Question Is liquid metal worth it over normal thermal paste?

[Finn_]

I was just wondering how much of an advantage liquid metal would be if use it instead of "normal" thermal paste, because in computers it can make differences of 10° Celsius or even higher, if the stock thermal paste thats between the die and the heatspreader is replaced.
Obviously it wouldn´t be that big of an difference since in PC´s there are much higher temperatures.
The disadvantige of liquid metal is that can cause short circuits if too much is used and it gets onto a pcb.
But the the mainboard could be protected with insulating tape or clear nail polish. But its pretty unpractical to do it with nail polish because if you want to solder something to it you need to remove it with alkohol, so it´s only practical on portables that are really finished.
Has anyone ever compared the difference between liquid metal and a high quality thermal paste? If yes is it really worth it and have you experience short circutes with it.
Sorry for the bad spelling because my computer isn´t set to english so everything is marked as false.

 

[wudopecker]

Haven't seen anyone test it before here, but I'm not seeing the point of it when people use a small heatsink + 35mm fan with normal thermal paste which works fine. If temps would be an issue I don't think we would use such small heatsinks + fans

 

[SuperSaiyanBird]

Honestly I wouldn't risk it if I were you. Like @wudopecker said, a small heatsink + 35mm fan with normal thermal paste which works just fine. I'm no expert and still learning but if it has a chance to cause short circuits I wouldn't take that risk at all and there is another option which is more practiced and more known.

 

[Stitches]

AFAIK the Wii doesn't thermal throttle to any notable degree, so increasing thermal efficiency wouldn't really increase function. Erganomically is a different story. Better cooling would reduce how warm the case gets during operation, which could be desireable for some. However, I don't personally think liquid metal on a Wii die is worth the effort.

 

[Wesk]

Another issue would be if the Wii IHS is zinc coated or not. Liquid metal contains Gallium which absolutely destroys Aluminium.

 

[Stitches]

Another issue would be if the Wii IHS is zinc coated or not. Liquid metal contains Gallium which absolutely destroys Aluminium.

Thats a very good point, I assumed he'd delid both dies and put the metal on directly. I think the Wii IHS is just plain aluminium, because I've had a few with some white oxidisation/tarnish typical of aluminium, and IIRC zinc tarnishes a yellowy-orange or black colour.