I was under the impression myself of some processor/m/b combinations "not
liking" the pre-applied pad which is sometimes on some heat sinks. (I'm glad
someone has backed up my theory)
When I removed this particular heatsink, there was no sign of any
pre-applied pad, or any thermal paste, and the man said he had not used
anything at all when installing the heatsink/fan.(He had no idea what
thermal paste was!)
I did re-install the pro/heatsink and fan but this time using my own thermal
paste, but my guess is that the cpu was already fried.(It was worth a try
though!)
Although I don't have any, I have heard that Arctic Silver is a good one, so
I may well try to get some of that. At the moment, I just posess straight
forward thermal paste.
Am I right in thinking the ones which contain silver are better?
Anyway, as it stands, I haven't been able to contact him, but the last time
I did speak to him, I did advise him to replace the processor, but this time
using thermal paste.
If that fails, he will probably have to replace the m/b as well, as that
seems to be the next step.
Someone else did suggest that it may be a virus in the bios, which could be
a possibility, but, as he used no type of thermal conductor whatsoever, the
liklihood that it has fried is enormous I think.
According to him, it was up and running until it suddenly had a blue screen,
and then never ever restarted again.
Hopefully, he'll be able to get it sorted out pretty soon, although it seems
he might have learnt the hard way that thermal paste is a must, not an
option.
Michele Sayer

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