WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.140 whether it's your laptop your PC or your phone personal electronics get hot and 00:00:05.400 --> 00:00:11.639 we're always looking for new ways to make them more comfortable to use which 00:00:08.880 --> 00:00:16.560 led us to a fascinating new trend on Reddit some Intrepid users have been 00:00:14.160 --> 00:00:20.699 buying industrial grade cooling pads and putting them in their laptops and the 00:00:18.840 --> 00:00:26.699 more I learned about these things the more I needed to know see the thing is 00:00:23.039 --> 00:00:28.920 they go on like a normal thermal Pad but 00:00:26.699 --> 00:00:34.320 they're designed to melt as soon as your device heats up then return to a solid 00:00:31.619 --> 00:00:38.219 state once it cools and this is without seeping out and frying your circuits 00:00:36.360 --> 00:00:43.860 like we've seen with other exotic thermal interface materials but there's 00:00:40.800 --> 00:00:46.980 always a catch isn't there yes there is 00:00:43.860 --> 00:00:48.480 and PTM 7950 here has got a few of them 00:00:46.980 --> 00:00:52.680 and I'm going to show you what they are but first I'm going to catch you off 00:00:51.059 --> 00:00:57.780 guard with this message from our sponsor War Thunder War Thunder is an immersive 00:00:55.440 --> 00:01:02.039 and detail-focused Online vehicle combat game that allows you to choose from over 00:00:59.460 --> 00:01:06.860 2 000 different machines you can pile it click the link below to snag some bonus 00:01:04.199 --> 00:01:06.860 items today 00:01:14.280 --> 00:01:21.479 PTM 7950 comes to us from multinational conglomerate Honeywell and while it's 00:01:19.500 --> 00:01:26.100 designed for industrial use and they don't sell it directly to Consumers 00:01:23.100 --> 00:01:27.600 there are obviously ways to get it as 00:01:26.100 --> 00:01:31.979 evidenced by the fact that I'm holding some and by this post we found on the 00:01:30.060 --> 00:01:37.740 framework Forum where user Michael underscore Wu posted some impressive 00:01:34.799 --> 00:01:42.360 thermal results after swapping to PTM 7950 from a more traditional thermal 00:01:40.259 --> 00:01:48.479 paste and right out of the gate the spec sheet raises some serious questions most 00:01:45.119 --> 00:01:51.299 importantly what the heck is a PCM or 00:01:48.479 --> 00:01:55.740 phase change material well simply put it's a substance that can change from 00:01:53.280 --> 00:02:00.720 one state of matter to another you know like how a liquid like water becomes 00:01:57.960 --> 00:02:05.100 solid ice when cooled or gaseous steam when heated with that said the fact that 00:02:03.299 --> 00:02:10.979 water can do it is an indication that changing phases is not that special what 00:02:08.280 --> 00:02:15.720 is special about this particular PCM though is the temperature at which it 00:02:13.200 --> 00:02:20.520 changes from one phase to another its melting point is 45 degrees Celsius 00:02:18.060 --> 00:02:25.200 which happens to be a perfect sweet spot where it would never accidentally melt 00:02:23.220 --> 00:02:30.060 in a controlled environment like a manufacturing plant let's say but 00:02:27.840 --> 00:02:34.140 pretty much the second an electronic component started to do any real work it 00:02:32.340 --> 00:02:38.760 should immediately begin to change from a solid to a liquid dramatically 00:02:36.239 --> 00:02:42.660 decreasing its viscosity aiding thermal transfer it's not that different from 00:02:40.680 --> 00:02:46.980 the operating principle of liquid metal whose biggest Advantage aside from being 00:02:45.180 --> 00:02:52.560 metal and therefore very thermally conductive is that it is so thin and so 00:02:50.580 --> 00:02:58.980 viscous that it's able to easily fill any tiny air voids between your CPU and 00:02:55.980 --> 00:03:01.260 your heatsink air is an extremely poor 00:02:58.980 --> 00:03:05.580 