Can Thermal Paste cause Freezing?

Johnnie Butters

Reputable
Feb 9, 2015
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Had my rig in a Micro ATX case and my temps were not what I would of like, So switched out the motherboard and case and got a NZXT Manta. Everything is cool with CPU & GPU at 27-29c on idle but it's not a smooth experience. I get random 10-15 second Freezes right when Windows loads up and randomly every now and then. I've tried everything from different GPU Drivers to removing HDD's and SSD's and resetting the bios too.

Can a bad attempt at applying thermal paste cause this? As the install of the 212 EVO is horrific. This is the only explanation i can come up with as the motherboard worked great in the rig before with an i5 6600k.

i7 6700k / 212 EVO
EVGA z170 Stinger
EVGA 980 Ti Hybrid
 
Solution
Unless you got conductive thermal paste under the cpu where the pins are in the socket or on the lands of the cpu underneath. Or unless you applied far too much thermal paste. Improper cooler mounting would cause heat issues. Have you checked the cpu temps with windows loaded when it freezes to determine if it's even a temperature problem? If not then doubtful that's the issue when windows is loading, obviously if it's hanging while windows is loading there's no way to check thermals so that will have to wait until windows has loaded and it freezes up again.

You could try updating the bios and see if that helps in case they made minor microcode improvements for the i7.
Unless you got conductive thermal paste under the cpu where the pins are in the socket or on the lands of the cpu underneath. Or unless you applied far too much thermal paste. Improper cooler mounting would cause heat issues. Have you checked the cpu temps with windows loaded when it freezes to determine if it's even a temperature problem? If not then doubtful that's the issue when windows is loading, obviously if it's hanging while windows is loading there's no way to check thermals so that will have to wait until windows has loaded and it freezes up again.

You could try updating the bios and see if that helps in case they made minor microcode improvements for the i7.
 
Solution