Re: Computer turns on and then just dies

On Sun, 11/24/2024 11:12 AM, s|b wrote:
> On Sat, 23 Nov 2024 07:07:35 -0500, Paul wrote:
> 
>> Just change the PSU and retest :-)
>> I've done that a few times, as a first step.
> 
> Yes, I just read VanguardLH's advice, but it's too late; i already
> removed the paste from the CPU and heatsink.
> 
>> Never hurts to change thermal paste. Especially the hobby non-permanent kind.
> 
> Is Arctic MX-4 any good?
> 

You can see they have a lot of similarities. In terms of slump
and texture. A lot of these look like the AS-5 I use right now.

https://www.tweaktown.com/image.php?image=https://static.tweaktown.com/content/3/3/3383_04_full.jpg

No, you don't generally spread them with a credit card any more.
Some of the products are "crumbly" and the reputation is they
are hard to apply, which is probably quite true. The others
are more gel-like, and when crushed by the load of the heatsink,
they spread quite nicely.

You can tell this, by doing a calibration fitting. Say the instructions
tell you to install "five dots".

        x       x

            X

        x       x

You can apply your heatsink for a test, press down, then remove
the heatsink and look at how well it spread out. This also functions
as your "tinting cycle", as you'll be wiping that off and cleaning
most all of it off, and the grooves in the metal will have some
of the new paste in them. I don't leave a lot of material during
the cleaning, in order to not apply too much later.

Then, when you do the real installation, you will know whether the
dots should have been bigger or not

        X       X

           ***

        X       X

You don't want too much shooting out of the gap,
as then it's a mess to clean up later if it gets
into the wrong places on the motherboard.

I have a tube of AS-5 here, and it's suitable for
applying dots (according to what the manufacturer
recommends for each processor type), then just seat
the heatsink in it and tighten it up. Some processors
only use a central dot. Some processors are convex,
some processors are flat on top, which is why the
dot pattern recommendation varies.

I like screw fittings and permanently attached back plates.
Some of the solutions that "come in the box" with motherboards,
they fall off when unscrewed, then you have to remove the
motherboard from the computer, apply paste, assemble,
and insert the reassembled mobo+HS into the case. This is
a major pain. And something they don't tell you, is you
can SCRAPE SMALL CAPS off the board when reinserting the
board into the computer case.

It is for this reason, that I recommend third party HS
assemblies which allow removal and re-seating of the
heatsink, without having to pull the motherboard out
of the case. As long as the manufacturers use 1x2 cellphone
capacitors on the motherboard surface, you have to be a lot
more careful to not damage the surface mount components.
Your motherboard is an older generation and might have
0603 or 0402 caps and the older components are a bit
bigger and harder to damage without a bit more effort.

*******

The MX-4 has the ability to spread easily. The temperature
different generally is only a couple degrees C between
competitors. But when a compound spreads (these are not
phase change compounds like the screened ones that come
with the heatsink are), you may have to redo it five years
from now. The temperature rise will tell you it is time to change it.

https://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/3383/arctic_cooling_mx_4_thermal_compound/index.html

The problem with getting, say, a new heatsink for a build,
is you ruin the screened material while having trouble
fitting the screws. I've had trouble tightening the screws
on any of the last four (third-party) heatsinks, and none of
them had the screw threads "catch" on the first try. I was
a lather of sweat, lots of cursing, before the damn screws
were finally fitted. And that might have been the third time
I applied paste. This is why, if a screened material is placed
on the brand new heatsink, you hardly get to keep that compound
and have to use your tube of MX-4 instead. Fitting these things
is a nuisance.

   Paul