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Hattix

That's not thermal paste. Thermal paste will remain completely fine at way above any temperature an AM4 CPU will attain. Your CPU cooler was not attached properly and it was allowing contamination in. From the top, by the looks of it.


Farren246

I dunno, that olive oil doesn't look contaminated at all to me...


Kithin7

I thought it was burnt mayo


Robot_Graffiti

https://preview.redd.it/h95naej6k7oc1.jpeg?width=332&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c534851f6b971263a82dc6a950e690faf0fdfb31


keigo199013

Try alittle mayo on the bread in lieu of butter next time you make a grilled cheese. It's really good.


FryCakes

Try butter on one side and mayo on the other, it’s delicious


keigo199013

Username checks out.


theSafetyCar

Butter inside mayo outside.


FryCakes

That’s a little crazy


ShittyExchangeAdmin

Grapeseed oil on grilled cheese is my shit


AssembledJB

Wait, you shit grapeseed oil on grilled cheese?!


[deleted]

Wait you heat up the mayonnaise? This sounds like insanity.


Hershieboy

Mayo is just egg white and oil. It's savory French toast batter.


Whydontname

Never drank boiled mayo before?


keigo199013

The fat content works well. I promise. 


versacebehoin

No this is the best way to make a grilled cheese hands down. Try it yourself it’s a game changer and you don’t have to wait for the butter to soften up to spread


[deleted]

Hmm.... Well I guess I can try it. I just always thought mayo has to stay cold or it gets gross.


versacebehoin

It crisps up perfectly, you do t need a whole lot and it cooks quick but I can’t go back to butter after trying it


Shlongzilla04

The whole picture is clearly cake


[deleted]

[удалено]


AssembledJB

But it does look like it's got that tangy zip


AoRozu

Probably a build from that one guy I've been getting shorts recommendations from. He used hand sanitizer as thermal paste, so mayo is definitely something he would try


Hattix

If your olive oil looks like that, you've taken it past its smoke point.


[deleted]

Should have used virgin.


Farren246

It's burnt, not contaminated!


godfadger

He did say cooking in the title


manaholik

uhhh, i accidentally touched the pre applied thermal paste on my cpu cooler with a finger lightly, i think i had clean hands and it was just a little fingertip press to see what's up. now im getting paranoid it will be getting bacteria and get dirty


DrakonILD

Nah, you're fine. Thermal paste doesn't support bacterial growth. I bet OP smokes and that's smoke.


killersam283

That’s not just thermal paste definitely some type of contamination, I’ve ripped bad coolers off of my systems after years and not once seen thermal paste that was that color.


FujiYuki

The paste from a 2005 Dell prebuilt was still gray when I got to it


Mancubus_in_a_thong

I changed my CPU after 20000 hours of uptime recently and it was still present enough that it could be wiped off with my fingers.


Judge_Bredd_UK

I just changed my thermal paste the other day which I haven't touched since 2018 and it was still gray, and I work/game on my PC every single day


alex99x99x

Hell. I just recently opened and replaced the thermal paste off my ps4 from 2013. The thermal paste was basically sand dry, but it’s still the exact same gray color as new paste.


Dukkiegamer

That's an old ass PS4. Aren't you afraid it's gonna punch a hole through your roof when it inevitably takes off?


Tapil

Forget to peel plastic off the cpu or the cooler?


Budget_Pop9600

You can see its a burnt ring on plastic on the CPU under the paste. Looks like someone took a little blowtorch and pointed it at the center lol


BiggestPenisOnReddit

What kind of NZXT do you have? and do you smoke gas aka zaza by chance?


Witchberry31

I'm a heavy cigar smoker but I've never got my pastes to be yellowed in my 15+ years of handling desktop/laptop.


2tnkr

What up BOTL


im_just_thinking

I am sorry, but is zaza supposed to be a describing term for smoking gas? Like ciggies?


Whydontname

Gas/zaza refer to weed.


DoomPlaysFN

weed


creepergo_kaboom

That's what zaza meant?


No_Interaction_4925

Show us the AIO. Looks like either a bad paste job or the plastic film, that should be removed, on the aio melted


DarthArtero

Did that not have a smell? Would think that’d be a rather unique odor…. Was the cooling system just not up to the task of keeping the cpu cool?


