Question Pre applied thermal paste question

[mattressback]

Hi I’ve got a relatively new pc less than 2 months old amd 3400g and annoyingly the stock amd wraith stealth fan has started to vibrate already.

ive never replaced a cooler before and was thinking if I was to do it I’d maybe go for the wraith spire .

the wraith spire comes with thermal paste pre applied as did the stealth apparently. Would I need to wipe the cpu down at all between switching or would it just be a case of old one out new one in job done?

thanks

 

[CARLOS]

Yes you need to clean off the old thermal paste carefully using Isopropyl alcohol, if you are changing cooler I would go for one of the mainstream coolers rather than another standard AMD one !

Depending on budget something like this Amazon product

or Amazon product

or Amazon product

 

[mattressback]

Thanks for the reply, as an alternative to replacing the whole cooler is it possible just to by a new fan? I've noticed there are 4 screws that hold the cooler to the motherboard and another 4 around the fan, woukd they just lift the fan off and it be possible to simply screw another into place?

 

[CARLOS]

Thanks for the reply, as an alternative to replacing the whole cooler is it possible just to by a new fan? I've noticed there are 4 screws that hold the cooler to the motherboard and another 4 around the fan, woukd they just lift the fan off and it be possible to simply screw another into place?

Unlikely unless you can get a fan the same. as that one would be unique to that cooler, saying that they are not very expensive on eBay wraith stealth cooler | eBay

Are you sure its definitely the fan making the noise, have you checked all the screws are tight ?

 

[mattressback]

Unlikely unless you can get a fan the same. as that one would be unique to that cooler, saying that they are not very expensive on eBay wraith stealth cooler | eBay

Are you sure its definitely the fan making the noise, have you checked all the screws are tight ?

I was just hoping to avoid the whole thermal paste thing, it makes me nervous lol. The vibrating noise stops when I briefly stop the fan with my finger

 

[CARLOS]

I was just hoping to avoid the whole thermal paste thing, it makes me nervous lol. The vibrating noise stops when I briefly stop the fan with my finger

So just buy one of the wraith stealth coolers from eBay and swap the fan with yours.

£10 delivered AM4 Wraith Stealth Active Fan Cooler : Cool , Quiet , Low profile. 65 Watt *NEW* | eBay

 

[mattressback]

I tightened the screws as suggested, though non of them seemed to move even a mm the noise seems to have gone for last 24hrs . I'll wait and see if it returns

 

[CARLOS]

I tightened the screws as suggested, though non of them seemed to move even a mm the noise seems to have gone for last 24hrs . I'll wait and see if it returns

Another thought is one of the other screws is loose, maybe one of the motherboard screws especially as it was shipped with it installed, might be worth tightening all of them but don't use too much force just make sure they are not loose.

 

[Grimley]

Word of caution here. If you do decide to replace the cooler, run the PC at load first for about 5 minutes, switch off, undo the screws then twist the cooler from side to side before gently pulling. If you don't do this, there is a risk of the CPU being stuck to the cooler & it will be pulled out of its socket which isn't good. You can bend a few CPU pins if this happens, if you are careful you can bend these back but if you are not & if any of the pins break then you pretty well will have no hope of getting it repaired.

I've been lucky in the past with bent AMD CPU pins (3 or 4 times now) but they are fragile.