Bad thermals, did liquid metal damaged my cpu die ?

I bought my 4940mx used, and noticed that the die wasn't smooth, but installed it anyway and forgot about that detail.
Last week I rediscovered it while doing a repaste, and was wondering if the worst than average thermals that i had for a 55 watts cpu could be from theses irregularites on the die.


(yes that is the die cleaned with alcool imbibed microfibers)

So here are the questions :

1 - Did the previous owner damaged the die by using liquid metal ? (i can't recontact the seller, it was on a local marketplace, the only thing i remember is that it was in an alienware r17)

2 - Does my not so great thermals come from this ? Even by using fresh Gelid GC Extreme, after a cinebench r15 run at stock voltage & frequencies, the cpu ended up at 95°C and throttled at the very end (intel xtu reports 66 watts tho, and the laptop is a Dell Precision M4800 which had an i5 4330m when i bought it, but this laptop was also sold with MQ & MX cpus directly by Dell)



thanks in advance

 

Just take some 1500 grit sandpaper and wipe the die off carefully with it and that hardened liquid metal will come right up.
It may help to insulate the area around the CPU substrate with something if you're using isopropyl alcohol to help, to prevent runoff while you're cleaning.

 

It’s probably the notebook’s cooling not being up to snuff to handle 66W of Hotwell heat.

 

Yeah i though of that, kinda like what der8auer did in the die lapping video ( ), but the idea of sanding the die is making me anxious and i was wondering if a chemical reaction was possible to re-liquefy what i assume is LM residues to remove it.

Maybe, but i remember of someone talking about 4.5ghz all core OC on that machine (i can do 4.1 with undervolt, but for 4.5 i think you have to resort to overvolting), and after looking online it seems that there is different fans for the m4800, maybe i5 had lower tier fans compared to the mq/mx models ? (although even the mq/mx have different fans beetween them, so maybe it's just luck of the draw)

Anyways thanks for the help ^^

 

Multi layer cloth pad soaked in ACETONE sitting on top of die wrapped in "Glad Wrap" to keep evaporation down.Just wet enough to keep Top of the die soaked (not drooling over sides). Wipe off with course cloth after 4-5 hours or longer soak. Just dont let it dry out. Get the Isoprop thing out of your head when using Liquid Metal. Great for Makeup, Pimples and Lipstick!

 

Thank you for your answer, but in the end i lapped & polished the die, going up to 2000 grit wet sandpaper. Now it runs fine and cool, -15°C in full load (from 95->80°C (and -10°C when at idle (50->40°C)) (but comming from a bad surface, gains will probably not be as much if you lap a die which is already in good condition).