Intel reportedly denies RMA for crashing Core i9-14900K CPU due to liquid metal thermal paste usage — liquid metal erased the markings and serial number on the CPU

News
By
published

Liquid metal permanently obfuscates key CPU information that is otherwise visible after cleaning off conventional thermal paste.

Core i9-14900K
(Image credit: Intel)

If you own an Intel 13th Generation Raptor Lake or 14th Generation Raptor Lake Refresh CPU, you may want to think twice before using liquid metal as a thermal paste. The latest report from HKEPC claims that Intel has reportedly denied an RMA request for a Core i9-14900K due to the usage of liquid metal.

The Core i9-14900K owner had reportedly approached Synnex, a retailer in Hong Kong, to RMA his 24-core Raptor Lake Refresh chip because it had suffered from the infamous instability issues. However, the retailer had gotten back to the owner with a negative response, claiming that Intel had rejected the RMA because it didn't comply with the requirements.

Apparently, the liquid metal had corroded the processor's integrated heat spreader (IHS), removing the chip's markings, including the processor model, batch number (FPO), and 2D Matrix (ATPO).

It's not an excuse that Intel suddenly made up on the spot, either. The chipmaker has it in writing that using Liquid Metal Thermal Interface Material (LMTIM) can void the processor's warranty. Due to liquid metal's corrosive nature, it may remove the markings on the Intel processor, which are essential during the verification process for warranty claims.

Liquid metal usage has proliferated over the last few years. Because it incorporates different metal alloys, liquid metal offers excellent thermal conductivity that exceeds the cooling performance of standard thermal paste. However, liquid metal is electrically conductive, so improper application can kill your components—for example, if the liquid metal drips over to capacitors on the chip or the pins.

Liquid metal reacts differently to different materials, such as copper, nickel, or aluminum. For instance, liquid metal and aluminum don't gel, so vendors recommend using a copper heatsink. Modern processors come with a nickel-plated copper IHS, so there's no problem with liquid metal. However, it will "stain" the IHS and obfuscate the markings if given enough time. That's why, in the Core i9-14900K's case, the liquid metal didn't kill the Raptor Lake Refresh chip but rather eroded the surface.

Using liquid metal isn't worth the risk for the average consumer. It's great for lowering CPU temperatures if you're a hardcore enthusiast who likes to overclock and wants to maximize cooling. If that's the case, you'd probably want to delid the chip and replace the TIM with liquid metal rather than just applying it on the surface of the IHS.

See more CPUs News
Christopher Harper
Christopher Harper
Contributing Writer

Christopher Harper has been a successful freelance tech writer specializing in PC hardware and gaming since 2015, and ghostwrote for various B2B clients in High School before that. Outside of work, Christopher is best known to friends and rivals as an active competitive player in various eSports (particularly fighting games and arena shooters) and a purveyor of music ranging from Jimi Hendrix to Killer Mike to the Sonic Adventure 2 soundtrack.

18 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Alvar "Miles" Udell
    I'm fairly sure AMD would deny warranty service if the relevant information were destroyed as well...
    Reply
  • mac_angel
    "Apparently, the liquid metal had corroded the processor's integrated heat spreader (IHS), removing the chip's markings, including the processor model, batch number (FPO), and 2D Matrix (ATPO)."

    Not fully true. The directions to use liquid metal means you have to 'scratch' the surface of the IHS. They usually come with a little scrubbing pad to use. That in itself is considered "physical damage". And scratching off the Intel markings that help them identify what the CPU is, batch #, etc, yea, I can easily see Intel saying no for an RMA.
    Now, I'm not a scientist, so I may be corrected on this, but liquid metal itself does not cause corrosion. However, it can definitely cause corrosion if you use it in a custom water cooling setup with a copper heatsink and aluminum somewhere in the loop. (I'm not sure if that's just with liquid metal, or for everything. I think it's just for liquid metal though).
    Reply
  • thestryker
    I'm not really sure why anyone would use liquid metal between the IHS and cooler as the benefit would be very low compared to the risk/disadvantage.
    mac_angel said:
    Now, I'm not a scientist, so I may be corrected on this, but liquid metal itself does not cause corrosion. However, it can definitely cause corrosion if you use it in a custom water cooling setup with a copper heatsink and aluminum somewhere in the loop. (I'm not sure if that's just with liquid metal, or for everything. I think it's just for liquid metal though).
    It depends on the compound, but liquid metal definitely can cause corrosion over time. Roman (Der8auer) has mentioned this and it seems largely due to chemical reaction with gallium. He talked about it on a video about his retired Threadripper video editing system.
    Reply
  • A Stoner
    It is probably related to galvanic corrosion where the electrical potential of different metals causes corrosion.