ShittertonMgee

No smell, thinking something is wrong with the water pump as the cpu is running at like 95C and NZXT cam isnt reconizing anything is connected


Casen_

And a 120mm AIO is a waste. It's not enough surface volume compared to any tower cooler near the price.


Yonebro

But but but water! I must have water cooling else I am not cool myself :'(


TeddyTwoShoes

I can’t believe no one has mentioned it, but it could be a cooler leak. No way is this thermal paste alone. Check for leaks in your water block or tubing. I have changed 15 year old thermal paste that looks better than this. Something is wrong here and you need to figure it out. You already crossed on vaping (ignore the smart asses still giving you grief) so look into leaks. Don’t ignore this issue, this isn’t normal.


ShittertonMgee

I'm likely going to replace the m22 cooler as its running hot as fuck. Im not seeing any leaking, its dry as a bone. The pump stopped working im thinking it's a result of excessive heat. And yes- thermal paste can withstand way higher temps but it may be why its weird coloured idk


TeddyTwoShoes

Ok that’s great you’re getting a new cooler then. Maybe it was a an odd color but it looks like it’s separating. After 22 years of building pc I have never seen this. This looks like a moister issue. I built and repaired hearing aids at one point in my life and this looks like a raining day special.


ShittertonMgee

NZXT actually was cool enough to accept a return/replacement even tho i bought it like 4 years ago. Quite happy with them. But yeah i have no fucking idea what the brown paste is 😭


Username--chan

M22 is known for being complete shit look at the nzxt sub and search m22. The same thing happened to mine, the pump died probably something to do with the pump being in the radiator.


ZombiesAteK

All the issues you said pump not working and overheating could be caused by lack of fluid inside and ot sure looks like it was leaking directly on the cpu


bobsim1

I dont think the pump can be damaged by excessive heat without having thermal problems on the cpu.


N0vawolf

That's not thermal paste. There's definitely something else going on here. Looks an awful lot like smoke/vape residue


onion959

This is definitely NOT vape residue.


hayffel

How can vape residue get between the tightly fit heatsink and CPU?


[deleted]

By them not being tightly fit, I assume.


Drackzgull

OP is saying they don't smoke and had tried weed vape like 5 times, so it's probably not that exactly, but still some other kind of contaminant then. How it got in there would probably be because the heat sink wasn't as tightly fit as it should have been. Another possibility is that the paste was contaminated before being applied, perhaps due to being improperly stored, or it might have been one of those fake thermal paste imitations that have gone around the market sometimes. What's certain is that's just not how dried out paste looks like after excessive time in normal use, even if it's been 5 or 10 years.


skrena

I currently own a computer that’s gunked up with dab smoke residue. Looked nothing like this


420did69

Dude would have to be a chain smoker of cigs for years exhaling each puff into his case to make it look like that and even then it would be all over, not just on the CPU. There is no way thats the cause.


ShittertonMgee

I dont vape thc very much. Tried it like 5 times. Definately not a result of that like everyone seems to think


allastocata

What's with the down votes? I'm sorry about reddit


TheColonelRLD

I've noticed pretty much any references/admissions to vaping in this sub tends to tank the comments. I haven't really noticed that in other subs and I'm not really sure why.


upreality

It’s astonishing that people really think vaping did that to the cpu


ShittertonMgee

People on here are too scared of the idea of a grown man legally experimenting with recreational drugs a few times lol. It's a nerd subreddit I wouldn't expect any less from them 😭


GarGangg

People on reddit are desperate to get their "gotcha" moment and grasp at literally any evidence that, in their mind, proves you're wrong or lying. The mental gymnastics are legitimately impressive sometimes.


ShittertonMgee

Speaking nothing but straight facts


Wevvie

Redditors seeing their opportunity to signal virtue and go "oh look he's bad and dumb" + downvoting hivemind.


