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Rant: My thermal paste trick totally backfired on a gaming rig

Had a client bring in a high-end PC with overheating issues. Figured I'd try the 'pea method' with a fresh tube of Arctic MX-6. Used what I thought was a perfect dot in the center. Booted it up, temps were even worse. Hit 95C in under a minute. Opened it back up and the paste had barely spread. Turns out the CPU cooler's mounting pressure on that specific Asus board was way too light. Learned that method isn't universal. Had to do a full spread with a plastic card to get coverage. Wasted an hour. Anyone else run into mounting pressure messing with paste application?
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2 Comments
diana_bell74
Mounting pressure is a real thing (like @webb.stella said). That pea method can totally fail if the cooler isn't pressing down hard enough.
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webb.stella
My old Noctua cooler needed the X spread method on Threadripper too.
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