CPU Paste???

[katz]

I have a beat up Dell 15" here that *several* people have tried to fix, so I am told. Symptoms: Not booting properly, would shut off after a minute when it did boot, fan ran on high all the time.

Opened the case to check things out, clean it, reseat everything, new CMOS batt, etc., and I am greeted with the strangest stuff I've ever seen on a CPU. Check out the pic.

Metallic gold in color. I did a google on it and found out there actually is gold thermal paste, so I guess that's what it is.

Question: Do my fellow techs feel that the previous guy applied enough?

It was even under the cpu, in the pins/holes. I removed the board, sprayed well with electronics cleaner, tapped on it to coax out any residual gunk. It was on there like glue, took a bit of doing to remove it all.

Reassembled, booted, has been running for over an hour now, so far so good. I just can't believe the work some guys do...

Thought sure it was done for when I saw all the paste under the CPU and in the socket holes.

Crossed my fingers and prayed on this one...

 

[River Valley Computer]

Didn't know Skippy chunky peanut butter was a good thermal paste. Wow - a jar could last for hundreds of CPUs.

Seriously we have seen gold colored thermal paste but not with chunks and such a great quantity used.

 

[jbartlett323]

Eh, looks like he just copied the amount of paste Dell typically uses, thinking "If its good for them, its good for me!".

But yeah, that would totally cause random shutdowns, what with Gold paste being very conductive and applied to a naked core. Kinda amazed to see it on a lappy though, usually only see these exotic pastes on overclocker machines.

 

[Moltuae]

Looks more like some sort of copper paste on my screen, but either way it looks electrically conductive (which would be easy to confirm with a multimeter).

Actually it reminds me of 'copper slip' or copper grease (the stuff you put on the back of brake pads to prevent squeal). Was the last 'technician' a mechanic?

 

[ohio_grad_06]

Wow. Way much. Pull that stuff off and try a sliver of Artic Silver 5 and see if that helps.

 

[jbartlett323]

Wow. Way much. Pull that stuff off and try a sliver of Artic Silver 5 and see if that helps.

For best results, please try to use a non-conductive paste like Artic Silver MX-4. AS5 is conductive, as it contains silver. Perfectly fine for use on IHS procs, but you should only use non-conductive paste for bare core applications (aka, lappy's, chipsets, graphics processors, etc). That being said, the use of AS5 rarely gives issue, and is a damn good paste!

 

[Dave1320]

I work with techs that have 10 years plus experience and they still do this. This absolutely makes me lose my mind. I'd rather find none on the cpu than this.

 

[JustInspired]

You mean it's not 'one tube per CPU'?
Think of all the money I could have saved!

 

[ohio_grad_06]

For best results, please try to use a non-conductive paste like Artic Silver MX-4. AS5 is conductive, as it contains silver. Perfectly fine for use on IHS procs, but you should only use non-conductive paste for bare core applications (aka, lappy's, chipsets, graphics processors, etc). That being said, the use of AS5 rarely gives issue, and is a damn good paste!

Ah point taken.

 

[katz]

Dang...

Seems I may be looking at a bad motherboard after all. PC ran for probably two hrs. last eve. just fine. Powered up today for some more testing and it shuts off after 3-5 min. On AC, on Batt., both, live cd...

This is a Dell Inspiron M5030, of which I see they are known to have motherboard issues...

 

[Altster]

This "mess" reminds me of a fix a "non-computer tech" made several years ago that I came upon.

It was a socket 478 or 423? Pentium 4 in an HP desktop computer that had had the type of heatsink / fan assembly held onto the main board via 4 upright plastic slotted legs. Two of those legs had broken off so this guy took a "LOT" of heat paste and glued the heatsink back onto the cpu. Luckily I was able to find the proper socket set to make a proper fix. Somehow his fix did the job which really surprised me.