you just feel like spending money for the hell of it. Its certainly not like going from a slice of cheese to Arctic Cooling MX.
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Can't say I agree with this sentiment. It's not like it's going to brake the bank, and you can use it on multiple components to get your money's worth.

I have some CLP and 680s in SLI.. Gonna have to try this because they certainly get loud under load.
 
just changing thermal paste from the crap super thick stuff they tend to use to a nice thin layer of decent TIM drops temps a noticeable amount idle and load, wire management and especially keeping cooler clean will also help a lot.

Also many IHS are aluminum as is the coolers being used so do be careful, not 100% sure might be all metal as they put it, but, a razor thin layer of any decent thermal paste will do the job quite well, and possibly better(depending on formulation)

http://www.overclock.net/t/1358587/best-thermal-paste-2013/10
a couple good points here, CL is best between die and IHS, others would be better choices for IHS to heatsink(probably for making sure no air gets trapped) makes you wonder why Intel and then have not bothered to get a liscence to use this in that fashion if the difference is that much, especially if given can maybe use less burly heatsinks or possibly avoid heat related issues?

Cant wait to see the nano-graphite(carbon nano and they are talking making graphene in a sheet for these type uses) one come out, it supposed to have a better then 10x factor at heat transfer then diamond which is far better then anything else, IC diamond is good, but, it is diamond so they suspend it in some kind of paste so does not show what it really can do, take for example gold or silver leaf they use for artwork, these would be a wicked thermal material, but TIM is easier to install xd.
 
I use IC Diamond for under my IHS and atop, and it works great. With the weather the way it is, I just can't see how 2-3 degrees really matters. there are too many factors... Setting time and ambient temp are the main ones. And, breaking a waterloop to change paste for 3 degrees is a bit much...
 
Warrior said:
I use IC Diamond for under my IHS and atop, and it works great. With the weather the way it is, I just can't see how 2-3 degrees really matters. there are too many factors... Setting time and ambient temp are the main ones. And, breaking a waterloop to change paste for 3 degrees is a bit much...
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Yep.
 
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