Most GPUs today still ship with conventional thermal paste, but some higher-end cards — such as the Founder's Edition RTX 5090 — use liquid metal to maximize the cooling potential on the core. Unfortunately, if the application isn't perfect from the factory, it can lead to devastating outcomes, which is exactly what happened with an RTX 5070 Ti that landed on the desks of repair wizards Northridge Fix.
When liquid metal comes into contact with tiny surface-mounted componentry like capacitors, it will create microbridges that can short those parts. The leak can eventually reach the main power rails in worst-case scenarios, too. Not only that, but some liquid metal TIM can slowly eat away at metals like aluminum and weaken solder joints. Eventually, ICs in the affected area might even get knocked out of place.
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In the video, we see that the liquid metal has somehow reached into every nook and cranny of the PCB, and it's impossible to spot without a microscope. The owner said they cleaned off as much as they could, but clearly, there was enough left on the board to frustrate the technician. About halfway through the cleaning process, the repairman declared that only a miracle can save this GPU at this point.
From the looks of it, liquid metal had gotten underneath the GPU core as well, which shorted it internally, as we can see a physical edge crack in the video. This is unfixable because you'd need to replace the chip, and that's just one part of the problem. The memory modules are affected, too, and the 1.8V power rail is shorting to ground, which means that liquid metal reached a ground pad and destroyed critical circuitry as well.
Even if the GPU core hadn’t been directly contaminated by liquid metal, the short on the 1.8 V power rail would have destroyed it regardless. So, in the end, this becomes a cautionary tale about letting enthusiasm override judgment. If the owner had just used regular, silicone-based thermal paste, he'd have a working GPU — applying liquid metal to a card not designed for it, even if you can create your own seal, is too risky.
Even large manufacturers producing $4,000 GPUs sometimes struggle with getting the application right. Besides, non-factory-applied liquid metal jobs rarely help lower the temperatures in a meaningful way in the first place. You'll certainly lose your warranty if you try to do it anyway, which is why Asus refused to accept the RMA request for this broken RTX 5070 Ti. Unfortunately, not even NorthridgeFix could fix it.
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