heat conductor which is why our fluffy retropolar fleece is so great at keeping 00:03:03.420 --> 00:03:09.540 you warm before we go any further I want to see this thing in action because I'm 00:03:07.080 --> 00:03:14.099 just curious like how much exactly does it melt what do you feel in Brandon a 00:03:12.300 --> 00:03:18.659 strip or a square hip to be square 00:03:15.659 --> 00:03:21.420 oh spoke cut my thumb off there it's 00:03:18.659 --> 00:03:25.640 like oh oh no all right I didn't do it right okay let me give it a little stick 00:03:26.519 --> 00:03:33.000 then for a comparison we'll take some regular old nth2 maybe I'll just kind of 00:03:31.560 --> 00:03:35.840 spread it around a bit or something I don't know sure 00:03:34.800 --> 00:03:43.040 um can confirm fire is hot and let's see 00:03:39.480 --> 00:03:46.260 what happens to the my little pens here 00:03:43.040 --> 00:03:50.519 oh we're already at uh 00:03:46.260 --> 00:03:52.500 around 75 degrees 16 45 okay 00:03:50.519 --> 00:03:56.400 oh it's starting to sweat Brandon come check this out 00:03:54.720 --> 00:04:01.019 given the surface it's sitting on is well over 45 degrees that's not as melty 00:03:59.099 --> 00:04:03.620 as I expected it to be why don't we give her a little more juice 00:04:04.980 --> 00:04:10.739 okay now she's liquid come check this out see that 00:04:09.360 --> 00:04:16.879 actually I think we might have gone a little too far it's uh 00:04:13.500 --> 00:04:16.879 greater than 130 degrees 00:04:17.100 --> 00:04:25.020 two is still quite pasty I mean that's not really as 00:04:22.040 --> 00:04:29.220 liquidy as I expected it's certainly different than it was before but we've 00:04:27.660 --> 00:04:32.940 been informed that it's at its most liquid when it's under pressure which 00:04:31.259 --> 00:04:36.680 would be the case if it was installed between a heat sink and a processor 00:04:39.000 --> 00:04:41.419 okay 00:04:43.259 --> 00:04:49.259 see oh yeah it get Interesting Man the 00:04:47.220 --> 00:04:53.660 second you touch it it does get quite liquid there we go 00:04:54.120 --> 00:04:59.520 oh oh my cold stick was carrying away too 00:04:58.020 --> 00:05:03.199 much of the Heat it does turn liquid 00:05:03.360 --> 00:05:11.639 that was super interesting but it doesn't necessarily indicate that 00:05:08.340 --> 00:05:13.500 PTM 7950 is going to work well so for 00:05:11.639 --> 00:05:19.860 our performance comparison we obtained not one but two samples of PTM 7950 from 00:05:17.820 --> 00:05:24.600 two different sources and I will explain more about that later for now we just 00:05:22.560 --> 00:05:29.460 want to see this phase changing in action versus a standard thermal paste 00:05:26.820 --> 00:05:33.479 to start with we'd recommend storing it in your fridge for at least a couple of 00:05:31.380 --> 00:05:37.080 hours before you begin maybe you could keep it next to your photo film it helps 00:05:35.280 --> 00:05:40.620 make the material a little bit more workable the first thing you'll need to 00:05:38.699 --> 00:05:44.220 do is clean both the core or heat spreader of your processor and your 00:05:42.660 --> 00:05:47.880 cooler then after measuring the approximate Dimensions cut up your pad 00:05:46.139 --> 00:05:52.139 with a pair of scissors you don't have to get this exactly right because PTM 00:05:49.620 --> 00:05:56.220 7950 is non-conductive and shouldn't damage anything if it seeps over the 00:05:53.699 --> 00:05:59.400 edge next peel one side of the pad and we recommend sticking it to the 00:05:57.660 --> 00:06:03.600 processor rather than to your cooler apply pressure evenly over the pad to 00:06:01.440 --> 00:06:07.500 help with the next step then peel the other side with a pair of needle nose 00:06:04.919 --> 00:06:11.639 pliers or or tweezers finally install your cooler compared to my experience 00:06:09.539 --> 00:06:15.960 with liquid metal particularly clean up if