Kryonaut vs IC Diamond

Which of the two pastes would be better on a gaming laptop?

I was originally thinking Kryonaut, but saw many posts about it having a short lifespan when temperatures get over 80 C (even though the website says it can be used up to 350 C), which will probably be quite common on a gaming laptop. On the other hand, IC Diamond is supposed to have a long life, but scratches the surfaces it’s applied to.

I want a paste that I can leave for at least a year and get consistent performance without it drying out, preferably without damaging my hardware, so which of the two should I get?

Thanks!

 

I'd also like to know this. I'm planning on doing a complete repaste job on my new G703GX. I will document the process as I haven't found any proper guides.

Also, I'd like to know what's the best type of thermal pads to be used on the other components (FETs, PCH, etc.) which need cooling around the mainboard? I'm assuming I won't leave the stock pads there.

 

There is already a thread about thermal pastes and pads: http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...e-recommendations-update-thermal-pads.796820/

 

Conductonaut. Nothing to dry out. Owning both IC and kyro I can assure you that you will probably not notice any real tangible difference, but Conductonaut will.

 

Yes, but that's in a completely different category. It should be compared to other liquid metal options. While it's true that it works better, much more care is needed when applying. It will short out any contacts it touches and if any amount gets on any aluminum (bolts/heatsinks/etc) it will start a reaction and turn them into a brittle mess.

 

Kryonaut = utter crap

Works like a charm when you first apply it, then quickly starts to deteriorate in performance. In my experience with my previous high overclock, I wasn't even to use my laptop without it reaching 90C and thermal throttling after 3 days

See:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/thermal-grizzly-kryonaut.790919/page-10#post-10261106

http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...s-before-i-start.741745/page-65#post-10249996

http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...iquid-metal-paste.812596/page-2#post-10660500

 

Interesting, so liquid metal is still be best long term option, if care is taken when applied...

Too bad not enough people are doing their proper research before jumping in on repasting. This kryonaut thing has great reviews from thousands of buyers on amazon for example... but numbers don't lie, so yeah...

 

ICD, applied and used properly, will not scratch and last for years. LM's by their nature are liquid and as such are subject to those dynamics.

 

I like Kryonaut and don't have any issues with it drying out even after months of use. I do use MX4 on customer machines because the longevity seems to be really great on it.

 

Use ICD over Kryonaut, I've not had much luck with it at all as it starts drying out in less than a week. ICD on the other hand has lasted me months without needing a repaste. With any paste or liquid metal the main thing which determines longevity is how tight your heatsink fits. If you have a well fitted heatsink most pastes will last a while, but with poor fit all pastes will eventually dry out. For poorly fitting heatsinks ICD is probably best as its one of the thickest pastes.

 

I prefer ICD. Especially if there's no "perfect" contact between heatsink and die. Ofcourse LM is best however heatsink and die contact must be perfect. Any air gaps makes it to crystallize which in result you get worse temps than using 1$ no name cheap thermal paste.

 

Isn't this the other way around? I've read that for proper liquid metal application the surface needs to be scuffed up a bit - basically introducing air gaps.

Shiny and really straight surfaces are recommended for the 'classic' paste approach.


Or I am missing something?

 

You need to scuff it so LM would stick to the surface. Otherwise blob of LM will roll around heatsink and you won't be able to apply it.

 

scuff as in a non polished texture, not deep scratches. still flat relatively smooth and even. so a tight fit.

 

Tough call if I want to go LM way or not. I don't have any issues with the procedure, I do have conformal coating (I use it for other electronics applications) so I could protect the area around the CPU/GPU but this just sounds like a great excuse to give Asus to void my warranty. On the other hand, 'classic' thermal paste can be applied easier and leave no traces, but I really don't want to take the thing apart every now and then to reapply...

 

Do it, you wont regret it. Ok, here's where I become the ^)&(* up show maskot.

I had a laptop once where there was a 1.5mm gap between the gpu and heatsink and rather then using a shim, I dumped on LM like it was paste, and the whole thing survived with only a slight bleed off. Kudos to the LM design for not going everwhere. After learning to perfect LM application, I can say that you will not regret it, and in all likelyhood you will never encounter the "airgaps" alleged here and even if you do, LM will still perform far better on the end over any paste. If your interested in the perfecting method of application,.... you know what, just figure it out yourself, you cant go wrong.