Apply a mysterious paste to the capacitor.
Apply a mysterious paste to the capacitor.
I possess these capacitors highlighted in red near the GPU on my ASUS motherboard, with some unknown sticky adhesive between them and the heat sink. The role of this adhesive appears similar to that of thermal paste on a processor. I’ve accidentally removed most of it and am unsure what replacement should be used since it looks and feels quite different from standard thermal paste.
They aren't capacitors—they're inductors or chokes. It looks like thermal paste was applied, but you could switch to thermal pads instead. Non-conductive thermal paste works too; it's not essential since inductors usually don’t overheat, especially with a GTX 1050.
The setup should include thermal pads. Was the device purchased new or used?
It seems the device likely came with pads initially and they attempted to install it. Examining the heatsink will show raised spots where pads should fit, indicating they were placed there. The raised sections help apply pressure when the cooler is fixed in position.