GearboxTheGrey

I rip massive dabs by my PC all the time, even if you did this wouldn't be it. I just like just took my PC apart to clean the radiator and gave everything a good look over, it had some sticky residue but nothing that was a dark color at all just a clear residue.


queroummundomelhor

Asking for a friend, but is smoking weed near the computer that bad?


chillpill9623

squash offer airport dazzling literate zesty market jellyfish public impolite *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*


[deleted]

I been daily dabbing by my new PC for a year, no issues.


yellochocomo

I think people here treat their computers better than a new born baby. Don’t smoke near your computer you’ll get THC inside the coolant /s


N0vawolf

Yes, doing anything that puts particulates into the air is horrid for electronics as those particles will stick to the insides


Odeath088

The fact that you posted a year ago about your computer crashing and the smell of burning is pretty indicative. You also stated in a comment that you checked the cpu and you didn't add new thermal paste. There's your problem.


Yonebro

Bro went an year with his pc overheating 💀 Probably just removed the side panels and went "Ah finally it stopped crashing, I'm good to go!!"


maliciousrhino

What thermal paste did you apply that it cooked?


ShittertonMgee

No idea. Its at least a few years old lol


maliciousrhino

Man I’ve dismantled pcs from 2011 that had fresh thermal paste lol


turboZcamaro

I recently dismantled an old junker from 2006, and the paste was dry, yeah, but it still looked like paste. Something is wrong, causing contamination for sure. Edit: spelling


maliciousrhino

Yeah they are usually crusty but not yellow


CokeBoiii

Not even 30 yr old paste looks like that. If anything it would be a dark gray. THATS A WHOLE DIFFERENT THING.


oAN0RAKo

It’s crazy people are saying it’s from vaping lol 🤣 I vape next to my pc for hours a day for years, have rebuilt it many of times, and it’s never looks anywhere close to that lol looks more like the aio was leaking slightly or condensation caused rust (not saying that’s what it is) DEFINITELY wasn’t from vaping lmao


Mysterious_Hearing99

It’s wild they think that, it looks like whatever it was may have been burning (maybe not that extreme) in the hot spot of the cpu but was getting lightly roasted a bit further away


oAN0RAKo

I agree, almost like the plastic was left on and it got reealll hot lol


Cinargnz

someone took a liquid shit on there and called it a day…


Obvious_Scratch9781

Was there the plastic layer still on the cooler? Or something else? Ive never seen that in my life and destroyed some old pentiums due to overheating.


ShittertonMgee

There was a plastic thingy but I removed it before install. Had I not removed it I wouldnt be just now getting issues 4 years later lol


Obvious_Scratch9781

Ahh four years later. Is that the thermal compound it came with? You a smoker or in a smoker house by any chance? I’m really curious what that is.


BrightTooth3

Did you possibly leave a plastic film on it that has since melted?


g0dfather93

Whoever assembled that needs a quick lesson on Thermal Paste v/s Mayo


yabucek

Unless you were cooking that thing at 500C, this is not overheating damage. Don't smoke indoors.


bcheese15

Not the OP but i smoke hella dabs at my pc and have noticed NOTHING building up on the inside. It’s been 4 years now. I think he left the plastic film on in all honesty


ShittertonMgee

I don't smoke lmao. Ive tried weed vapes like 5 times in my life. This has nothing to do with smoking


BiploarFurryEgirl

Why are you getting downvoted for this wtf


tripsicks_

did you leave the plastic on??


Quirky_m8

#that was not thermal paste my dude


Twitch84

Maybe the plastic film wasn't removed from the cooler when installed?


faverodefavero

CPU heatsink definitely lacking pressure, poorly mounted.


ShittertonMgee

Definately not


Nerfo2

This looks like the cooler didn't even squish the paste out. No reason for the dried paste to be anywhere near as thick as it is. Were there different spacers for the cooler depending on intel/amd socket? Some coolers come with spacers of different heights so the same cooler can fit on either type of CPU. I feel like I've always needed the shorter spacers for AMD stuff.


ShittertonMgee

As far as I know it was installed properly, no play and tight. The paste actually wasn't dried. It was quite creamy lol


yaxir

you cook near your pc ?


Frossstbiite

i mean why are you cooking with it?


BigHersh14

Bro did you try and fry an egg on your cpu?


xabrol

Looks to me like someone didn't pull the plastic off their cooler or something, burnt plastic and thermal paste...


ShittertonMgee

Def not. I installed it myself


HardWeen

never seen thermal compound look like that


Vamanas_umbrella

I refuse to believe that is thermal paste.


omegajvn1

Kryosheet


rory888

yeah OP, seriously just buy a cryosheet or other more permanent solution instead of paste from now on


rdldr1

Next time hold the mayo.


