{"video_id":"VV5S6-jejG0","title":"Liquid Metal Cooling a PHONE!?!?!","channel":"Linus Tech Tips","show":"Linus Tech Tips","published_at":"2018-05-06T14:53:29Z","duration_s":522,"segments":[{"start_s":0.4,"end_s":7.68,"text":"liquid metal it's a hell of a drug you know","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":3.76,"end_s":10.24,"text":"first you delid your CPU and then that","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":7.68,"end_s":15.2,"text":"high wears off so then you like liquid metal your laptop and again you're","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":12.32,"end_s":19.359,"text":"rewarded with amazing temps and even a performance boost and that keeps you","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":17.119,"end_s":22.72,"text":"going for another week or so and then","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":20.72,"end_s":26.72,"text":"you notice something getting kind of hot in your pants","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":24.48,"end_s":31.76,"text":"you know the idea it starts small but then it grows and grows getting more and","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":29.359,"end_s":38.32,"text":"more solid what if you could make your phone","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":34.399,"end_s":40.96,"text":"run cooler and faster with liquid metal","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":38.32,"end_s":45.84,"text":"well guess what that's a super risky maybe even bad idea","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":43.28,"end_s":50.16,"text":"so we're going to show you how to do it after we tell you today's video is","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":47.68,"end_s":54.16,"text":"brought to you by shade tree sunglasses shade tree sunglasses are handmade from","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":52.239,"end_s":59.28,"text":"hardwood materials featuring polarized lenses a variety of designs and even","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":56.559,"end_s":67.339,"text":"cool new carbon frames get 10 off your next order through our link below","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":70.24,"end_s":75.84,"text":"so it is common for phone performance to","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":73.439,"end_s":80.56,"text":"nosedive during any workload that takes more than a couple of seconds with","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":77.92,"end_s":86.799,"text":"gaming being a common culprit so your processor starts out cool and fast then","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":84.4,"end_s":90.88,"text":"the hotter it gets the more it thermal throttles so","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":88.4,"end_s":97.36,"text":"liquid metal likely wouldn't do anything for that initial cold performance but","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":94.64,"end_s":103.68,"text":"it could allow us to maintain peak performance for longer so we chose the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":101.04,"end_s":106.72,"text":"razer phone as our vic excuse me a test subject","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":104.72,"end_s":113.36,"text":"compared to most phones its thermal design is very respectable but it is","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":109.68,"end_s":115.92,"text":"still not perfect check this out our","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":113.36,"end_s":119.2,"text":"first 3dmark result puts us in the top 83","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":117.119,"end_s":125.36,"text":"of razer phones so that looks pretty good but then a second run immediately","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":122.32,"end_s":128.56,"text":"afterwards gave much worse results and","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":125.36,"end_s":131.52,"text":"it dropped all the way down to 20 worse","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":128.56,"end_s":135.84,"text":"after a 15 minute stress test that is the kind of performance impact that you","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":133.52,"end_s":140.16,"text":"would notice in an extended mobile gaming session","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":137.44,"end_s":144.64,"text":"so let's get started then you'll need a good set of screwdrivers and prying","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":141.84,"end_s":149.44,"text":"tools some isopropyl alcohol some paper towel some conformal coating cotton","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":146.959,"end_s":155.12,"text":"swabs and a heat gun because getting inside phones sucks and of course you'll","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":152.72,"end_s":160.08,"text":"also need liquid metal we'll be using thermal grizzly conduct-a-knot now your","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":157.68,"end_s":164.4,"text":"phone's disassembly process will be different unless you have a razer phone","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":162.319,"end_s":169.36,"text":"but we'd recommend watching this whole process anyway without skipping around","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":167.04,"end_s":173.68,"text":"if you plan to follow along so first we made sure the device was off","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":172.0,"end_s":178.4,"text":"then we took a heat gun to the speaker grilles with the adhesive softened we","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":176.0,"end_s":183.2,"text":"peeled them off with a prying tool next we removed this combination of regular","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":180.48,"end_s":187.28,"text":"phillips and torx screws we recommend always placing things like this in a","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":185.04,"end_s":190.879,"text":"parts tray in the same positions they came out of the phone in so you don't","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":188.879,"end_s":194.159,"text":"have to guess which ones go where during reassembly","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":192.159,"end_s":198.879,"text":"then we used guitar picks to keep the phone from snapping back together