I'm starting to consider liquid metal (MSI GE65 Raider 9SF)

My model has the following specs:

- i7 9750H
- RTX 2070
- 32 GB RAM
- 240 Hz screen

I applied Artic MX-4 recently and with most games my CPU temps are ok (70-80ºC) but for some reason Apex Legends specifically, which is by far my most played game, puts my CPU in the 90-95ºC range, I've even seen it briefly go to like 97ºC in MSI afterburner. It's absolutely insane. It's also the only game that makes my CPU drop below 4 GHz (drops to ~3.7 GHz). GPU temperatures have always been fine btw, that's not a problem at all. Also, I have a -120 mV undervolt applied via ThrottleStop.

Sooooo I'm thinking on applying Conductonaut. How dangerous is it really? I take my laptop to class every day, and then I put it on my desk at home and leave it there all day. I've read that LM can leak with movement, is that a thing? Or does that only happen if I put too much?

Should I put electrical tape around the CPU and GPU die? How much?

Another option would be to just switch to Kryonaut, but I'm not sure if that would make a big difference vs MX-4.

I have experience repasting and the process of repasting in itself is not a problemfor me. Liquid metal is new to me, tho.

Oh, and I've also read that not all heatsinks will deal well with liquid metal. So here's a pic of my heatsink. Bonus question, should I replace that stuff on the VRMs with... something? So far I've just ignored it.

 

Does it just spike every so often to 90+ or are you seeing it sit there for some time with high average temps around 90c in HWInfo?

 

It stays at around 90-92ºC with spikes to 95. But only with Apex Legends for some reason. (It's possible other games might do the same and I haven't enountered them yet, but I've played plently of CPU bound games such as Jedi Fallen Order and no other game makes my CPU go nuts like this)

Disabling Turbo fixes it obviously, but playing at 2.6 GHz is just... no, lol

 

Liquid metal + undervolting is the only way to keep any of these 9750H + RTX card machines in check.

 

And do you recommend liquid metal on the CPU and GPU or only the CPU? Like I said, GPU temps have always been perfectly fine on this laptop, it's only CPU temps that are terribad. And I've read that liquid metal can straight up give worse temps on GPUs, but I dunno if that's true?

I mean, in principle I don't see any reason not to apply liquid metal to the GPU if it gives any improvement at all, even if it's marginal. But if it's straight up going to give me worse temps then that's a different story.

 

Its probably because is one of those games where you can pull +200fps.
You should try a thicker paste, since mx4 temps are good the first days, then its crappy again due to uneven heatsink.

 

Hi, thanks but I already ordered liquid metal. I'm waiting for it to arrive now. Will post impressions.

 

This may seem like a strange question, but, have you considered to artificially limit the FPS in Apex Legends to try and reduce the temperatures?

Your laptop won't be able to exceed the display refresh rate anyway (or at least, there would be no point since it would translate to 'wasted frames'... so, why not try and limit your games to say half of your display's refresh rate (100-120 FPS)?

I don't think you will notice much/any difference between 120 and 240 FPS, so why make the GPU work harder when it really doesn't?

Otherwise, instead of using MX-4... I'd recommend using GC Gelid Extreme or Kryonaut (when it comes to non-liquid pastes).
Sure, you can go with liquid metal on the CPU, but I don't know whether if it might be worth it (it might, but you should probably be careful about any potential spillage, in which case, yes I'd use electrical insulating tape on both the CPU and GPU).

A possibly better idea might be to stick to GC or Kryonaut (Kryonaut if I'm not mistaken is slightly better) on both the CPU and GPU, and also, possibly replacing the thermal paste on those sides (presumably for VRM's and VRAM chips) with quality thermal pads of 0.5mm and relatively good thermal conductivity of say 12w/mk (or at least also with GC or Kryonaut)?

 

Frame rates in excess of the refresh rate still reduce input lag, which is something that many players of competitive FPS games care about.

 

Input lag?
Any hw capable of running games at 60FPS and above (and having such refresh rate display) would likely have minimal input lag to begin with, and not something that would matter much even in competitive FPS games.

