Plenty of fans but high thermal temps?
Crashing during CPU intensive tasks?
Seasoned computer user who might want to check under the hood?
Recently in the tech shop, a computer came in with lockups when just sitting at the desktop from a cold boot.
A quick peek in the BIOS showed that at idle, the CPU was at a concerning temperature.
Removing the dust build-up on the heatsink and fan didn't do much in dropping the temperatures so we went in for a closer look.
Carefully remove the heatsink, grounding your self for good measure.
The poor contact of the thermal paste to the heatsink had left a surprisingly bare chip.
But looking at the heatsink, the heat and air had discoloured the paste quite badly.
The heatsink and CPU were cleaned of the old goo so fresh paste could be applied.
Although this CPU will cool for our purposes just fine, more intense people
may also think about lapping the heat spreader on the CPU to a flat smooth finish.
The proper way to apply paste is a uniform coating about 1mm thick, it will look
as if it is barely covered but this amount allows for the best heat transfer to the metal of the heatsink.
Replace the CPU and heatsink, re-check the temperature and enjoy your handiwork!
