I've been struggling with my CPU temperatures lately. I recently built a new PC with a B650 Gigabyte Eagle motherboard and a Ryzen 9600X, and for the past three weeks, I've found that I need to repaste my CPU every couple of days. I've done it three times already! I'm using a 360 AIO cooler that I kept from my previous AM4 setup. I'm experiencing extremely high temperatures, sometimes reaching up to 100°C even when the PC is just idling, and the only way to fix it is by removing the cooler and applying fresh thermal paste (I'm using Arctic MX4). Initially, I applied too much paste and made a mess, which I cleaned up with alcohol and Q-tips. There's some residue left on the exposed parts of the chip that I can't clean off, and it doesn't look like thermal paste. Other than that, the CPU performs well with no throttling until those temperatures spike. I've even tried using different thermal pastes, but the problem persists.
1 Answer
You might be dealing with a faulty AIO cooler here. If you're having to repaste so frequently, it could indicate that there are air bubbles forming inside the pump. When you take off the cold plate and repaste, you're removing those bubbles temporarily, but they may build up again. You should definitely check its overall functionality!
Is there a way to test if the AIO is the issue before purchasing a new one?