Permanent damage to CPU or CPU cooler from bad noctua thermal paste?

[Alir]

CPU: i7 4790K

Cooler: Dark Rock Pro 3

 

I used the cooler when I first got this PC. Needed to RMA it but took me months to do so due to one reason or another. In the meantime I used the Intel Stock Cooler. Temps would often go OVER 90 degrees when under load from games when I installed the stock cooler.

RMA'd cooler and got a new one. I re-applied it a couple weeks ago and was stress testing it with AIDA64 and Intel Extreme Tuning utility. I even went as far as doing the FPU test all by itself.

 

CPU temps would go up to 85 degrees celcius. Could this have damaged the CPU?

 

I suspect damage because when I removed the cooler to re-apply the paste (I was shocked my temps were going over 80 degrees when I had such a good cooler), there were some kind of dark coloured marks on the CPU. I could remove them with my finger but I didn't know what they were. Almost looked like burn marks. Also, there was some kind of thin layer of liquid between the CPU and cooler metal surfaces, which on first glance looked like condensation. But it was weird. The cooler and CPU had an EXTREMELY tight seal so I don't see how moisture from the outside could have gotten in. 

It's worth noting at this point the thermal paste covered maybe less than half of the surface area of the CPU. So I suspect whether heat directly transferring between the metals of the cooler and CPU could have caused some permanent damage and the burn marks to the metal surfaces? I'm less concerned about high temps inside the CPU because while it was hot, it was within limits. I'm more concerned about the surface of the metals.

 

That water-like substance around the thermal paste had trails connecting it to where the thermal paste was. Moreover, the paste looked kind of like it was burnt? What I mean by that is it looked like it had hardened, hence my thinking it had been burnt.

Could this be as a result of faulty thermal paste? I purchased this paste in January 2016. It's the HT-H1 by Noctua

[iRileyx]

8 minutes ago, Alir said:

dark coloured marks on the CPU. I could remove them with my finger but I didn't know what they were. Almost looked like burn marks.  

some kind of thin layer of liquid between the CPU and cooler metal surfaces, which on first glance looked like condensation

You did remove the little plastic cover that covers the thermal paste from the cooler when you first applied it right?

[Alir]

38 minutes ago, RKRiley said:

You did remove the little plastic cover that covers the thermal paste from the cooler when you first applied it right?

 

The plastic cover on the cooler? Obviously.

 

I recall there was one person who did that. But that is unrelated to this.

[Deli]

That kind of temperature cannot generate burn mark on metal of the CPU IHS.

[Alir]

14 minutes ago, Deli said:

That kind of temperature cannot generate burn mark on metal of the CPU IHS.

 

What about burning the paste if it is faulty? Remember there was that kind of thin sheet of moisture. I am wondering whether it came from my processor or not.

[Deli]

6 minutes ago, Alir said:

 

What about burning the paste if it is faulty? Remember there was that kind of thin sheet of moisture. I am wondering whether it came from my processor or not.

Normally you need a few hundred degree of heat to "burn" the thermal paste. However I have no way to tell if the thermal paste you used is faulty. Better get a new tube, maybe a different brand like Gelid Extreme, to be on the safe side.

 

Intel CPU will shut down when reaches 105C. So there is unlikely any damage to your CPU because of the temperature.

[WoodenMarker]

Photos would be helpful.

Your cpu is mostly likely fine.

[LogicalDrm]

85C is hot but ok. 90C is really how, but even that won't do severe damage. Black marks are probably just some discoloration which is normal with greasy things like paste.

[Princess Luna]

2 hours ago, LoGiCalDrm said:

85C is hot but ok. 90C is really how, but even that won't do severe damage. Black marks are probably just some discoloration which is normal with greasy things like paste.

I used to push my i5 5200u to 102Cº daily before finally saving enough cash to build my current setup and it never got damaged, so yes I am pretty sure that 85Cº though not ideal by any means is not going to kill his CPU.

[LogicalDrm]

17 minutes ago, Princess Cadence said:

I used to push my i5 5200u to 102Cº daily before finally saving enough cash to build my current setup and it never got damaged, so yes I am pretty sure that 85Cº though not ideal by any means is not going to kill his CPU.

Running CPUs or any electronics close to their max temp limits will decrease life-time. But as its been noted in many places, life-time of CPU is 10-20 years. So its unlikely to see anything which would directly relate to running chip under really high temps.

[Princess Luna]

1 minute ago, LoGiCalDrm said:

Running CPUs or any electronics close to their max temp limits will decrease life-time. But as its been noted in many places, life-time of CPU is 10-20 years. So its unlikely to see anything which would directly relate to running chip under really high temps.

Oh yes I used to really go hard on that laptop thank god now it is retired from me and I gave it to my mother which never does more than light work and browsing, now my 6700 runs on 72Cº at full load and I feel much better conscious about it

[Pheelo]

You must have forgotten to remove the plastic.

[aisle9]

14 hours ago, Alir said:

CPU: i7 4790K

Cooler: Dark Rock Pro 3

 

CPU temps would go up to 85 degrees celcius. Could this have damaged the CPU?

On a 4790K? Unlikely, I'd say.

 

I can also confirm that the stock cooler on a 4790K sucks, even at stock speeds. With a heavy enough workload, even at stock speeds breaking 80C is entirely possible.

[Alir]

On 1/8/2017 at 4:55 PM, aisle9 said:

On a 4790K? Unlikely, I'd say.

 

I can also confirm that the stock cooler on a 4790K sucks, even at stock speeds. With a heavy enough workload, even at stock speeds breaking 80C is entirely possible.

 

I was not using the stock cooler. I was using theDRP3 and was getting those temps