Best liquid metal TIM and should I risk it?

[TickleMyElmo]

Hi yall, me again. So, not sure if I mentioned I bought a new laptop a couple months ago. Well I did, and an expensive one at that.
I purchased the Acer Predator Helios 300. The model number is ph317-52. So anyhow when I first bought it the gaming temps under say an hour of BF4 on high settings would be close to 100c. Way too high for my liking. So I used Throttlestop to lower my cpu and cpu cache voltages. I also made a custom core clock curve that's supposed to lower temps on the gpu by watching Bob of all Trades on youtube. That dropped temps down to around 90c on the both the gpu and cpu during BF4/heavy gaming. Still worried. So after watching Bob of all Trades video multiple times to make sure I wasn't going to kill a $1400 laptop I reluctantly removed the laptop innards from the case with tools from ifixit. I then wiped off the factory applied TIM, applied Prolimatech pk-2 TIM and put the case back together. At first I was generally pleased with the temps. They would run from 60c-75c in most games. Last night I played BF4 on high settings and they reached around the 85c area on both the cpu and gpu. Today I figured I'd see what BF5 would do to it. Temps reached around 90c on the cpu and gpu. I was NOT pleased! So now after watching tons of video on applying liquid metal TIM's on laptops I am seriously thinking about doing it. My questions are...
Which liquid metal TIM is best? I read Thermal Grizzly Conductonot was best, but wanted you guys' opinion. Also honestly, should I do this? I know if I mess up one single step or anything I could fry my MB. I'm kind of nervous but after watching so many videos I'm also kind of confident. What do you guys think? Thanks all!

 

[UltraTaco]

I doubt it's the issue with "what kind of paste to use", but rather design limitations.
You can cramp only so much performance into it until it slowly begins to melt.

 

[TickleMyElmo]

So should I downclock my cpu and gpu? I've never heard of a laptop cooler that lowers temps more than 3c or so.

 

[knoober]

The danger with liquid metal on a mobile device is that you can't be certain that it will stay where you put it. The possibility of a stray drop or two escaping from under the heatsink while being jostled around in your bookbag (or however you catty your laptop) would be enough for me to stick with conventional TIM.
I'm not saying that it will definitely happen, but I wouldn't risk it with a new machine. Maybe if it was an old laptop that I planned to upgrade soon.

I have seen good results from proper thermal paste and pads on my much older machines however. I don't know if your particular laptop can benefit from new paste and pads, but I can tell you that you can find pads that are 11 w/mk (from Grizzly I think). The best conventional TIM are also in the 11 w/mk range

 

[TickleMyElmo]

Who knows. I'll just have to downclock untill they are in safe range. What 75c for 8750h? And 80c for 1060?

 

[trents]

Is this a "naked" CPU die or one with an IHS? If the latter, you will not gain much by putting liquid metal on top of the lid. Liquid metal has a major impact on temps when used under the lid of a lidded CPU but only minor improvement when used on the top side. And as knoober said, the prospec of metal flakes falling on other components and shorting things out is significant enough not to make the risk worth it. I have actually had that happen on a desktop.

 

[TickleMyElmo]

Thanks for your guys' input. I just decided to downclock the cpu and gpu till they stay under 80c.

 

[mackerel]

I did apply liquid metal to my now deceased gaming laptop. It dropped temps significantly, but disappointingly didn't get me any more boost clock. All was fine for a while until one day it would no longer boot. It might work for a short time then just go blank screen. Tried all sorts to fix it, but gave up. While I don't have proof either way, liquid metal migration is a possible suspect. A small amount moving where it shouldn't could be enough to break it, and it would be almost impossible to spot by eye. I recently saw news that Asus were going to start using LM in some of their laptops. How are they getting around this risk? They're making a gasket to contain the LM applied area and prevent its spread around the system. When I got a replacement laptop, I'm not going anywhere near it with LM

 

[UltraTaco]

Cpu is supposed to perform without failures for the duration of warranty, even if used 24/7 at full tdp and max temps. That's 3 years, correct? By then, itll likely be time for upgrade.

 

[TickleMyElmo]

I'm not worried bout my cpu. It's my gpu I'm really worried about.