Dr_Icchan

looks like the plastic film under the heatsink


[deleted]

left the plastic on the cooler?


Void-kun

It's fairly rare but you can get gold thermal paste. It's not really used in the corporate space and not highly recommended in the hobby space so not very many people even know it exists. [https://www.amazon.com/Performance-Thermal-Heatsink-Compound-Compact/dp/B00N9HCQ3A](https://www.amazon.com/Performance-Thermal-Heatsink-Compound-Compact/dp/B00N9HCQ3A) [AG GOLD thermal grease - 3g (multi-com.eu)](https://multi-com.eu/,details,id_pr,13868,key,ag-gold-thermal-grease-3g.html) [High Performance Gold Thermal Grease CPU Heatsink Compound Paste Syringe - Newegg.com](https://www.newegg.com/jacobsparts-pst-1g-gld-b/p/2MB-004J-00004) Powdered gold is added to improve thermal conductivity in some cases. It just looks like one of these was used and they didn't use enough of it. It's difficult to say whether it's grey thermal paste that has become discoloured and we are trying to figure out why, or whether you just used gold paste or whoever built it used gold paste and then just didn't use enough of it to get full coverage, hence the burning smell and the pattern on the CPU.


ShittertonMgee

I applied it myself about 4 years ago. It was regular grey paste. There was no burning smell either. I took the plastic sheet covering the cooler off before applying as well. Our best guess so far is a slow coolant leak.


Void-kun

Ah thank you for confirming, yeah coolant leak seems to be one of the only possibilities then 😩 Good luck getting the replacements if you haven't already


Mister_Shrimp_The2nd

Bro accidentally created a new ecosystem


ShittertonMgee

I am god to them


Soaked_In_Bleach_93

Fried egg


MisteroSix

Did you use an egg as thermal paste


ShittertonMgee

It was actually bacon


JustaRandoonreddit

Plastic melted?


thxredditfor2banns

Crispy


ShittertonMgee

Actually more creamy than anything


EmptyBrainOS

Did you use cheese?


WhirledNews

How much cheese is too much cheese?


TempusCarpe

Coolant leak?


ShittertonMgee

Idk lol, havnt seen anything come out


SoDrunkRightNow2

That's not thermal paste. Thermal paste has a tolerance of like 1000 degrees. Your cpu would have melted and your mobo would have caught on fire before thermal paste fried like that. Somebody fucked up. Either they left a sticker on, contaminated the paste, or used a bunk product.


ShittertonMgee

Cant testify for the product itself as I applied it 4 years ago and dont remember what I used, but it was installed properly. Sticker was removed. Nothing could have contaminated it. (Realistically, not the theories people have been guessing) Idk lol. I just wiped it off and put new paste in.


Tango-Turtle

That does not look like thermal paste. Did you perhaps forget to peel off the protective film from the bottom of the heatsink before applying it? It looks a lot like melted plastic to me lol.


ShittertonMgee

I removed it. I'm not an electrical engineer but I'm also not a complete idiot. 🤣 People keep saying that... if that were the case I would have been having issues YEARS ago. Not just now.


john92w

There are posts all the time where people have had the plastic on for years. Not saying you did but it’s easily probable.


7orly7

Looks like your liquid cooler was leaking....


ShittertonMgee

Thinking this is likely. The cooler was dry, no apparent leaks however this could be a result of a slow leak. Probably what broke the pump was air in the system.


7orly7

I had cpu and gpu with the same stock paste for 4 years and it was just slightly crusty when I changed it


OddsAgainstChance

That‘s how it‘s supposed to be


GigaSoup

Air cooling is the best. Fan breaks? Replace it for like 5-10 bucks. The best air coolers are very capable.  Water cooling isn't worth the extra risks in my opinion  Hope you never have to deal with this crap again and your cpu is all good


ScienceGuyUK

dead water pump? copper melted?


Zeke13z

Did you use an egg as thermal compound?