while","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":195.92,"end_s":203.28,"text":"we pried it apart until well it pried apart and the screen popped off then","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":201.2,"end_s":208.4,"text":"once we got inside and took off the cables for the lcd screen and battery","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":206.08,"end_s":213.04,"text":"giving us our first good look at the razer phone's heat pipe cooler it's","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":210.879,"end_s":217.28,"text":"insulated from the battery and actually seems to be designed to use the screen","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":215.36,"end_s":222.72,"text":"to increase its surface area for heat dissipation pretty cool with the stock","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":219.92,"end_s":228.56,"text":"thermal paste removed it wasn't entirely clear actually how to proceed we lifted","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":226.0,"end_s":233.76,"text":"this small copper heat spreader very carefully with a razor blade not to be","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":230.799,"end_s":238.72,"text":"confused with a razor blade and then had a planning session so if liquid metal","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":236.0,"end_s":244.0,"text":"gets on anything aluminum the gallium in it will destroy it with corrosion so","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":241.76,"end_s":249.2,"text":"what we've decided is to put the best thermal compound that we have between","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":246.159,"end_s":250.0,"text":"the copper sheet and the processor and","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":249.2,"end_s":255.599,"text":"then liquid metal the heat pipe to the copper","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":253.519,"end_s":260.56,"text":"heat spreader with regular thermal compound all around it time then to","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":258.4,"end_s":265.36,"text":"execute we applied conformal coating around the CPU with a cotton swab to act","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":263.04,"end_s":270.479,"text":"as a line of defense if the liquid metal spills off the CPU then to put our","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":268.24,"end_s":274.8,"text":"copper heat spreader back on we used arctic silver thermal adhesive which you","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":272.72,"end_s":278.8,"text":"mix up in equal parts and then spread across the surfaces that you want to","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":276.32,"end_s":283.6,"text":"stick together just like an epoxy we then cleaned the copper spreader and","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":281.12,"end_s":288.24,"text":"carefully placed it back on removing any wrinkles with a guitar pick and clamping","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":285.84,"end_s":292.72,"text":"it all together for about 20 minutes to make sure that it was set","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":290.56,"end_s":297.68,"text":"moving over to the back of the screen we applied a generous amount of thermal","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":294.4,"end_s":299.28,"text":"paste here and then it was finally time","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":297.68,"end_s":304.72,"text":"for liquid metal we put a small drop in a cleaned parts","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":302.08,"end_s":308.32,"text":"tray then picked up a tiny bit with a cotton swab","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":306.0,"end_s":313.039,"text":"this was carefully spread out over the copper heat pipe you only need a little","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":310.72,"end_s":317.36,"text":"bit of this stuff to do the trick time for reassembly if you are performing","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":315.36,"end_s":321.28,"text":"this mod on a razer phone by the way i would strongly recommend that you get","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":319.199,"end_s":326.8,"text":"new speaker grilles first because they don't just stick back on so we used what","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":324.16,"end_s":332.08,"text":"we fondly refer to as that sticky tar crap to put them back on as best we","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":328.4,"end_s":333.039,"text":"could um i i give it a 4 out of 10.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":332.08,"end_s":338.639,"text":"anyway hitting the power button it boots","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":336.16,"end_s":343.199,"text":"so now it's time for the payoff or lack thereof we weren't sure given that we","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":341.36,"end_s":347.199,"text":"weren't liquid meddled all the way to the chip itself","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":344.639,"end_s":351.759,"text":"if this was even really gonna work so in 3dmark we immediately recorded our","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":350.0,"end_s":356.0,"text":"highest result yet but","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":353.039,"end_s":361.36,"text":"not by a very significant margin cautious optimism at best at this point","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":358.639,"end_s":367.12,"text":"then on the second run whoa","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":363.039,"end_s":369.759,"text":"no decrease in performance whatsoever","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":367.12,"end_s":374.4,"text":"also in the vulcan test which comes after the opengl one has finished","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":371.52,"end_s":379.919,"text":"running we went from very middle of the road performance compared to other razer","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":376.479,"end_s":381.759,"text":"phones to being in the top four percent","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":379.919,"end_s":387.12,"text":"and our other benchmarks saw modest gains in performance too so this