12
I finally figured out why people keep killing their PS4s with thermal paste
Everyone says to repaste when the fan gets loud, but they glob on way too much. I opened a buddy's console after he did it himself and found paste squeezed onto the motherboard. You only need a pea sized dot, maybe 3mm across, right in the center of the chip. More paste doesn't mean better cooling, it can actually cause overheating by creating air pockets. I've fixed 5 consoles this month alone with this exact issue. Anyone else seen a console die from a simple paste job gone wrong?
3 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In3 Comments
skyler_kim151mo ago
My first repaste job looked like a toothpaste commercial, way too much paste. Watched a few teardown videos and saw how little they actually use. Now I spread a tiny dot with a plastic card for an even thin layer. The fan stays quiet and the console runs cooler than before.
5
Honestly I read somewhere that the PS4's APU die is actually smaller than people think so a pea sized dot is about right, but even then its easy to overdo it. I heard this one tech YouTuber say the pressure from the heatsink spreads it perfectly so you don't need to spread it yourself like with a card. Ngl I see way too many people using way more paste than needed because they think more is better, but it really just pumps out the sides and makes a mess on the board. Tbh Ive seen some nasty globs that looked like someone squeezed a whole tube on there.
4