Sticker on my Core i5 is it preventing proper heat spread?

Hi Guys,

I've recently bought a new cooling unit for my Core i5 760, and when I proceeded to remove the heatsink that was installed by the folks who assembled it when I first bought my computer I was surprised to see that there was a white sticker with a barcode on it covering about 1/3 of my cpu on the bottom side.

Looking through various unboxing videos of the i5 760 on YouTube (for example this video: watch?v=uFHXbsSPSVQ), I saw that the CPU had no stickers on it and it's surface was completely clear.

I have no Idea where this sticker came from then. I tried peeling it off but it was stuck on there pretty tight. So I gave up and just applied the thermal paste over it and installed the new heatsink.

However I'm getting some uneven results in terms of temperature on the cores. Core #0 and Core #2 are always about 5 degrees hotter than core #1 and core #3 (both with idle and full load). I can't help but wonder if this sticker might be the culprit because it's stuck right over Core #0 and core #2 and thus impeding proper heat dissipation through the heatsink?

I've searched online for uneven core temperatures with the i5 and there were some people who reported the exact same problem that I have, and I can't help but wonder if they also had a sticker covering 1/3 of their CPU.

Any thoughts on this?

Thanks

A paper sticker would definitely cause problems. Try a little WD-40, that should loosen the sticker enough to allow you to remove it.

yes that will definitely cause some issues with thermal transfer. The people who built your PC did the absolute worst thing they could possibly do by labeling a processor like that. Only an idiot would do that knowing the trouble it can cause...The appropriate way to manage OEM processors like this is to label the tray and keep a chart, or to package each processor in a plastic shell and label that...just as Intel and AMD do with retail chips.

What you need to do is get something that will break up the glue that is holding it on so you can just slide it off. I wouldn't use anything greasy or abrasive ...you dont want anything that is going to eat into the metal heat spreader and cause more tiny imperfections.

Something like ArctiClean will easily break up that glue, or perhaps some Goo Gone. I have used both of these to remove stickers and residue from all sorts of things including electronics.

wow, yeah, that's kinda stupid but that's right up there with a friend of mine who unplugged his CPU cooler because it was making noise... then he came to me when it kept overheating and shutting down

I'm not sure I would be taking my PC back there if I had any problems with it...

could just try scraping it off the metal heat spreader with a razor blade maybe?

me personally, I would be weary of putting many chemicals on it, unless they SPECIFICALLY say they're electronics safe

Hey guys,

Thanks a lot for all your replies to my question!!! I'll definitely try to remove the heatsink again and peel off that damn sticker... I can't believe the people at the lab did that it's so ridiculous!

I'll test to see the result before and after I remove the sticker and (hopefully) report back here and post if there are any differences in terms of evening out the temps for all 4 cores and/or reducing them as a whole!

Thanks again!

What you need to do is get something that will break up the glue that is holding it on so you can just slide it off. I wouldn't use anything greasy or abrasive ...you dont want anything that is going to eat into the metal heat spreader and cause more tiny imperfections.