System fails to start following thermal paste installation
System fails to start following thermal paste installation
Installation issues can occur when the 24-pin and CPU 4/8 pins move during setup, leading to non-boot conditions even though the system powers on. A faulty SATA cable is often responsible. Don’t overlook checking and reattaching these connections.
You have both the SATA and power cables. Do you have a graphic connected to your monitor? If not, the GPU power cable needs to be reattached as well. Otherwise, there’s no further advice needed.
I've reviewed each cable once more. After reinserting everything and still facing the same problem, I wonder if the old thermal paste might have entered the CPU socket during cleaning. That's possible even without removing the CPU. Regarding the cooler, tightening it too much could indeed cause damage.
If you didn't take out the CPU, it's highly improbable. It requires shorting the CPU pin, which is sealed within the motherboard. Liquid metal is possible, but standard thermal paste might not be that extreme. If it's too tight, that could happen, though I believe it usually needs more force than just over-tightening. Personally, it seems like someone over-torqued it to damage the CPU. Linus mentioned a similar problem, and the PC still works but can't get into Windows (someone confirm this).
I disconnected all connections, swapped the power supply, updated the RAM, replaced the graphics card, and now it’s running. I’m still unsure what led to this but I’m relieved my CPU wasn’t harmed.