This review started in a rather unusual fashion. One of our forum members from the U. K. happened to mention he had run across an auction on eBay that looked interesting. The seller had something that was called "Coollaboratory Liquid Metal" which was to be used as a thermal interface material to cool processors. I was intrigued, so I sent a message to the seller explaining who I was and what website I represented and asked if they would be willing to send a sample. After my credentials were checked, they agreed and immediately shipped me a "container" of their product. Coollaboratory is a new company based out of Germany that only has one product, the "Liquid Metal". The information on their website sounded real interesting and I was looking forward to clearing some of my workload so I could check out their product.

Package

The Coollaboratory Liquid Metal came in a padded envelope straight from Germany. Opening the envelope revealed a couple pages of instructions and a syringe filled with their product. I couldn't help but think about what the customs agents thought about a syringe filled with an unknown substance being shipped internationally. Apparently they don't think about it much since the package wasn't tampered with.

The instructions that are included are outstanding. There are a total of three pages that explain everything from how a heatsink interfaces with a CPU to application to cleanup. They are well written and done by somebody who has some experience with cooling. I thought about posting the text here in the review so you could see it yourself, but 3 pages are a lot to read when you have a short - Oh look, a Squirrel.

The Liquid Metal & Application

I was shocked when I pulled the cap off the syringe and saw that the needle was still there. I had no idea how the thermal interface material could get through an opening that small until I pressed the plunger slightly over the CPU. A drop of the material came out with no problem and sat there like a ball on the CPU. It was at that point that I got a little nervous since it looks just like Mercury. But then I had to think, "What company, whether in their right mind or not, would sell Mercury on eBay?"

I played with it a bit and is rolled like Mercury but left a trail and didn't completely pull itself together when broken apart like Mercury does. Those of you who are as old as I am can remember playing with the stuff back in Junior High Science class and know how it acts when you mess with it. This substance acts real close but not exactly the same.

The instructions state you need to clean the CPU off with alcohol, place a drop in the center, and then spread it evenly across the CPU with a paintbrush or Q-Tip. I chose Q-tip but you can see it doesn't exactly spread evenly. I used a small drop and when I tried to spread it, I ended up just pushing it around the CPU leaving a slight trail. I messed with this application for a few minutes and the photo shows the best I could do as far as spreading the material goes. All it looks like is spread out Mercury with a haze where I had pushed it before. Notice how the Q-tip head has now turned metallic. I ended up using the syringe to suck up the excess but that just left the haze on the top of the CPU.