Will placing the Asus ROG G16 laptop in tilt mode cause liquid metal to leak?

[mahdi2]

Hello, I recently bought an ROG Strix G16 G614JV laptop, and I am very particular about using my equipment properly. I have encountered an issue that I couldn't find a clear answer to, and I would appreciate your guidance.

I have several questions:

1- Does liquid metal require a cooling pad or not?

2- Main question: When the laptop is turned on, the liquid metal transitions from a solid to a liquid state. If the laptop is placed flat on a desk, there is no issue.
However, would using the laptop at a 40-45 degree incline cause damage? My concern is that when the liquid metal becomes liquid and the laptop is at an incline, over time or even in the short term, it could cause corrosion to the protective barrier around the liquid metal.
If it leaks onto the motherboard, given its conductivity, could it cause motherboard failure.

Is this information correct?
If so, at what maximum incline should I use my laptop? I usually place it on a stand.
If not, please explain how it works and the logic behind it ؟

@Nate152 
@MoKiChU 
@Bobby_ROG 
@SAFEDISK 
@ElectroStingz 
@gupsterg 
@JohnAb 
@jzchen 

[Kezmark]

Liquid metal is always a liquid, this isn't a thermal pad. It doesn't matter how you place it, it will never leak on to the board.

Nobody needs a cooling pad, liquid metal or not has little to do with it. It will slightly improve thermals, but realistically you won't see much of a difference. Maybe 5 degrees and that is the best case scenario, unless there's something really bad going on with your air-flow. You'll get similar results by just elevating your laptop so there's more space under it for air-flow. You'd likely see more improvement from a good cleaning of all the dust that gathers on the fan and fins.

[mahdi2]

Thank you, so you say that there is no problem with the laptop on the base with a slope ؟

[Kezmark]

No, there's no reason for it. And even if you ignore that, I can tell you that I've always had mine at a tilt as I have the back end raised for better airflow, and it has never been an issue.

The horror stories you might hear about leaking is people adding it to laptops that aren't designed with liquid metal in mind, and not knowing what they are doing, not adding shielding and applying too much. You have nothing to worry about with a factory built liquid metal laptop.

[ElectroStingz]

Hello,

Liquid metal can move but it depends on the circumstances. If any liquid metal based product, laptop, console, GFX card is subject to shock, for example just imagine you drop the laptop, the liquid will move. If the laptop is thrown around during delivery it will also move. Placing the laptop in a bag everyday and walking, running, going for a drive, bus, train, any bumpy ride it will move around.

The above is minimised if the manufacturer provides very little room for the liquid metal to move around so a smaller seal around the CPU die will work better.

Laptop placement is a strange one as it involves more factors to provide a realistic answer.

1) Liquid metal thermal paste is liquid at room temperature and like any other liquid this will change with temperature, so its viscosity will change, thins out the hotter is gets (or becomes more runny).

2) The thermal cycle of the CPU (or wherever it is applied) can cause the liquid to shift during it's transitional state (as the viscosity changes). The CPU die is not a uniform temperature and actually contains various hot spots, usually where the cores lie. For an easy example just consider the out edge of the CPU die is always going to be cooler than the middle of the CPU die. When thermal paste is under pressure from a heatsink and goes through a thermal cycle, the hot spots will cause the thermal paste to thin out in this area which means it will move as a result of heat and eventually as the hot spot cools down it will want to shift back. But if the liquid moved out when it was hotter, the other areas are cooler so it will never shift back as it was. Over time this will lead to a dry spot (liquid metal would have migrated away from the hot spot). < This is more of a long term issue and depends heavily on the CPU die / hotspots / design.

So in consideration to the above, what happens if you place the laptop at an angle or completely vertical? It will want to move not matter what you do but this placement will amplify the movement. < Again this is a long term consideration.

What you need to know is that the seal used in your laptop will not corrode but if you want to maintain the liquid metal placement then keep it as flat as possible and avoid bumps.

[Kezmark]

What are you talking about? It's not going to move. You know how all those desktops these days with lm or phase shifting thermal pads are all horizontal? Oh, right ... they're vertical 100% of the time and nobody has this issue. The liquid metal bonds with itself on the other side and is held by the mounting pressure. It doesn't just move around like crazy. The ****** you find on the sides of the die is cause too much was applied by whatever idiot applied the lm and it got squished out. If it moves then the mounting pressure is bad and you have other issues.

[ElectroStingz]

I'm not actually suggesting any kind of issue with PC's or laptops and simply talking about the properties of thermal material and some of the implications. Also if you look at ASUS's own information on their LM laptops they show and promote an automated process for their liquid metal application. Unless this has changed it is safe to assume it was applied correctly at the factory so any issue cannot be the result of an idiot but other external factors.

- Dropping / shock can cause liquid metal to move this is a very common factor.

- Thermal paste going through a thermal cycle and the implications over time.

Liquid metal doesn't bond to the CPU die or heatsink and the only reason why it remains in place is due to the narrow space and principle of capillary action. It is just like you would place a drop of oil between the CPU and heatsink, it will stay there. Also if you think it actually bonds please consider the reason why there is a seal around the CPU die. This is not there to contain "excessive" liquid metal due to terrible application, it is there as a safety barrier due to the fact that liquid metal can and will move. Again one must consider ASUS have gone through some R&D to determine how well it performs under various heat cycles and conducted drop tests.

PTM or similar phase changing thermal material moves, this is a fact and all thermal pastes no matter what can "pump-out" due to uneven surfaces or how the surface changes when it get hot / cold. Also consider the question, why do we get dry spots over time with thermal paste, this is also common to liquid metal but it generally will last much longer than a silicon based product.

For more info on some of this check this post.

https://www.reddit.com/r/XMG_gg/comments/15kuywx/psa_challenges_with_thermal_interface_material_on/?...

I'm in no way suggesting this is causing computers to suddenly fail but it is extremely incorrect to state thermal paste especially liquid metal doesn't move.

[gupsterg]

I'd agree with what Kezmark is stating. You can also see in a teardown here the LM hasn't gone past barrier.

As said by Kezmark mount pressure keeps the LM where it needs to be. A lot of LM users have PC motherboard and GPU on vertical plane, don't get leaks, don't have barrier, only protect components around die.

Unless there is defective mount/heatplate surface have defect to allow leak, that is only ways I can believe the LM would leak.

[mahdi2]

I'm a bit confused because you're explaining a lot, can you tell me now if using a laptop on a tilted position causes a problem or not?

[ElectroStingz]

It will be fine.