DId I destroy my MBP Retina's CPU?

So I made a the calculated decision to reapply the thermal paste of my 2012 MBP retina because it was running at 95C+ under load. I've replaced thermal paste many times before both on notebooks and tower computers. However, this time round, I was using IC Diamond, which was much thicker and stickier than I was used to.

When I applied the paste, the tip of the syringe touched the CPU surface and put a hairline scratch that is noticeable to the naked eye under certain lighting angles. I cleaned it off the examine it and reapplied it more carefully the second time round. Initial tests seems to indicate a 3C drop in temp, may improve as the paste sets.

But now I'm worried whether I damaged my CPU for the long term and may cause it to fail early? Or is the surface unrelated to the actual functioning of the CPU?

 

As long as you properly grounded yourself from static electricity, your CPU should be fine. Just scratching the metal surface shouldn't affect the long-term reliability of the CPU.

 

As long as the CPU was not unseated (I actually doubt whether its even possible to unseat the CPU in a MBP since they're probably soldered onto the board) and you only scratched the surface you will be fine. The most damage (even if you can call it that) that you may have done is caused some changes to the way heat is spread throughout the surface of the CPU. But regardless, if you knew what you were doing with the paste job, the paste should take care of that issue for you. Next time, I would opt for thermal paste that comes packaged in a plastic syringe instead of one with a metal tip.

 

Haha, no, you're good. You should see some of the CPU engineering samples we've gotten in.

 

The actual metal casing on the Retina or any other computer therefore, is it just a way for the cpu to dissipate heat ? That isnt the actual cpu die ?

 

Indeed, the die is underneath the metal cover, the cover is only there to dissipate heat.

On older generation cpu's, such as Athlon 1ghz, the die was visible without any cover.
Starting with the Intel P4 generation they installed a die on top of the cpu's to obtain better heat dissipation.

To the OP, no you're good, no damage done :thumbsup:

 

Thanks for the clarification!