Replacing Liquid Metal on an Asus Zephyrus G15's CPU
flemesre.github.io
flemesre.github.io
Also, it's slightly odd to see the prominent country of origin markings on the CPU --- I've not seen recent Intels marked in the same way.
Worse, this is what happens when a small amount of gallium contacts aluminum.[1]
Also there's a slim chance that your employer will issue you a gaming laptop containing Liquid Metal as a work laptop in the first place.
I would also be worried if you did manage to effect it with some crazy strong million dollar electromagnet, you might cause it to wet to material you don't want it on and make it even more difficult to remove, but maybe that wouldn't happen.
Im my limited experience putting it on my computer, it is fairly difficult to get it to wet to a surface, so any extra stays beaded up like mercury and can be kind of moved around and brushed away with a cotton swab without too much trouble. But once it is wetted to a surface it would be fairly difficult and labor intensive to completely remove unless it is a mirror finish because it will want to stay trapped in the very bottom of even the tiniest little sanding scratches or machining marks.
If you do end up attempting it removing the LM is easier with a syringe that can suction the larger blobs away. Could even just try to reapply the same LM you removed if it's just a pumpout issue
Rough timeline for my laptop was:
14 months in, manually under-clocked discrete GPU to prevent thermal shutdowns
20 months in, complete cooling failure on GPU, replaced liquid metal with PTM7950
I'm confused, are we reusing it or dissolving it off with alcohol?
I always get rid of the old, dry gunk and apply fresh.
This article also inspired me to order a Honeywell PTM7950 thermal pad for next time I need thermal paste. Research shows it's just as good or better than Arctic Silver.. worth a shot, especially if it'll dry out less quickly.
The only downside appears to be they're thermally conductive.
I sure hope that the thermal pads are thermally conductive :-)
I adore graphite thermal pads for desktops.
I will never attempt to use graphite thermal pads in a laptop again.
Non-mac laptops.. seem mostly sketchy these days.
If you know of exceptions please do chime in.
Where else are you getting $800 laptops with Nvidia 6gb vram?
I've been using them for 1 decade for professional, personal, and gaming purposes. I only have added RAM/SSDs and changed batteries over the last 10 years.
I wonder why they aren't so widespread. I imagine its a marketing thing, they just don't have the connections to US big business/schools like leveno/apple/hp does.
I had to use modern linux (Fedora).
Worked out great. Previously I had been on Debain family distros like Ubuntu and Mint. I had no idea those were so outdated/crappy until I tried Fedora.
Now I'm a complete Fedora convert. Fedora is sooo nice.
I used to think Linux was kind of a cheap crappy knockoff OS. Nope, just Debain-family distros.
After using Fedora, I continue to feel like I'm in the year 2030. I genuinely feel bad for Windows users because they havent tried something as nice as Fedora.
The one in this article is actually a Quanta NJP.
I had a Asus ROG Zephyrus G15, and I'd rank it as one of the worst laptops I've ever owned (edit: don't even think it was that cheap). Including the awesome "feature" that it can't be run in clamshell mode, otherwise it will overheat and shut down. That took a while to debug.
I also know of at least 2 other people who were not happy with the thermal performance. They were able to mod it, which is cool (pun intended), but it's disappointing that's even necessary.
I don't know where I'd even start. I've bought several that had excellent reviews, yet didn't work.
But I guess that would fit in with "doesn't have a decent GPU". I didn't get it as a gaming PC. If I do game on it, I'm doing cloud gaming/Parsec streaming.
I've upgraded the RAM, the storage, and the WiFi (Intel 6E adapter, better cloud gaming) on it. It survived being left out on the patio table in a major rain storm. I don't know what I'll get to replace it when it finally dies, but I can't imagine I'll find anything with nearly the level of value I got out of this machine.
Now I love the laptop but it's still not my favorite. I really prefer 11 to 14in laptops and I'd love a Lenovo T14 AMD in the A285 package. oh well. I absolutely do not trust liquid metal to last either. foam surrounds keep the metal in place and if you've ever opened anything somewhat old that has foam...well it just turns to goopy dust.
That said, it's a reasonably priced gaming laptop for travel and you can definitely do worse.
2021 G15 (GA503QM), 3⅓ years old: the keyboard is a little less mushy than other laptops I’ve had by a similar age—HP 6710b, some Clevo thing (its keyboard was atrocious in well under two years, with Space and A particularly badly functionally affected too), and Surface Book. Left Arrow key become unreliable earlier this year, requiring significant extra pressure sometimes, or already pressing down another key (e.g. press LCtrl at the same time and it was completely fine, which is telling of the nature of the fault), and now almost never works. E has also been just a tiny bit unreliable at times, as far as its activation point is concerned, but all of my keyboards have had at least one or two issues like that within three years. For reference, I use my laptops extremely heavily (often been >10h and I don’t know how many thousand words per day), and don’t take the greatest care of them either, though significantly better than some people I’ve seen. I have little doubt I’d be in the top 0.01% for laptop keyboard wear.
It was frustrating, because I really wanted to like it. That laptop got returned towards the end of its return window and replaced with a combination of a ThinkPad Nano and custom built gaming desktop, which have both served me far better for their respective uses.
Desktop hardware I've had better luck with, but between my own experience and the multitude of reports online about warranty issues people have faced with other products, I can't in good faith recommend them to people.
I have been using already for many years a Dell Precision 15" mobile workstation laptop, which does not have any overheating issues.
In steady state, i.e. for an indefinite time, its Xeon CPU can dissipate 60 W without overheating and with an only audible, but not annoying, fan noise (the CPU is configured for a 60 W power limit, even if its nominal TDP is 45 W). The NVIDIA Quadro GPU must be able to dissipate simultaneously more than the CPU, perhaps 75 W or 90 W, but I do not know how the GPU power limit has been configured.
This laptop is rather thick and heavy, but not enough to bother me when carrying it in a backpack, and it has perfect Linux support. I do not know if the current Dell Precision mobile workstations have retained a so good quality as mine (which is the 2016 top 15" model).
While a thick and heavy laptop can provide good cooling, such mobile workstations or gaming laptops are quite overpriced. For a computer that must be carried in a backpack or briefcase, but which is intended to be used only plugged in the mains electricity supply, it is possible to achieve better cooling, higher performance, a much lower price and also a noticeably lower total weight by replacing a big laptop with a portable monitor, e.g. a 17" one, a compact keyboard and a SFF computer, e.g. a NUC-like computer with a volume between 0.5 L and 1.0 L.
(c) Manufactured articles or apparatuses, each containing not more than 100 mg (0.0035 ounce) of gallium and packaged so that the quantity of gallium per package does not exceed 1 g (0.35 ounce) are not subject to the requirements of this subchapter. For transportation by aircraft, such articles and apparatuses must be transported as cargo and may not be carried onboard an aircraft by passengers or crewmembers in carry-on baggage, checked baggage, or on their person unless specifically excepted by § 175.10.
I don't know how much gallium TIM they put in these laptops but I do wonder if there is a legal risk from carrying one onboard.
However it's extremely improbable any amount of gallium would be able to escape the devices enclosure much less make it past the furnishings to the actual aircraft structure. Much less an amount likely to cause problems.
My advice is to not mention it.
when it leaks onto another component it is guaranteed to bridge connections- probably leading to shorts.
I get that it's more efficient at moving heat, but I cannot a worse place for liquid metal than a laptop.