As computers become more intensive, so does the hardware. However, one source of contention for all extreme computer users (including pocket-sized cellphones) is cooling! All units must operate at the appropriate temperature – 40-65 degrees Celsius – to extend the life of your system and keep everything working.
When it comes to thermal interface material, hardware enthusiasts have many options. Options are available in a wide range of price and performance categories, with solutions varied in terms of simplicity of use, electrical conductivity, and material composition.
In general, I believe most people will use a mid-grade paste and won’t think twice about it after installation. Unlocking every performance advantage is part of the pleasure for others. Mryeester, a TikTok user, fits neatly into the latter type.
Who Is Mryeester?
The developer of the material is well-known for performing bizarre experiments with computer hardware. Most are blunders, such as using orange juice instead of water in a liquid cooling loop or stacking numerous fans on top of each other, but things do become intriguing every now and again.
“Successful” experiments of Myreester
Mryeester has had much more failures than successes. He attempted molding thermal paste into a box on the IHS of a CPU to test how terrible the spread would be but discovered that the thermal paste only extended to the CPU’s outside borders, leaving the middle area unaffected. This would be a poor application for Intel chips, at least, because the CPU die sits exactly in the center of the chip, making it particularly hot owing to the absence of direct thermal paste contact right on top of it.
However, adjusting the location of your paste is still preferable to having none at all. Because the primary computation die and IO die are not in the center of the chip, there is a case to be made for employing this outer-edge technique with newer AMD Ryzen processors. However, a lack of coverage in the center would still result in higher temperatures – compared to having the entire IHS covered.
Mryeester didn’t necessarily aim for greater temperatures in his prior thermal paste movies, but he did strive to show unique paste locations and other chemicals. In one, he attempted to shape a Discord logo out of thermal paste right on the IHS, and this time the IHS was completely covered when the thermal paste was spread out. However, the discord form itself provided no benefit to the spread, as the spread was exactly equal throughout the whole IHS.
However, one of his trials outperformed standard thermal paste. Because salt has a better thermal conductivity than most thermal pastes on the market today, it was used in this experiment.
Mryeester began by experimenting with iodized salt and thermal paste to see what would happen. However, he was unsuccessful in his first attempt. But then he ground the salt into a fine powder and blended it with his thermal paste; astonishingly, this complex concoction worked. His CPU was only reaching 49 degrees Celsius with his standard thermal paste, but with the powdered salted combination, temperatures were reduced by 2 to 3 degrees Celsius.
Is this experiment worth trying?
Mryeester observed that adding crushed salt to a generic TIM decreased CPU temps under load by a few degrees Celsius when testing other thermal paste compositions. Does this indicate you should remove your cooler and add in some salt chloride right away? No, most likely not.
If you’re hellbent on losing a few degrees, there are far safer ways to do the same thing.
Spending a few dollars on a high-quality TIM with a good conductivity value would undoubtedly help, as will improving your cooler (moving from an OEM cooler to a premium air cooler or AIO kit, for example). Others have had success experimenting with other application strategies. Another option is to improve ventilation in your case, maybe by better cable management or by upgrading to larger fans. Noctua is well-known for producing excellent case fans that are reasonably quiet.
Taking it a step further, reducing the voltage of your CPU can lessen the amount of heat created but may jeopardize system stability. If all else fails, turning the air conditioner down a few degrees will always do the work.
