The $30 thermal paste I laughed at actually works on old CPUs

I've been fixing up old desktops for years and always used the cheap stuff for thermal paste because I figured why spend money on a machine from 2004. Then last month a guy brought in a Pentium 4 that kept overheating and shutting down after 15 minutes. I tried the usual tricks, cleaned the fan, new cheap paste, still hit 95 degrees. Out of options I grabbed a tube of some premium paste a customer left behind, it was $30 stuff I always thought was a scam. Applied it and the temps dropped to 68 degrees under load. Been using it on every old build since and the difference is real. Anyone else had a budget fix that backfired on old hardware?

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2 Comments

elliotc102mo ago

Wow, I guess I've been wrong about thermal paste all along.

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spencer_johnson222mo ago

@elliotc10 You're probably right about most of it, but just don't start putting toothpaste on your CPU lol.

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