[SOLVED] Funny story - i cleaned my pc's interiour and now the cpu is overheating!

[Muhammed_19]

Ok so, actually the title needs some context. I haven't cleaned my PC in a while so while I was cleaning it (by blowing into the dust with a vacuum cleaner in my hand to suck in the dust, XD I know, very dumb), I noticed that my cpu cooler (not stock, but artic 11 pro rev. 2) had a LOT od dust underneath the fan which was removable. So I removed the fan and cleaned the dust. Then for some reason (guess I was too curious) I removed the whole cooler from the socket by removing the screws. I saw that the thermal paste was already almost gone but since I didn't have a spare paste nor the alcohol for cleaning the chip I put the cooler back, connected it to the motherboard and turned on the computer.

Now at this point I knew I did something wrong, because when I checked into MSI afterburner I saw that my cpu temprerature was over 60°C (150°F) while idle. It only got worse after some time reaching even 80°C and while I was editing some audio in audacity it started to throtlle with 100°C (212°F). I even undervolted the PC with the intel xtu by -0.050 but there was absolutely no change in noise nor the temperature. It has to be something with the hardware since the temperature stayed at 100°C even in BIOS.

I turned off my PC, thightened the cooler a bit, checked if everything was nice and firm and I found no issue. While it was on, the fans were spinning regularly, the cpu one, the gpu and the external PC fan. Is it only because of lack of the thermal paste or did I somehow misplaced the cooler. Maybe overtightened it, maybe it was too loose. I don't know.
P.S. sorry for this soap opera story XD, I wanted to give you all the details.

CPU - i5 4570
16 GB RAM
Artic 12 pro rev.2 cooler

 

[theunfish]

you cleaned your pc.. with a vacuum cleaner.... instant legend

 

[theunfish]

that must've taken some balls to do that

 

[Karadjgne]

Not really. Many ppl do so. Hold the nozzle of the vac at the frame, use canned air to stir up the dust, vac sucks it away. Means not having to cart the case outside. I do it that way, have for many, many years, but also use 1" artists long bristle paintbrush to help get rid of stubborn deposits between fins etc.

Thermal paste is permanent. It doesn't dissipate or 'go away' or ever be 'almost gone'. You only use a tiny amount to start with, just enough to cover the IHS with a hairs thickness of paste. That's about a small green pea/ long grain of rice amount dobbed in the center.

Good paste will last 20+ years. Average paste will last 6-8 years before it starts loosing elasticity and hardening/cracking. If you break the seal on older paste, it's usually done for, it's just not gummy enough to remake the seal properly between ihs and cooler base, and temps go up.

You need to repaste, that includes a good cleaning.

 

[Gfost73]

you cleaned your pc.. with a vacuum cleaner.... instant legend

I do that all the time but I use a special brush attachment to get into the small spots,.. lol of course I'm careful not to break off any capacitors etc