Wire on heatsink

Solution
It's fine to cross the wire over the heatsink as long as it's not hitting the fan, the normal way is to go around the heatsink, but it's hardly a machine killer if you don't.


Seriously, if your heatsink gets so hot as to melt the insulator on a wire, your computer will no longer run. Ever.

 


Thermal damage adds up over time, and it's not a few hours exposition, but rather thousands of hours. So yes, it can do that.
 


Oxidization alone can do that. I think you're being melodramatic.

GPU's which have much higher thermal loads often have wires that are in direct contact their heat sinks, just general purpose cooler master fans too, not rubberized shielding.

Seriously there's cautious and then there's never go outside the house cautious.