What did I break?

To preface here are my original specs:

Intel Core i7-4790K
EVGA GeForce GTX 970 ACX 2.0 OC
ASRock Z97 Pro4 LGA 1150 motherboard
16 GB DDR3-1333 RAM

Today I got a cooler master evo 212 and installed it. Dur to my ineptitude, there was thermal paste spilling over the lid to a slight extent when I was done. When I turn my computer on it just turns on and off in an infinite cycle without ever making it to the bios screen, or giving any graphical readout whatsoever. When I replace the i7 with my old 4690k, it turns on for a lot longer but still displays just a black screen. What possible reason could there be for this? I can provide any more information you might need to narrow things down.

Heres a note: installing the evo 212 was difficult for me because I couldnt get the screws to line up- I didnt apply more than a pea sized dab of the cooler master thermal compound, but the heatsink slid around a lot while I was installing it.

Kek Meme

Posted 2016-08-31T23:07:14.830

Reputation: 19

1Disconnect power, take the cooler off and clean up the excess paste using Q-tips and isopropyl alcohol. Use the correct amount of paste and reassemble. – Moab – 2016-08-31T23:11:33.070

The thermal paste you used, was it metallic, if it was then you damaged motherboard. It appears you know, the thermal paste shouldn't be "spilling over the lid", so you should fix that. – Ramhound – 2016-08-31T23:11:45.337

1Im not sure- i used the thermal paste that came with the coolermaster thermal compound. I imagined that if it was conductive it could damage things- though no thermal paste actually made it to the motherboard pcb. At this point im hoping its the motherboard, which is backed up by the fact that neither processor I have is working. – Kek Meme – 2016-08-31T23:22:41.247

is the cpu power supply connector plugged in and seated correctly? – Journeyman Geek – 2016-08-31T23:52:33.733

I'm assuming your memory is DDR3-1600 because 1300 MHz isn't a valid speed for DDR3 memory. If it's 1333 MHz and not 1600, feel free to edit. – bwDraco – 2016-09-01T23:58:58.793

Also, its hard to describe what to look for, but you may want to check if you've bent pins on the socket. shine a light and look for ones that look different. – Journeyman Geek – 2016-09-01T23:59:40.500

Answers

I think you may have fried your motherboard. You probably used silver-based thermal compound, which is electrically conductive because it has metal in it. When it spilled over the lid, it may have gotten underneath the CPU somehow and shorted a couple of pins, although you said none got on the motherboard, so that's kind of a wild guess.

Even if you used silicone-based compound (which is not electrically conductive), you should be aware that the over-application of thermal compound is almost as bad as not using any at all. The compound's job is to fill in the microscopic pores in the two metal surfaces to eliminate air voids between them. The compound itself is a better thermal conductor than air, but not as good as the solid metal heat sink. Rather than just filling gaps, using too much paste actually creates a barrier of less-than-optimal heat transfer between the two metals. It becomes an insulator at that point, which is the exact opposite of what you want. The fact that the compound smooshed out the sides of the heat sink means you probably used too much.

A CPU gets very HOT very quickly (we're talking milliseconds). It's possible that you could've roasted the board.

Wes Sayeed

Posted 2016-08-31T23:07:14.830

Reputation: 12 024

I don't believe each pin is fused on a socket, what do you mean by "When it spilled over the lid, it may have gotten underneath the CPU somehow and shorted a couple of pins"? – adampski – 2016-09-05T13:34:05.183

Story time: banking on the idea that the mobo was shot, I bought a new lga 1150 GIGABYTE mobo. After some assembly... Same thing. With both cpus. I guessed that both cpus being broken and causing the exact same problem was unlikely, so I started picking out things that may have been causing the problem- gpu probably not, the idea of my PSU being broken made me upset- so I singled out the memory. I unplugged all but one stick and- hey presto it boot right in to windows (or rather the windows repair screen) So its a load off my chest that a problem I thought was worth 400 dollars was actually worth round-about twenty. If you have a similar problem I implore you to check your memory, as this is the second system breaking memory problem ive had to date. Ciao

Kek Meme

Posted 2016-08-31T23:07:14.830

Reputation: 19