Realized I'd been thermal pasting all wrong after 5 years

Last week I was swapping a CPU in a client's Dell Optiplex and noticed my temps were hitting 85C under load. I've always done the pea-sized dot method for everything because that's what I saw on a YouTube video back in 2019. Turns out the IHS on some older Intel chips is slightly concave and needs a spread to fill the gaps. I watched a buddy in my shop do two thin lines on a 6700K and his idle temps dropped by 8 degrees. Felt like an idiot but now I check the CPU shape before applying. Has anyone else had a thermal paste method that worked great for years then just stopped working on newer chips?

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sean_martin444mo ago

…and here I was thinking I deserved a medal for mastering the pea method.

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sandra_black4mo ago

Right? The pea method sounds fancy until you realize you've just convinced a dog to do something it would've done anyway for a piece of cheese. But hey, we take our victories where we can get them.

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