Because salt is corrosive, it can hasten metal corrosion. It seems like a long-term formula for catastrophe to add salt to a damp material like a thermal compound and then sandwich it between a CPU cooler and a heat spreader.
There are plenty of thermal interface materials available for hardware hobbyists.
Solutions differ in terms of ease of application, electrical conductivity, and material composition, and options are available across a wide range of price and performance categories.
Generally speaking, it is believed that following installation, most people will choose a mid-grade paste without hesitation.
Unlocking every performance advantage is part of the fun for some people. The latter group includes the TikTok user mryeester.
The developer of the content is well known for performing absurd tests on computer hardware.
The majority are complete idiotic mistakes, like utilizing orange juice in place of water in a liquid cooling loop or piling up several fans, but occasionally things get intriguing.
mryeester noticed that adding crushed salt to a generic TIM improved CPU temps under load by a few degrees Celsius while experimenting with different thermal paste compositions.
Does that imply you should take out your cooler right away and add some salt chloride? No, most likely not.
There are many safer ways to do the same thing if you are dead set on losing a few degrees.
Investing a few dollars in a TIM with a respectable conductivity value and improving your cooler will undoubtedly help (moving from an OEM cooler to a premium air cooler or AIO kit, for example).
Others who have experimented with application techniques have had success. Another option is to increase airflow in your situation, maybe by improved cable management or by switching to stronger fans.
Case fans from Noctua are renowned for being excellent and quite quiet.
Furthering the point, lowering your CPU’s voltage will result in less heat production, but it may compromise system stability.
If everything else fails, turning the air conditioner down a few degrees will always work.
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