Difference of Thermaal grease and liquid metal
Thermal grease is currently the most commonly used thermal material, especially for CPUs. When purchasing heat sinks, silicon grease is usually included. There is a misconception that the more you apply, the better the thermal performance. The role of silicone grease is to make the heat sink base and CPU top cover more snug, because there are many invisible gaps between the heat sink base and CPU top cover. So, while ensuring that the gaps between the CPU top cover and heat sink can be filled, the thinner the thermal conductive silicone layer, the better. Its primary purpose is to fill gaps, so the more you apply, the better the effect. Sometimes, applying too much can even have the opposite effect.
Besides the heatsink itself, thermal grease can also be purchased separately. Novice users can easily evaluate the performance of silicone grease by checking its thermal conductivity (in W/m? K). This coefficient describes the heat conduction capacity per unit area, thickness, and temperature difference under steady-state conditions. The larger the coefficient, the better the thermal cooling effect.
The biggest difference between liquid metal cooling agents and silicone grease lies in their material. Liquid metal is made of liquid metal, and its thermal conductivity is usually better. However, although liquid metal has better thermal conductivity, its popularity is far inferior to that of silicone grease, mainly due to its strong permeability. It will gradually penetrate into the CPU casing and heat sink, although it will not damage the CPU chip, it may make the CPU label blurry, which is a problem for users who plan to sell it second-hand. In addition, the application of liquid metal also has certain difficulty and attention. Excessive use and overflow may cause damage to the motherboard, especially in laptops, which are easy to flow out when picked up under high loads and high temperatures.
Currently, there are relatively few products that use liquid metal for heat dissipation. In the past, most CPUs used thermal grease technology, so some users would choose to replace the liquid metal to improve CPU performance. However, most processors nowadays use brazing heat dissipation technology, and the effect of opening the cover to change the liquid metal is limited and the risk is high, which is likely to damage the CPU and is not recommended for general users.
