Shoutout to the customer who made me realize I was using thermal paste wrong for 5 years

I had this guy bring in a custom PC for a simple CPU swap last month. He watched me put the paste on and just goes "you know you're supposed to spread it thin, right?" I always did the pea method like everyone online said. Turns out I was using way too much and it was actually hurting my temps by about 8-10 degrees on average. Checked my own rig after that and sure enough, paste was oozing over the edges. Anyone else have a basic step they got backwards for way longer than they'd like to admit?

2 comments

2 Comments

danielmason1d ago

Ha, I was doing the same thing for years!

alice_kim1d ago

My buddy Dave had a similar moment but with something way dumber. He worked at a pizza place for like two years before someone told him you're supposed to let the oven preheat fully. He just thought "hot oven" meant you turn it on and throw the pizza in right away, no waiting. His pizzas always came out a little doughy and he just blamed the dough recipe. The manager finally watched him one day and was like what are you doing dude. He still gets roasted for it at parties.