Anyway, he doesn't have to limit it to 60FPS. Since the OP's display is capable of 240Hz and has 2070, he could just limit the game to half as much (or 100 FPS) and limit the overall strain on hw.
He could at least TRY and see what kind of an effect it has or experiment with different values.

2070 is a capable GPU, but I sincerely doubt it will be able to run EVERY single game out there up to that level of 240 FPS) with even 'High' settings (no use driving the game at max. quality as the differences between high and ultra are minimal to non-existent when it comes to people actually noticing them - sure, if you can drive it at max with more than 60FPS, do it, but if you are going well over 100 FPS, I don't think there's much sense in letting the hw run wild, especially if its reaching critical temperatures).

 

That’s just your opinion. I would link objective tests/measurements, but you don’t seem well-versed in competitive gaming, so I’ll just leave it at that.

 

Sadly that is very much not the case. Stable 60 FPS is the bare minimum where player's performance in competitive first-person shooter games is not outright hampered by hardware, but there is a difference between 120+ FPS and 60, due to further reduction in input lag.

 

Just applied the liquid metal! Only on the CPU because I was too afraid to do the GPU because it has so many metal things around the die and it scared me lol



I'm super happy. CPU temps playing Apex went from 93-95ºC with peaks of 97ºC to 76-77ºC with peaks of 80ºC. Turbo speeds are now a 100% constant 4 GHz during sustained all core loads (with a -120 mV undervolt). I'm glad I applied liquid metal!

 

I just put Silver King Thermalright (79W/m-k) on my alienware 17r1 i7-4910mq

wow...its the good stuff!
I cant get the stress test to push past 80c....time for some OCing

 

@Xharos just curious:
- have you covered the full die in LM? There seem to be open spots around the edges
- have you used a foam dam or other barrier apart from the tape?
- have you applied LM to the heatsink as well?

 

Way to go Mate ! make sure you'd applies stuff call electrical insulation ,like lacquer into PCB ,around the CPU, GPU VRAM or surrounding that area to avoid leaking ( i was neglected the 1st time by not sealed the area with insulation material and applied too much, and it's leaked out ! the laptop was powered up, but black screen, i have to cleaned up, carefully applied insulation, then just barely enough metal for the CPU & GPU dies and heat sinks and it's fine after that ) yes,10 to 15 centigrade cooler, only conductonault can , no other compound beat it. don't listen to other saying like : it will destroyed the heat sink, they don't know what's they're talking ! yes, it will damaging aluminium sink only, not copper ! it the reason i applied LM to all my laptop. temps are lower, cos some laptop in bios : if the temp pass 75 or 80,the fan will ramp up very high, depends on OEM they set up bios ! so the cooler temp : less fan noise, more performance, longevity for components ! off course you're pleased with your laptop after chosen the right compound for your ! not MX4, not gelic, not even IC diamond, i tried every thing ,the best was IC diamond is just 5 degrees cooler, until i tried LM ,i can't find other substitute. enjoys it.

 

Hi but in reality the liquid metal didn't help much your temperatures going down.. But mainly undervolting .. I applied liquid metal on mine ultrabook and there were no much differences ..
I actually put mx-4 back as I was in consideration that liqid metal is too runny and once u apply heatsink it will go away on edges of chip .. and nothing much will stay in the middle ..

 

Youtube is great. I personally would probably never apply something like that to a 2000 laptop. I would feel more comfortable taking it to a professional for like 100$ or something. That is just me though.

 

if your HSF is garbage, liquid metal will not help nearly as much as your HSF will just saturate faster and still hit its dissipation limit...just faster.

liquid metal really shines when inefficiencies of traditional TIM leaves a decent amount of HSF dissipation on the table.

Plus there’s always the possibility of a poor Heatsink fit and/or subpar application job (or both).

 

Shines but that's about it.. And messy to take off the chip...
Trust me nobody gonna use garbage fan every one wants best but in laptops fans sucks as they are thin
Maybe on thick laptops they are bit efficient