building a computer

[tw]

Originally Posted by Pamela

Don't do what I did once and forget the dielectric grease under the CPU cooling fan. Everything looks perfect, I closed up the box, set it upright and powered it on.

Dielectric grease it is not. It is electrically conductive. Therefore too much thermal compound can cause CPU defects.

Had that heatsink fallen off an Intel, then no damage results. That problem exists with AMD processors.

Meanwhile, a heatsink attached without any thermal compound means CPU temperatures should only be single digit degrees higher. An excellent test of whether a heatsink was properly machined.

Selecting a heatsink involves specification numbers such as 'degrees C per watt'. What others recommend is irrelevant compared to spec numbers.

Today, all above is made irrelevant by CPU manufacturers that already attach a best and sufficient heatsink.

An oldtime engineer later (and accurately) said, "If you touch it and don't leave skin, then it is not too hot."