PSA: Filling heatpipes with a sodium-potassium alloy isn't a terrific concept

Facepalm: Back in 2010, a organisation named Danamics sent out a handful of CPU coolers to diverse guides for overview. The heatsink in question, dubbed the LMX liquid metal cooler, applied a heatpipe design full of liquid steel as opposed to a more conventional operating fluid (like water).

Overclocking fanatic der8auer currently got his palms on this type of rarities, and what an oddball it's far. What makes it clearly specific from a conventional heatpipe-fashion cooler is the electro magnetic liquid metal pump located on the pinnacle of the cooler. It also comes with a standalone controller board using unconventional power connections, suggesting this will be an early prototype unit.

After getting his palms on the cooler's manual and studying up on it, der8auer found out that Danamics went with a sodium-potassium alloy. As referred to inside the guide, the alloy reacts violently with water and might reason hearth or an explosion if launched in huge amounts.

Der8auer determined that the sodium-potassium alloy is set 30x higher at thermal conductivity compared to water, which would possibly give an explanation for why Danamics concept it might be a good fit for a CPU cooler. In trying out with an Intel Core i9-12900KS, the LMX accomplished about 5 degrees worse than a Noctua U12A below load in Cinebench R23. That is not terrible given its age however it is not remarkable both, in particular thinking about how steeply-priced it changed into returned within the day and that coolers half its value may want to outperform it.

There is likewise the protection problem, and it might be now not plenty of a wonder that Danamics didn't deliver any retail units. In truth, in keeping with der8auer, the employer shut down just a few months after introducing the LMX.

Nowadays, about the most important challenge involving retail CPU coolers is the potential for self-contained liquid cooling loops to spring a leak and harm your hardware. Personally, I still prefer to stick with traditional air-cooled heatsinks. Even if your fan dies, maximum cutting-edge systems will close themselves down before any everlasting damage takes place.