phone","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":384.319,"end_s":392.639,"text":"right here it's got ugly grilles but you could game on it indefinitely and see","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":389.44,"end_s":395.199,"text":"virtually no drop in performance an a","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":392.639,"end_s":398.56,"text":"plus result so then would we recommend performing this","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":397.36,"end_s":403.12,"text":"operation the answer is no","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":401.28,"end_s":407.759,"text":"given the low mounting pressure for the cooler and the way that phones get moved","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":405.6,"end_s":412.56,"text":"and tossed around all the time we believe that the chances of the liquid","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":409.68,"end_s":416.96,"text":"metal shifting and damaging the aluminum inside your phone or even shorting","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":414.639,"end_s":421.36,"text":"something out and bricking it entirely are too high","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":418.88,"end_s":424.96,"text":"also we can't know how much of the performance increase came from the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":422.8,"end_s":429.199,"text":"liquid metal and how much was simply from re-pasting the phone with a higher","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":426.88,"end_s":434.0,"text":"quality thermal interface material so bottom line then unless you're going","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":431.199,"end_s":437.52,"text":"for phone performance records it's really cool and the results surprised","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":436.479,"end_s":444.479,"text":"even us but i wouldn't recommend voiding your warranty over it","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":441.599,"end_s":448.479,"text":"speaking of things i would recommend ting is the mobile carrier that's","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":446.08,"end_s":452.479,"text":"focused on customer service and customer satisfaction when you call ting you","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":450.639,"end_s":456.96,"text":"don't speak to a robot you get put through directly to a person and you","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":454.8,"end_s":460.72,"text":"don't pay extra for the privilege the average ting bill is just 23 bucks a","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":458.8,"end_s":465.36,"text":"month per device and if you're stuck in a contract and switch to tang they'll","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":462.639,"end_s":470.8,"text":"cover 25 of your cancellation fee up to 75 bucks the cool thing about ting is","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":468.24,"end_s":475.84,"text":"that you only pay for exactly the air time and data that you use and data is","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":473.68,"end_s":480.319,"text":"now just 10 bucks a gig beyond the first gig so try out their savings calculator","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":478.16,"end_s":484.56,"text":"it's over at Linus.ting.com we'll have that linked below and find out if you","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":482.639,"end_s":490.4,"text":"would save money on ting when you sign up at our link you'll get 25 bucks in","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":486.24,"end_s":491.68,"text":"service credit or towards a new device","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":490.4,"end_s":495.759,"text":"so thanks for watching guys if this video sucked you know what to do but if","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":493.599,"end_s":498.72,"text":"it was awesome get subscribed hit that like button or check out the link to","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":497.12,"end_s":502.16,"text":"where to buy the stuff we featured in the video description also link down","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":500.8,"end_s":507.44,"text":"there is our merch store which has cool shirts like this one and our community","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":504.72,"end_s":511.759,"text":"forum which you should totally join no one no one needs to know if this was","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":509.84,"end_s":516.32,"text":"a Linus who would have made it in the video but unfortunately my incompetence","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":514.159,"end_s":518.8,"text":"generally goes under the radar do you actually think the editors are going to","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":517.519,"end_s":523.599,"text":"take the time to go through all this footage and listen to it i really","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":520.8,"end_s":523.599,"text":"strongly doubt it","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0}],"full_text":"liquid metal it's a hell of a drug you know first you delid your CPU and then that high wears off so then you like liquid metal your laptop and again you're rewarded with amazing temps and even a performance boost and that keeps you going for another week or so and then you notice something getting kind of hot in your pants you know the idea it starts small but then it grows and grows getting more and more solid what if you could make your phone run cooler and faster with liquid metal well guess what that's a super risky maybe even bad idea so we're going to show you how to do it after we tell you today's video is brought to you by shade tree sunglasses shade tree sunglasses are handmade from hardwood materials featuring polarized lenses a variety of designs and even cool new carbon frames get 10 off your next order through our link below so it is common for phone performance to nosedive during any workload that takes more than a couple of seconds with gaming being a common culprit so your processor starts out cool and fast then the hotter it gets the more it thermal throttles so liquid metal likely wouldn't do anything for that initial cold performance but it could allow us to maintain peak performance for longer so we chose the razer phone as our vic excuse me