Beauty walks the razor's edge...

[torres-no-tan-magnifico]

I noticed that my trusty self-build PC was getting a bit noisy and decided to check the CPU temps. One of the four cores was 54ºC and the CPU was straining at over 50%: as I was only running MX-18 with only one browser open I decided to investigate further!

I was hoping that it would be a simple matter of cleaning dust from the heat sink's fan and was both surprised and disappointed to find that all was well in that department. This, of course, could only mean that the thermal paste needed replacing, but wouldn't be a problem because I had my trusty Arctic Silver stored in my fridge. Then it dawned on me that the last time I replaced said paste, getting the 4 pins back securely in place on the MOBO was a complete and utter nightmare.

Notwithstanding, I took the proverbial bull by the horns and easily removed the heat sink, cleaned off the old thermal paste and spread new paste onto the CPU and then held my breath as I started the torturous process of pushing down the pins and listening for the click of submission. After several failed attempts I once again completely removed the fan/heat sink and to my utter dismay discovered that one of the pins had broken.

Thinking I would have to order and await the delivery of a new CPU fan (a major drag when all you want is your beloved PC back up and running ASAP) I then decided to continue trying to see if I could get the 3 remaining pins back onto the MOBO.

After further struggles and worry over whether I'd break the MOBO getting them back in...success! However, I was sure that the broken pin would mean the heat sink being not properly seated and that the temps would go haywire. However, when I checked the temps and CPU I discovered to my joy that the average temp of the 4 cores was a cool 32ºC and CPU was running anywhere between 1% and 7%.

As a precaution, I put a thin strip of electrical tape from a RAM slot across to the broken pin housing and fingers crossed, all is well.

For those about to paste I salute you!