Pro tip: that 'thermal paste pea method' advice nearly cooked my CPU

My buddy Mike kept insisting on the pea method for thermal paste, said it was the only way to go. I tried it on a Ryzen 5 build last month and temps were hitting 95C under load. After I spread it thin myself with a credit card, temps dropped to 72C. Has anyone else found that technique just doesn't work on smaller chips?

2 comments

2 Comments

mason3611mo ago

Pea method gave me the exact same issue on my 5600X, switching to a thin spread brought temps right down to where they should be. Small chips just don't need that much paste.

quinn_nguyen1mo ago

Oh man, finally someone said it. Pea method is overkill on these smaller chips and just traps heat. Thin spread gang for life on anything under 8 cores.