Is it safe to flash latest UEFI or does it have to be updated incrementally 1 at a time, or every second release, etc?
What is the best method for paste for Noctua air cooler? Do I put 5 tiny dots? Do I do an X pattern? Which one?
No, you dont need to update incrementally. The best method of paste is personal preference, so long as there is paste and you remove all the things that say to remove them before installing. I use the x pattern usually just because Im used to it and I know it works. Youll know youve used too much when it squeezes out the sides, make sure to clean that off with a cotton swab. Good luck and congrats on your new build
Better to err on the side of using too much paste, most of them are nonconductive so worst case scenario they just make a bit of a mess.
Its just easier to manage a small mess one than a large mess twice lol. I havent seen anything that would leave me to believe there is a way to put too much tic on a die. Are they really nonconductive though? If you put enough of it in the right places Im sure it would conduct.
Technically everything is conductive. Given a large enough voltage difference electricity will travel through any medium. But thermal compound is made to be very low conductivity. The real concern is thermal paste getting into things like your fan later and jamming stuff up, also making your PC look nice and not like a grey goopy mess.
- Just flash the latest UEFI, and please do because stable EXPO speeds require the latest version.
- At least the Noctua instruction booklet says 5 dots, if I remember right. It’s been running fine here (7950X which tends to get quite hot) with a Noctua heatsink.
Generally it’s best to update if there’s a major issue with your CPU that is fixed. It wasn’t that long ago that the 7000-series CPUs had issues with motherboards being configured to over-volt one of the pins and melt the CPU from the inside (the updates have since rectified this).