For You Overclockers

Black_Viper

<div class="IPBDescription">Super cooling that lasts...</div> Liquid Metal Cooling
<a href='http://www.nanocoolers.com/technology_liquid.php' target='_blank'>http://www.nanocoolers.com/technology_liquid.php</a>
Edit: Removed image, looked like crap.

So does this mean i can overclock my PC to like 5 Ghz?

Shoebox

hmmm never would have thought of using liquid metal to cool a computer.

Ratonetwothreetwoone

what if it takes over my computer some how.. and trys to assassinate john conner

DuoGodOfDeath

Just plug in your AC into the side of your pc. Run a pipe to the CPU and avast AC cooling for your CPU!

Status_Quo

Er, what are they using? The only metal I can think of that is liquid at room temperature is mercury (which actually has a pretty good thermal conductivity). I wouldn't exactly recommend using mercury, though, as it's highly poisonous.

lolfighter

Actually it's mercury oxide that's poisonous, but that doesn't make any difference since the mercury will oxidize (sp) inside the body. It's probably an alloy of sorts.

Narfwak

Yeah, I'm not sure I want a known carcinogen pumped into the arteries of my PC.

Cyndane

The phase of an element depends on its pressure as well as its temperature, so we'll assume a normal atmospheric pressure for the answer to the question. There are two elements that are liquid at 'room temperature' or 298 K (25°C) and a total of six elements that can be liquids at actual room temperatures and pressures:

Liquid at 25°C
Bromine
Mercury

Become Liquid 25°C-40°C
Francium
Cesium
Gallium
Rubidium

*Cue NBC music* The more you know....

Anyway.. The only viable one I could think of would be Gallium, considering Francium, Cesium and Rubidium are highly explosive when combined with oxygen.

Someone care to email that company and find out what the metal is?

Legionnaired

Not that it's a major point, but the metal is going to get as hot as 50-60*C at some points.

Yeah, sounds like Gallium. It wouldn't matter much that it's solid below room temperature, with it's thermal capacity a good 3/4 of water's. It also has a pretty amazing rate of linear expansion too, (0.0000181cm/cm/°C!) Goddamn, that stuff rocks so hard; Ga2O3 is a main component in all LEDs.

Black_Viper

I e-mailed them, i just wanted to know the price, what kind of metal, and what kind of application this would be used for.

R_A_C

this looks very cool

Soul_Rider

They note in the info that the metal has a boiling point of 2000 degrees.

What does that narrow it down to?

raz0r

Saw another article on this a while back, yes, it's Gallium.

/me wants

Status_Quo

Goes solid at 30C. Would be a bummer.

DaJMasta

I thought the metal was some kind of "trade secret" mix...

But yea, its at least a cool idea. Let's hope it dosen't spring a leak <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif' /><!--endemo-->

Status_Quo

Aye, now THAT would be a bummer. I can imagine it would be somewhat difficult to get rid of. It doesn't evaporate like water or alcohol, and given that you can't adjust the pressure outside a closed circuit, it remains solid up to 30C.

TheWizard

Gallium is a solid at normal room temperatures but will melt if you hold it in your hand.

Two things come to mind:

1. Most processors operate at temperatures exceeding normal body temperature and thus the Gallium would be quickly melted. If the processor's heat did not exceed 30C then you likely don't have to worry about cooling now do you? <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->

2. It is more likely that it is Gallium doped with another element/compound to lower its melting point to around 70F or less. The result would be a metallic compound with good heat transfer capabilities but w/o the risk of 'freezing'. It would be the same principle that is in effect when you throw salt on a frozen sidewalk. The melting point of the H20 is lowered and remains a liquid at lower temperatures.

Status_Quo

If the circuit starts leaking and you got liquid Gallium floating around, it's quite likely to hit and stick to parts of your computer. Since I don't think you'll continue using the computer if your cooling system goes to hell, it will go solid unless you work fast.