Oh man, I heard someone say once that digital torque wrenches are basically just expensive paperweights after the first use, and yeah, that tracks with your story.

Did you check if the mounting pressure changed between the two pastes? I've seen some pastes act like a lubricant on the screws when you first apply them, making the cooler sit a tiny bit tighter or looser without you noticing. It's not just the paste itself, it's how it changes the mechanical connection between the CPU and the cooler. That 8 degree gap could be half paste performance and half just getting a better mount by accident.

Losing a whole night of sleep just to save a few bucks doesn't really seem worth it to me. You end up too tired to actually enjoy the next day or two of your trip. A decent night's rest is worth the extra cost.

I read somewhere that colleges actually want more local professionals to reach out like this.

Wait, 10 people used the same password and nobody thought that was a problem from day one? lol. I'm honestly shocked that Dave's system held up as long as it did with that kind of setup. The phishing attack was definitely the final nail in the coffin, but sharing a single password across that many accounts is like leaving your front door unlocked and blaming the burglar for walking in. It's just asking for trouble, especially if one of those 10 people has bad habits or clicks on something shady.