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| Roger (3) |
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08-05-2012
 Know what you are getting
These SATA connectors are the "punchdown" type which means they require a tool to press the wire into the connector which automatically strips the insulation and makes a gas-tight connection. IF you have the tool, these connectors work wonderfully. If not, one is likely to try to press the wire in with a screwdriver or other makeshift tool and end up breaking wires, pins or both. I heartily recommend these connectors if you have the proper punchdown tool. If not I heartily recommend you stay away from them and use the wire crimp style instead. |
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01-11-2012
 Easy to use and works great!
I had to replace the fan on an NVIDIA video card which of course required removing the heatsink/fan assembly. After the repair, I put a drop of this liquid metal material on the heatsink where it contacts the GPU chip. It "wet" the copper very nicely and with a paper "rod" (a Q-Tip with the end removed), I distributed the liquid metal over the square area that the GPU contacts.
Then I remembered seeing a video somewhere showing that the liquid metal will even wet silicon... so I tried it. I put a tiny bit on the GPU chip itself and it wet nicely (by "wet" I mean like the way solder adheres and flows nicely in a solder joint).
So now the GPU chip and the heatsink were "tinned" with the liquid metal. I put the heatsink back on and put the card back into the PC.
Now the GPU chip temperature runs about 5 to 8 degrees C cooler than it did ever before and (strangely?) the heatsink itself feels WARMER than it did before.
I can only assume that this is because the liquid metal TIM material is conducting the heat away from the GPU a LOT better than the old "goop" did and dumping that heat into the heatsink.
In summary... this is GREAT stuff. Super easy to apply and works right away (doesn''t need the "burn-in" process that the "liquid metal pads" need).
Two warnings though:
(1) The liquid metal material will attack aluminum. If you have an aluminum-only heatsink, do NOT use this stuff. If you have a copper and aluminum heatsink, apply the liquid metal to the copper and avoid getting it on the aluminum.
(2) The liquid metal material is electrically conductive, so BE SURE that none drips onto any part of a CPU or GPU chip (or the motherboard) that has circuitry on it as you will create a short circuit and end up needing to buy more parts! :)
Great stuff... both thumbs up! |
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12-04-2011
Metal Pad TIM - My experience
I purchased this product to use as a thermal interface between a boxed Intel CPU and OEM heatsink/fan cooler. I had one heck of a time positioning the thin foil properly and when re-attaching the heatsink, the sheet would move out of place. Removing the heatsink in order to reposition the sheet resulted in the sheet tearing. I went through all three sheets and gave up, sadly going back to my paste goop.
Now the interesting part: I took all of the three ruined sheets and placed them in a cup of hot water and melted them into a little ball of metal about the size of 1/2 a pencil eraser. The following procedure should only be done at your own risk:
I removed the heatsink from the CPU and also removed the fan from the heatsink. I cleaned the copper core of the heatsink with alcohol. When it dried, I warmed the heatsink with a propane torch... only to about maybe 180-190 degrees F - just too hot to touch but not enough to boil water. Then using wire cutters I clipped about 1/3 of the metal ball I made from the old sheets and placed it in the center of the copper core of the heatsink. The metal is very soft - like lead - and it''s very easy to cut. Using a clean Q-Tip, I spread the ball around. It WET the metal the same way that solder does. I carefully spread the metal all over the copper core, then let it cool.
After replacing the fan, I put the heatsink and fan back onto the CPU (which was first cleaned with some alcohol). I left the fan unplugged, turned on the PC and went into the BIOS setup to make the CPU run hot. I carefully watched the temperature climb and suddenly the temperature stopped climbing for a minute and the heatsink got noticeably warmer. I measured the heatsink temperature and shut off the power when it reached 190 degrees F. The metal which I coated the copper core with had melted and made a perfect thermal bond with the CPU. The CPU now runs about 8 to 10 degrees F cooler than it ever did before, which proves that the metal thermal interface DOES indeed work and it works well. Unfortunately, the round-about manner in which I had to apply it may not be suitable for everyone. You may prefer to use the "liquid metal" type thermal material rather than the sheets, because the sheets are as fragile as tissue paper. Keep that in mind when making a choice. |
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