Thread: Building a Desktop

Originally Posted by linkinkampf19

6. Thermal paste. Don't use the standard shit. It works well enough, but Arctic Silver 5 is a key to longevity and stability.

I'm sorry, but this is just false. AS is definitely better and will reduce temps, but the 5-10 degree difference isn't going to make a bit of difference to either longevity or stability as long as you're below the tjunction max. CPUs are engineered to last at least 10 years under this temperature (real world is more like 20+). Most people do not use CPUs long enough to worry about any minute effects on longevity, even if AS made that much difference (it does not unless you're overclocking). The major concern is to prevent going over the tjunction max, as your PC will start shutting down to protect itself. The default thermal paste does this just fine.

7. Make sure if you have front USB and/or media reader connections to unhook them from the board. not doing so before an installation will give you a C: drive that is not your Windows install.

I've never experienced or heard of this.

Originally Posted by ephekt

Most people do not use CPUs long enough to worry about any minute effects on longevity, even if AS made that much difference (it does not unless you're overclocking).

Yeah, I'm probably not going to be overclocking, though I could understand how that assumption might be made if I'm building my own PC...