Ok, got a question for the hardware gurus out there.
My nephew wants to play EQ, so he decided to build his own computer to play it on. He bought a MB/CPU/RAM combo package and some other parts to put with it and proceeded to put his computer together. He wasn't getting any video to the monitor and finally I was consulted. When I started taking it apart to troubleshoot from the ground up I discovered what I think is his problem.
When I unhooked the heat sink and fan I noticed that there was an awful lot of thermal paste down there. After swinging the little lever to unlock the cpu, I lifted it out and noticed that the thermal paste had overflowed around the edges on one side of the cpu and flowed down into the area with all the pins are, connecting several to each other.
I tried cleaning all the paste off the cpu, carefully working it out from between all the pins involved, re-seated the cpu, put a modest amount of fresh paste on and put the heat sink and fan back on. Still no video. I'm not hearing any beeps either. The fan on the heat sink does come on.
I figure the cpu is fried. Before I run out and get another cpu, am I risking the new cpu by installing it? Did the goo flowing amongst the pins go down into the holes too? (the pins were filling the holes at the time, so I am assuming that this probably did not happen, but am cautiously optimistic)
I don't want to risk frying a second cpu and I don't want to have to buy another MB if this one likely is okay to keep.
Any thoughts?
·Theme
- Forums
- Cross Site
- Computer Hardware & Troubleshooting
- Thermal paste question
Thermal paste questionFollow
in my experience (about three years working in a busy tech shop, plus personal tech stuff), when a computer is turned on, and fans all start spinning, but nothing else (POST beeps, spinning HDD), my first thought is motherboard.
it's not always the motherboard, but most of the time it is. second most common problem was the processor.
i'm not sure if thermal paste will carry a current or not. it could have shorted the processor, or may be down in the holes enough to be preventing current flow from the processor to the motherboard. you should only put a very thin layer of paste on the processor before applying the heatsink. as thin as maybe a business card. i take my index finger and smear it around to get a good coating and wipe the excess onto a paper towel...just don't get it on you clothes.
hope that helps
it's not always the motherboard, but most of the time it is. second most common problem was the processor.
i'm not sure if thermal paste will carry a current or not. it could have shorted the processor, or may be down in the holes enough to be preventing current flow from the processor to the motherboard. you should only put a very thin layer of paste on the processor before applying the heatsink. as thin as maybe a business card. i take my index finger and smear it around to get a good coating and wipe the excess onto a paper towel...just don't get it on you clothes.
hope that helps
Make sure the ram is compatible with the motherboard. Same thing happened to me when i bought my A8N32-SLi, the cpu fan would start spinning but you wouldnt see any video or hear any beeps. The problem turned out to be that my motherboard doesnt support alot of dual sided ram (ram with chips on both sides).
Try swapping out ram sticks in and out and check the manual for anything that suggests it may not run with certain types of ram modules.
Try swapping out ram sticks in and out and check the manual for anything that suggests it may not run with certain types of ram modules.
to test whether or not it is RAM holding you out, simply pull it out and turn the power on. you should get POST beeps indicating there is a problem with RAM (obviously, hehe). if you continue to get nothing but fans and lights, it would be safe to assume that the issue is not due to RAM...this doesn't prove that the RAM is good or compatible, but it shows that RAM is not what is holding you out from POSTing
Recent Visitors: 16
All times are in CST
Anonymous Guests (16)
- Forums
- Cross Site
- Computer Hardware & Troubleshooting
- Thermal paste question
© 2024 Fanbyte LLC