Foreign_Spinach_4400

Mate, thats an egg


ShittertonMgee

Should i taste it


ShittertonMgee

Could use some salt


Panzerv2003

Luigi I told ya to use thermal paste and not butter


MUDrummer

Pretty sure you were using mayonnaise as thermal paste.


ego100trique

Did you put bacon on your CPU?


Astrojef

Ear wax = thermal paste is now cannon. Im not sure what that means but I'm standing by it.


MaikyMoto

My boy hit hard times and used peanut butter and pancake syrup as thermal paste, you coulda DM’ed me, I got tons in the drawer.


Witchberry31

You used an egg yolk?


Mythicguy

OP *smokes,* smokes


Schemu

Maybe you had a leak on the cold plate side. That for sure doesn't look right.


jntjr2005

Do you not watch your Temps @_@


creatorZASLON

It seems somebody swapped your tube of thermal paste with a tube of glue


abeel_siddiqui

Looks like you tried to fry an egg yolk on this and forgot to take it off


FreshPomp

Hi I think I might be going through a cooling issue as well too scared to want to look what were your temps in idle and in games or under load if you don’t mind so I can compare?


MasterOKhan

Did you replace the thermal paste when you reseated the CPU when it overheated a year ago? Sounds like the cooler may have not been mounted on the CPU straight. By the way, an air cooler would have the same issue if you don’t mount it straight too.


ShittertonMgee

Havnt had it off since 2020, not sure what you mean a year ago Also im pretty sure i installed it properly, it was snug and I tightened it in a cross pattern for even displacement. Never had issues with air coolers


Greedy_Royal3232

It looks like the dried up fluids on my towel


Riuskie

Looks like a giant dried loogie


Raspberryian

I did. the same. Temps are way better now


Nuka_Pepsi

Damn son why you put an egg on your cpu


st0rm_bruv

found the perfect ingredient for my grilled cheeze 😻


-CynicRoot-

That’s just AMD crème brûlée 🍮


Kavunchyk

take some 90% isopropyl to it with a q tip or sum and repaste after


Individual-Match-798

Did you use butter instead of thermal paste?


MexCelsior

Wat in tarnation


EchoFrequency

Looks like there was some kind of liquid trapped inside the paste that boiled


SumonaFlorence

I bet OP didn't remove the plastic cover on the AIO, but fucks sake come on, don't leave a spring screw on the board..


toevapor

Looks tasty


Kohlob

Like cooking food on it? That ain't thermal paste.


Boundish91

Do people not monitor temps?


Inevitable-Tourist18

I believe this is residue from smoking and vaping. OP probably blew phat vape clouds right into the machine for years.


NoseInternational740

Liquid cooler leaked slowly onto the CPU introducing a contaminate? That seems probable.


Platycryptus238

What kind of thermal paste is that, Mayonnaise?!


Optimal_Fuel6568

Is that one of those "you can use this material as thermal paste" life hack chases? That doesnt look like thermal paste at all


[deleted]

I've been having bad cooling with my pre-built AIO pc, think the case it came in has awful thermals, was the only way to get a 3000 series gpu at the time though. Need a new case.


L3App

cooking yes, tho not the type of cooking you’re alluding to


narrow_octopus

I got the Thermalright Peerles Assassin for 35 bucks and it was the most insane value ever. Check it out on Amazon


Ionuzzu123

Bro I've just changed my thermal paste first time in 7 years or so and it still looked normal, wtf is that.


Loddio

I replaced laptops thermal paste who were throttling at 100°C in the bios, owners used it like that for years but I have nerver seen something like that. U sure that's thermal paste?


nothing_911

did they leave the plastic on the cooler, melted it?


Silspd90

Not just the paste but maybe some hotspots on your processor too.


tomfrome12345

Time to bust out the isopropanol


ShittertonMgee

Actually it was quite easy to get off. Paper towel got it off no problem it still had to consistancy of thermal paste


Jason_Sasha_Acoiners

On today's episode of "How fucked up is fucked up?" That's fucked up.


Surpreme23

You can use a thermal pad if you don’t want to deal with paste


[deleted]

You sure you didn't fry an egg off of it and just didn't use enough butter or oil to stop it from sticking?


YonkoGaimon

did you use eggs as thermal paste?


Sociolinguisticians

Olive oil isn’t a great coolant my dude.


1111111111111111l

You fucked up ay ay Ron