Is there ever a reason to re-apply fresh thermal paste after a few years?

ocean dweller

ocean dweller

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Nov 22, 2022
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Have my 9700k since launch and was just curious if re-applying new thermal paste since day one is a good practice ?
 
It isn’t going to hurt anything if done properly. Depends mostly on the TIM. Some dry out faster than others.
 
I'm more concerned why you would ask. I can only assume temps are rising on you. Summer/obvious aside when is the last time you cleared the dust from your case. I unhook everything take case to the garage, fire up the compressor and blow it from the inside out or blow every area the opposite of the way air flow day to day. Every nook and cranny especially motherboard heat sinks and PSU. If you want immediate noticeable results for a system that's been sitting there for a couple years this is the single best thing you can do. Other than that I agree with Dreamerbydesign. What TIM?
 
I can think of a few reasons:

1) You're bored and a PC enthusiast so you do it just to make yourself feel better
2) You are using a OEM pre-built with garbage TIM that has turned rock hard
3) You are testing different application methods and their impact on temps
 
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I originally built my system in 2020 using noctua paste. I had to remove my cooler recently to swap some ram sticks so I grabbed some fresh noctua paste while I was at it. My temps seem to be exactly the same as before.
 
Yes.
There are a few issues that creep up.
1.) Depending on the paste, it could dry out over time, and cease having full contact and therefore ability to transfer heat. This is less of an issue on more expensive, modern compounds that are designed with materials that don't dry out.
2.) Even if you use a more modern TIM, your CPU can still receive the effects of pump out. The surface of CPU's is concave because it expands under heat: becoming flat. It's part of the thermal design. Over time, the process of heating up and expanding will physically push out the TIM. AKA: pump out. There is nothing you can do to prevent this. It requires replacing of the TIM.

However, if you are monitoring your temps and don't see anything abnormal, and you're not overclocking, you likely do not need to do anything.
 
i redo the paste if my temps are much higher than what i had when the paste was new, as long as temps are within normal ranges you dont have to do anything
 
It is REQUIRED BY LAW, AND IS ALSO OUTLINED IN YOUR TERMS OF SERVICE agreements, that you ABSOLUTELY MUST change your paste, on both your CPU & GPU, at least every 2 weeks, or the TIM gods shall be free to unleash their monstrous 50 Billion KV lightning bolts onto you AND your computer until you do so.....

j/k :D

But seriously, unless your temps are getting to high or you're replacing/upgrading components, there is really no reason to replace the paste on any certain schedule....
 
Man I'm still using arctic silver 3? maybe its 5? I'm pretty sure its 3 though on my 6700k I built fall of 2015 lol
 
In my 30 years now, unless I wasn't happy with the initial application, I have never reapplied TIM to any device. My oldest rig which was on the x58 chipset ran for like 12 years without anything but fan cleaning.
 
Used AS5 on my X99 machine that I built 9 years ago. It's still on the same application of thermal paste from that initial build, and the CPU temps are the same to this day. Until I notice a change, I'm not gonna bother to re-paste. The only changes I usually see are with my AIO's radiator getting clogged with dust, which can raise CPU temps by a good 10-15 degrees. So every couple years or so I gotta clean all the dust out from the radiator and fans. Then the temps return to normal.

Everyone else in this thread already listed logical reasons for why you would actually want to re-paste, so go with that.
 
If you're currently using garbage thermal paste then switching to a known good brand can make a big difference.
 
Another thing not considered is that if the first application of paste was poor (too much or too little paste), then you would see an improvement. It's not uncommon that people will do one or the other. Wouldn't necessarily be a massive improvement, but could make a difference. It's not like you're able to see how well the previous paste-job went until you take it apart anyways.
 
pendragon1 said:
paste goes on the ihs not the pins ;)
unless its conductive, that too is only a bit of a mess and wont technically hurt anything
Click to expand...
It would potentially obstruct the pins. I'm not debating here - just explaining from experience. If you tell people they can put as much paste as they want, you'll get paste in the pins. I've had to clean up after these people before.

But you're right that the temperature difference of having too much paste versus "the right amount" would be little, if any. Too little paste (depending on how little) doesn't make much of a difference, either. Not making a mess is probably the important thing.

I remember one day I found a hair of thermal paste on a stick of RAM, and it was causing memtest errors. The thermal paste was likely on the stick of RAM for over a year before it caused issues. Thermal paste has a tendency to get everywhere.
 
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DrezKill said:
Used AS5 on my X99 machine that I built 9 years ago. It's still on the same application of thermal paste from that initial build, and the CPU temps are the same to this day. Until I notice a change, I'm not gonna bother to re-paste. The only changes I usually see are with my AIO's radiator getting clogged with dust, which can raise CPU temps by a good 10-15 degrees. So every couple years or so I gotta clean all the dust out from the radiator and fans. Then the temps return to normal.

Everyone else in this thread already listed logical reasons for why you would actually want to re-paste, so go with that.
Click to expand...
Man 9 year old AS5 your gonna need a pry bar to remove that heatsink.
 
I used to do this to my old PCs. Every once in a while id reapply paste. Never a good reason, just anecdotally would. No idea if it was beneficial or not.
 
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