    Google AI says:
    ExplanationWhen two metals with different corrosion potentials are in electrical contact with a conductive liquid, one metal becomes the anode and corrodes faster, while the other becomes the cathode and corrodes slower.
    You can take advantage of this process by creating an ablative faster corroding add on to things such as ship hulls.
    Reply
  • rluker5
    Show the picture!
    The IHS was bent from the ILM and the chip wasn't even getting directly cooled.
    It is a funny fail but pretty particular to LGA1700 and should serve as a warning: don't use LM on the outside of your IHS and the factory ILM with LGA 1700. Liquid metal is too thin to fill in the bending gap. A contact frame should be used at a minimum. Although LM on the outside of the heat spreader is losing a lot of it's benefit and adding a lot of risk so I wouldn't personally use it in that situation. Too much risk per reward.

    Guy probably thought there was something wrong with the silicon he was barely cooling.
    Reply
  • federal
    That headline was a pretty cheap shot - not used to seeing that sort of thing from you guys. File off/sand off the model number and serial number from all sorts of products from all sorts of companies and they'll deny a warranty.

    That said, and given the optics of the situation, I'm surprised Intel didn't cut him some slack, assuming he had some way of showing that what he wanted replaced was the same model and series chip he'd bought - which may not even have been possible.
    Reply
  • TheHerald
    thestryker said:
    I'm not really sure why anyone would use liquid metal between the IHS and cooler as the benefit would be very low compared to the risk/disadvantage.

    It depends on the compound, but liquid metal definitely can cause corrosion over time. Roman (Der8auer) has mentioned this and it seems largely due to chemical reaction with gallium. He talked about it on a video about his retired Threadripper video editing system.
    I've been doing it since forever. Depending on the wattage being pulled, the difference can get to ~5C - maybe more on something like a 13900k.

    AFAIK you can clean the LM and restore the markings with some chemicals but you need to be very gentle cause those same chemicals can remove the marking by themselves. But yeah, if you care about warranty, stay away from LM, that would be kinda self evident.
    Reply
  • TheHerald
    rluker5 said:
    Show the picture!
    The IHS was bent from the ILM and the chip wasn't even getting directly cooled.
    It is a funny fail but pretty particular to LGA1700 and should serve as a warning: don't use LM on the outside of your IHS and the factory ILM with LGA 1700. Liquid metal is too thin to fill in the bending gap. A contact frame should be used at a minimum. Although LM on the outside of the heat spreader is losing a lot of it's benefit and adding a lot of risk so I wouldn't personally use it in that situation. Too much risk per reward.

    Guy probably thought there was something wrong with the silicon he was barely cooling.
    I've been using the stock ILM with liquid metal on 3 different CPUs and 2 different mobos. Haven't had an issue yet. The trick is to spread the liquid metal as thinly as humanly possible.

    On the other hand the problem is that the first application will get absorbed from the cooler within a month, so you have to do it again a month later and then you are good to go for a couple of years.
    Reply
  • YSCCC
    That's precisely why even the LM can lower the impact of the IHS bending due to ILM most ppl would go for the contact frames instead, liquid metal corroding the IHS is bad for RMA with understandable reason, cost more and didn't stop the IHS deform over time... a good paste/PTM plus those CF is a much better option.

    LM just make sense to me if one use those direct die cooling solutions where you will void the warranty anayway.

    For the affected customer, it's a sad RIP for his investment in the TOTL expensive intel which smokes itself, just yet another victim
    Reply
  • thestryker
    TheHerald said:
    I've been doing it since forever. Depending on the wattage being pulled, the difference can get to ~5C - maybe more on something like a 13900k
    Maybe if you're using bad paste, but it's usually going to be around 1-1.5C better than PCM and 2-2.5C better than a good paste. To me that simply isn't worth the disadvantages, but I can certainly see it if delidding to replace TIM or direct die as those always net bigger deltas. Of course when doing direct die there's the big advantage just from removing the IHS so Kryosheet becomes a really compelling option for long term usage.
    Reply