CrypticDiamondz

I mean SURE if it's completely ruined let me know your postal info .... hehehe... seriously though thanks, I mean it's not a HUGE gouge per say but running my finger over it I could definitely feel that it's not level, so probably a small-ish gouge but as "TempestCatto" said - "That's what thermal paste is for. It will get into those groves and create a point of contact between that scratch in the IHS and the cold plate of the CPU cooler." so I'm holding onto that for reassurance... but also, I used Corsair TM30 for my thermal paste and cleaned it with isopropyl alcohol and then wiped with a coffee filter, that wouldn't cause any corrosion would it or degrade the ISH at all? Cause im just trying to put logic into how it would've happened, I wasn't using much force when cleaning either just enough to wipe the old paste away.... it is a mystery, but as long as it's working then that's really the silver lining. Thank you all for your feedback, this is my first post on here and no one else had any threads relating to my situation. If I ever need to donate this CPU you got first dibs though glennhl

Alright, let me just go take a big old chunk of sandpaper and buff this puppy out, brb. LOL

Wow thanks for the insanely fast reply!! And okay, that’s reassuring haha. The big thing to me was thinking down the road and hoping that it wouldn’t be an issue in the the future like for thermals/performance, especially if I wanted to replace the paste/switch to another cooler in the future or cleaning the CPU again will make the scratch worse. But as long as she’s good for now that’s what’s important.... literally have no idea how a scratch would have appeared just from cleaning it, ive owned 2 other Ryzen cpus and that’s NEVER happened Hahah. thanks again for your helpful reply

So I just got the Ryzen 7 3700X. I was switching cpu coolers today because the h60 wasn’t doing so good for keeping the temps low like it did my last cpu. so when I was cleaning the CPU with isopropyl alcohol and a coffee filter before applying the new cooler low and behold SOMEHOW a scratch appeared on the brand new CPU..I just want to know if this is a cause for concern? Because I just spent a whopping $400 CAD on this cpu and I’m most concerned about the thermals and if this is something that will effect anything down the road. Like it’s very minuscule and I may be overreacting but with a $400 chip you can’t blame me... maybe it will come off but I tried rubbing and it’s def a scuff/scratch of some kind.. how it got there, I don’t even know. thanks in advance for any advice.