Pro tip: thermal paste isn't optional on a CPU upgrade

I was swapping a used Ryzen 5 into my home server on a Sunday afternoon and forgot to apply fresh paste. The system booted but shut down after 30 seconds from overheating. Had to tear it all apart, clean the old residue with isopropyl, and reapply before it would stay stable. Anyone else forget a basic step like this and panic for a hot second?

2 comments

2 Comments

jake_martin163d agoMost Upvoted

Ha, been there. Nothing like panicking while your CPU slowly cooks itself to death.

paulb983d ago

Thermal paste is actually optional on some older chips with integrated heatspreaders, but for a Ryzen 5 you definitely need it.