Ryzen 7 7800X3D IHS shape

[Mayhem95]

Hi everyone. Im building a new PC using the Ryzen 7 7800X3D CPU and when i opened the box i had an initial concern/quesion.

The IHS of the CPU is not the same perfect square that previous generations have been as it has several small cutouts around the border. My question is this. Will the bracket on my motherboard/AIO cooler cover these to prevent thermal paste from getting into those cutouts and onto the smaller chips and pieces in those areas. I didnt get anything else other than the CPU in the box and i dont know of any products that are purchaseable to add on if that makes sense.

I realise this is a very paranoid and silly question but i would appreciate any and all advice.

Thank you in advance.

 

[Mayhem95]

Bracket won't no, if you want to put a cover over it to stop paste 'spilling' look at Noctua or Thermal Grizzly as they both offer a shield, something that isn't required imo, dot in the middle or manually spread your paste and you'll be fine.

what about the thermal paste thats already on the copper plate of my AIO will that be fine?

 

[Mayhem95]

yeah its brand new my question was will there be a risk of any paste on the excess surface area not touching the IHS damaging the chips that are visible on the CPU

 

[Mayhem95]

Thanks, very helpful

 

[Mayhem95]

While you can't depend on it, usually the pre-applied paste on a heatsink is a non-conductive type, so aside from making a bit of a mess it shouldn't have any impact if it gets pushed out a bit.

Personally I'd be inclined to remove it and apply something like Arctic MX-4 to the CPU or if you want to spread it to ensure there isn't "pump out" look at the Thermal Grizzly products, alternatively you could use a thermal pad but generally they have slightly worse performance than well applied paste.

i looked at the thermal grizzly shield things that they sell but unfortunately they are out of stock and i dont see any other brand selling something similar. Im going to take the chance and run the set up as is. Stock thermal paste on my last AIO seemed perfectly fine and the one im using in the new build is a bigger AIO so better heat transfer as well.