Submerging a laptop to optimize its cooling system sounds like absolute madness, and anyone would think I've lost my mind. However, once we know the details of the process, the story changes completely. Recently, professional overclocker der8auer published a video in which he bathes an MSI GS65 laptop with a variant of the Novec fluid made by 3M, and then proceeds to extract performance from the processor that would be almost impossible to obtain with traditional cooling...
Gamer hardware is becoming more powerful, with configurations that can already exceed 100 frames per second in 4K in certain games. Of course, such performance has a price, and I don't mean only the economic one. The number of cores multiplies, as does the pressure on voltage regulators, and that forces us to expand our horizons in terms of cooling.
A striking example is the Core i9-9900K. With factory settings, it is possible to keep it in check using traditional coolers, but once we cut its chains and overclock, it is very hard to keep it cool even with liquid cooling. That said, it is not hard to imagine the obstacles faced by gaming laptops. There is very interesting hardware inside those systems, but the natural limitations of the format restrict overclocking potential, unless... submerging the entire computer is an option.
This crazy hypothesis leads us to the YouTube channel of overclocker der8auer, best known for his world records and the delidding kit that allows separating processors from their metallic heat spreader without risk. The people at MSI gave him one of their GS65 laptops based on the Core i7-8750H (6C/12T, 4.1 GHz Turbo, 45W), and after several requests from the public, he decided to drown that laptop in a special liquid:
No, it's not distilled water or anything like that. The fluid in question is Novec 7100, methoxy-nonafluorobutane (C4F9OCH3). It is manufactured and distributed by 3M, it is not flammable, it does not conduct electricity, it is compatible with the vast majority of plastics (which is not the case with other Novec variants), it does not harm the ozone layer, its general toxicity is very low, and having a low surface tension, it is also very useful for delicate cleaning tasks. Its boiling point is around 61 degrees, so with a good structure it is possible to condense and recover the Novec (der8auer has already done this before with one of his computers). Here the test is simpler, just three or four centimeters of Novec in the tray, enough to cover the computer. The two big questions are the speakers and the fan, but apparently its speed is not high enough to be harmed (on the other hand, submerging hard drives in Novec is a bad idea).
With the help of the fluid, the laptop managed to reduce its idle temperature by 10 degrees and gained 150 points in Cinebench (cooler = higher Turbo) without any adjustments to its processor. A small downward voltage change in the Intel Extreme Tuning Utility brought the result to a total of 1,100 points, demonstrating the importance of undervolting in specific cases. Now, the problem is that Novec is not a miracle fluid, and the processor still reaches its temperature limit. To get to higher frequencies, der8auer needs to increase voltage without falling into throttling, and his plan is to assist the Novec... with dry ice. That should enable temperatures of -30 to -50 degrees Celsius, but we'll have to wait for the second part.
