That thermal paste trick from a YouTube comment wrecked my PS5

Some guy named Dave in a comment section said to use more paste than usual for the PS5 APU. Said it helps with heat transfer. I tried it. Used a pea sized blob plus a little extra. 3 weeks later my console started shutting off mid game. Opened it up and the paste had squeezed out everywhere. Got on the board and the little components around the chip. Had to clean it all with 99% isopropyl. Took me 2 hours with a toothbrush. Used a normal amount this time. No issues since. Has anyone else fallen for bad paste advice online?

2 comments

2 Comments

pat_hall872d ago

Oh man, that's rough. I remember when I built my first PC back in 2018, a buddy swore by spreading paste with a credit card to get a super thin even layer. Did that, and my CPU temps shot up like 15 degrees under load. Ended up pulling the cooler off and finding half the die was basically bare while the edges were a mess. Took me a solid afternoon scraping and cleaning before I got it right with a simple cross pattern.

sam_anderson1d ago

Wait, wait, wait... did you seriously say your buddy had you scrape off the paste with a credit card? Like, an actual plastic card scraping across the CPU? That's honestly wild to me. I mean, I've heard of people using a card to spread it, but scraping it off again is a whole different level of bad advice. Did you end up with any scratches on the die or was it just a mess of paste? I gotta ask, did you ever talk to that buddy again after that disaster?