I recently replaced the thermal paste on my CPU, and now my PC isn't turning on. I briefly touched the CPU with a screwdriver during the process, and I'm worried that it might have caused some damage. Can anyone help me understand if that could be the case?
2 Answers
Touching the CPU with a screwdriver for just a moment usually won't cause any damage. We need more details to help you out—when you hit the power button, does anything happen at all? Also, tell us about your hardware setup!
Nah, touching it shouldn't destroy the CPU. But there's a chance you might have accidentally knocked something off the motherboard with the screwdriver, or maybe shorted something if your PC was still connected. What kind of thermal paste did you use? If it’s non-conductive, you’re probably fine. If it's conductive and got squeezed out, it might be causing issues. Can you walk us through each step you took when replacing the thermal paste? That might help diagnose the problem better!
I actually fixed it; I just accidentally unplugged my front panel cables!
Nothing happens when I press the power button.