a test subject compared to most phones its thermal design is very respectable but it is still not perfect check this out our first 3dmark result puts us in the top 83 of razer phones so that looks pretty good but then a second run immediately afterwards gave much worse results and it dropped all the way down to 20 worse after a 15 minute stress test that is the kind of performance impact that you would notice in an extended mobile gaming session so let's get started then you'll need a good set of screwdrivers and prying tools some isopropyl alcohol some paper towel some conformal coating cotton swabs and a heat gun because getting inside phones sucks and of course you'll also need liquid metal we'll be using thermal grizzly conduct-a-knot now your phone's disassembly process will be different unless you have a razer phone but we'd recommend watching this whole process anyway without skipping around if you plan to follow along so first we made sure the device was off then we took a heat gun to the speaker grilles with the adhesive softened we peeled them off with a prying tool next we removed this combination of regular phillips and torx screws we recommend always placing things like this in a parts tray in the same positions they came out of the phone in so you don't have to guess which ones go where during reassembly then we used guitar picks to keep the phone from snapping back together while we pried it apart until well it pried apart and the screen popped off then once we got inside and took off the cables for the lcd screen and battery giving us our first good look at the razer phone's heat pipe cooler it's insulated from the battery and actually seems to be designed to use the screen to increase its surface area for heat dissipation pretty cool with the stock thermal paste removed it wasn't entirely clear actually how to proceed we lifted this small copper heat spreader very carefully with a razor blade not to be confused with a razor blade and then had a planning session so if liquid metal gets on anything aluminum the gallium in it will destroy it with corrosion so what we've decided is to put the best thermal compound that we have between the copper sheet and the processor and then liquid metal the heat pipe to the copper heat spreader with regular thermal compound all around it time then to execute we applied conformal coating around the CPU with a cotton swab to act as a line of defense if the liquid metal spills off the CPU then to put our copper heat spreader back on we used arctic silver thermal adhesive which you mix up in equal parts and then spread across the surfaces that you want to stick together just like an epoxy we then cleaned the copper spreader and carefully placed it back on removing any wrinkles with a guitar pick and clamping it all together for about 20 minutes to make sure that it was set moving over to the back of the screen we applied a generous amount of thermal paste here and then it was finally time for liquid metal we put a small drop in a cleaned parts tray then picked up a tiny bit with a cotton swab this was carefully spread out over the copper heat pipe you only need a little bit of this stuff to do the trick time for reassembly if you are performing this mod on a razer phone by the way i would strongly recommend that you get new speaker grilles first because they don't just stick back on so we used what we fondly refer to as that sticky tar crap to put them back on as best we could um i i give it a 4 out of 10. anyway hitting the power button it boots so now it's time for the payoff or lack thereof we weren't sure given that we weren't liquid meddled all the way to the chip itself if this was even really gonna work so in 3dmark we immediately recorded our highest result yet but not by a very significant margin cautious optimism at best at this point then on the second run whoa no decrease in performance whatsoever also in the vulcan test which comes after the opengl one has finished running we went from very middle of the road performance compared to other razer phones to being in the top four percent and our other benchmarks saw modest gains in performance too so this phone right here it's got ugly grilles but you could game on it indefinitely and see virtually no drop in performance an a plus result so then would we recommend performing this operation the answer is no given the low mounting pressure for the cooler and the way that phones get moved and tossed around all the time we believe that the chances of the liquid metal shifting and damaging the aluminum inside your phone or even shorting something out and bricking it entirely are too high also we can't know how much of the performance increase came from the liquid metal and how much was simply from re-pasting the phone with a higher quality thermal interface material so bottom line then unless you're going for phone performance records it's really cool and the results surprised even us but i wouldn't recommend voiding your warranty over it speaking of things i would recommend ting is the mobile carrier that's focused on customer service and customer satisfaction when you call ting you don't speak to a robot you get put through directly to a person and you don't pay extra for the privilege the average ting bill is just 23 bucks a month per device and if you're stuck in a contract and switch to tang they'll cover 25 of your cancellation fee up to 75 bucks the cool thing about ting is that you only pay for exactly the air time and data that you use and data is now just 10 bucks a gig beyond the first gig so try out their savings calculator it's over at Linus.ting.com we'll have that linked below and find out if you would save money on ting when you sign up at our link you'll get 25 bucks in service credit or towards a new device so thanks for watching guys if this video sucked you know what to do but if it was awesome get subscribed hit that like button or check out the link to where to buy the stuff we featured in the video description also link down there is our merch store which has cool shirts like this one and our community forum which you should totally join no one no one needs to know if this was a Linus who would have made it in the video but unfortunately my incompetence generally goes under the radar do you actually think the editors are going to take the time to go through all this footage and listen to it i really strongly doubt it"}