you make a mistake this was not bad 00:06:13.560 --> 00:06:21.000 but there's no doubt in my mind that it is a lot more finicky than just 00:06:18.300 --> 00:06:25.740 squirting out some thermal paste even in an unmelted State I feel like the term 00:06:22.740 --> 00:06:30.300 PAD is being used pretty generously here 00:06:25.740 --> 00:06:32.400 PTM 7950 seems to me more like a thin 00:06:30.300 --> 00:06:36.120 layer of schmoo between two pieces of plastic film that make it a little 00:06:34.080 --> 00:06:41.400 easier to work with and by a little easier I really do mean a little easier 00:06:38.400 --> 00:06:43.680 but if the performance is good enough we 00:06:41.400 --> 00:06:47.880 know that enthusiasts won't hesitate to go through a process like that so to 00:06:45.720 --> 00:06:53.580 find out we sent this knock to Edition RTX 3070 over to our lab where they put 00:06:51.180 --> 00:06:58.560 our PTM up against not to his finest thermal paste their nth2 and thermal 00:06:56.220 --> 00:07:03.660 Grizzly conduct a knot and if the conventional wisdom holds true that pads 00:07:01.500 --> 00:07:08.220 do not perform as well as pastes and certainly not as well as liquid metal 00:07:05.660 --> 00:07:14.460 then it should lose to both of these pretty handily and it does until it 00:07:12.360 --> 00:07:20.819 doesn't look at this for the first five minutes PCM 7950 00:07:18.060 --> 00:07:26.819 totally sucks like you might as well put cheese whiz on your GPU but then the 00:07:23.940 --> 00:07:33.199 magic happens you can see it it starts to change from solid to liquid and five 00:07:30.240 --> 00:07:37.560 minutes later it's on par with the nth2 then five minutes after that it pulls 00:07:36.539 --> 00:07:42.240 ahead we tried it on a desktop CPU as well and 00:07:40.199 --> 00:07:47.520 while we couldn't show any difference in temperature thanks to Intel's 80 degree 00:07:44.340 --> 00:07:51.120 Target we did see a measurable increase 00:07:47.520 --> 00:07:53.039 in power draw as the pad liquefied which 00:07:51.120 --> 00:07:58.680 allowed our chip to maintain its turbo speeds ever so slightly more 00:07:55.380 --> 00:08:00.419 consistently now to be clear all of 00:07:58.680 --> 00:08:05.460 these are very high performance solutions and the difference between the 00:08:02.639 --> 00:08:09.660 best and the worst of them is so small that unless you're chasing every 00:08:07.259 --> 00:08:16.080 possible Edge you'd probably consider it to be a tie but 00:08:11.819 --> 00:08:18.060 that alone is very impressive and it 00:08:16.080 --> 00:08:22.139 comes without the risk of getting liquid metal all over your stuff which can kill 00:08:20.039 --> 00:08:27.000 it and guess what it gets even better take a look at the industries that are 00:08:24.599 --> 00:08:32.339 using this product laptops graphics cards sure but also lighting and 00:08:29.819 --> 00:08:37.560 Automotive all of which have one thing in common very long service intervals 00:08:34.979 --> 00:08:41.940 that means that even if you don't care about a degree or two of extra 00:08:39.419 --> 00:08:46.920 performance the real win here is that you won't need to replace this pad for 00:08:43.979 --> 00:08:50.820 the entire life of your device and we're pretty confident about that one good 00:08:49.260 --> 00:08:55.080 thing about products that are designed for highly regulated Industries is that 00:08:53.100 --> 00:09:00.300 you can expect extremely detailed manufacturer test reports and the one 00:08:57.240 --> 00:09:03.600 that Honeywell provides for PTM 7950 is 00:09:00.300 --> 00:09:05.940 a doozy of interest to us in particular 00:09:03.600 --> 00:09:14.399 is the temperature cycling test which alternates between negative 55 and 125 00:09:09.779 --> 00:09:16.800 degrees Celsius 1000 and times PTM 7950 00:09:14.399 --> 00:09:23.279 not only passes this test easily but actually manages to improve its thermal 00:09:20.279 --> 00:09:25.500 impedance after those 1000 Cycles 00:09:23.279 --> 00:09:29.700 compared to when it was new that's probably why Lenovo started 00:09:28.019 --> 00:09:35.160 pre-applying this stuff to their Legion 7 laptops in the last year or so to our 00:09:33.180 --> 00:09:38.880 knowledge they were the first to use this product in a personal Computing 00:09:36.540 --> 00:09:42.180 device but given how secretive the industry tends to be about material 00:09:40.260 --> 00:09:46.200 sourcing it actually wouldn't surprise me if other vendors have been quietly 00:09:43.980 --> 00:09:49.860 using it for years the earliest data sheet we found from Honeywell 00:09:47.279 --> 00:09:54.959 referencing PTM 7950 is actually from all the way back in 2016 which is great 00:09:52.920 --> 00:09:58.500 but there are a couple of loose ends that we haven't tied up yet starting 00:09:56.519 --> 00:10:03.300 with how the devil you're supposed to get it well remember how I had two different 00:10:01.440 --> 00:10:07.980 versions of the pad well all the results we've shown are 00:10:05.820 --> 00:10:11.279 from the better one of the two which we believe is the authentic Honeywell 00:10:10.200 --> 00:10:16.080 version the thing is unless you want to actually 00:10:13.500 --> 00:10:20.760 order a thousand of these your only choice is to buy it from someone who did 00:10:18.180 --> 00:10:25.019 order a thousand of them with the markup that comes along with it and most of the 00:10:23.040 --> 00:10:29.820 ones that we found are from Rando third-party Marketplace sellers our 00:10:27.300 --> 00:10:35.820 slightly worse one came from AliExpress while our slightly better one came from 00:10:32.160 --> 00:10:38.339 E by seven but your mileage may vary and 00:10:35.820 --> 00:10:45.000 if you guess wrong it might be a pretty tough pill to swallow because problem 00:10:40.560 --> 00:10:47.220 number the second PTM 7950 is not cheap 00:10:45.000 --> 00:10:51.300 a single eight centimeter by eight centimeter pad like this one that might 00:10:49.079 --> 00:10:58.260 get you what a handful of applications cost the same as a whole tube of nth2 or 00:10:55.860 --> 00:11:02.820 cost as much as three tubes if you want to take the safe route and go for a 00:11:00.180 --> 00:11:07.800 definitely authentic one from Mod DIY finally I mean it's not like we 00:11:06.060 --> 00:11:14.220 reinvented the wheel here if you're after the ultimate in thermal performance liquid metal is still the 00:11:11.940 --> 00:11:19.320 way to go even if it's only by a hair but if you want something that you can 00:11:16.320 --> 00:11:21.180 apply once and have almost Peak tier 00:11:19.320 --> 00:11:26.579 thermal results for the entire life of your device well maybe it's time for a phase 00:11:24.180 --> 00:11:31.019 changing material like PTM and maybe it's time to end this video with a 00:11:28.079 --> 00:11:35.160 Segway to our sponsor War Thunder War Thunder is the comprehensive vehicle 00:11:32.820 --> 00:11:39.720 combat game that is free to play on PC PlayStation 4 PlayStation 5 Xbox One and 00:11:37.380 --> 00:11:44.100 series X with 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00:12:21.420 --> 00:12:26.579 right into the action with just a keyboard and a mouse so what are you 00:12:24.720 --> 00:12:31.740 waiting for click the link below oh and start playing War Thunder for free with 00:12:28.740 --> 00:12:32.760 some premium vehicles and boosts go 00:12:31.740 --> 00:12:38.100 check it out I really think the science behind this material is fascinating I hope you did 00:12:36.300 --> 00:12:41.339 too if you like these kinds of weird thermal solutions that come from other 00:12:39.480 --> 00:12:46.320 Industries maybe check out the time we lowered temperatures by smearing paste 00:12:43.860 --> 00:12:52.519 all over our laptop and a GPU that stuff was very messy good but very 00:12:50.100 --> 00:12:52.519 messy