Disagree about thermal paste being the main fix for hot CPUs

Had a bad week about 6 months ago where my Ryzen 3600 kept hitting 85 degrees under load. Everyone on here kept saying to redo the thermal paste, so I did that twice with some Arctic MX-4. Still ran hot. Turned out the problem was my case airflow was garbage - I had a glass front panel with tiny side vents. Swapped to a mesh front case for $60 and temps dropped 15 degrees. I think people jump to the paste thing because it's easy and sounds technical. Has anyone else found a bigger temp drop from case changes than from repasting?

2 comments

2 Comments

grant_palmer19d ago

15 degrees from just a case swap? That's wild. I had the same issue with my 3600, replaced the paste twice and it barely moved the needle.

jessicamiller19d ago

Try running it with the side panel off first to check your airflow path.