Spent $45 on a thermal paste kit and fried my old motherboard

I grabbed this Arctic MX-4 kit off Amazon thinking I'd save $80 by doing my own CPU repaste on my 2017 Dell. Got stingy and didn't clean off the old paste right with isopropyl, ended up with a short that killed the board in 20 minutes. Replacement motherboard cost me $120 from a salvage shop in Phoenix. Has anyone else wrecked a part trying to cheap out on prep work?

2 comments

2 Comments

susan_wells5d ago

Read a post on r/pcmr last week where a guy did the exact same thing with a 3080 and ended up with a bricked GPU. You'd think everyone would learn from the Linus Tech Tips video about isopropyl alcohol being non-negotiable for paste removal. That Arctic MX-4 is solid stuff though at least you didn't buy the cheap stuff from China that turns into cement after a year. Replacement boards from salvage are a crapshoot but at least Phoenix has some decent e-waste shops.

william9175d ago

Used to think a quick wipe with a paper towel was good enough, but this post made me realize that's pure laziness. Grabbed my own cheap paste job six months ago and got lucky, never again. You just can't skip the simple steps and expect your board to survive.