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Does Thermal Paste Decompose?

X

XacTactX

Supreme [H]ardness
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Dec 13, 2010
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I've read question threads about this on other forums, but I don't trust them.

Do any or all thermal pastes lose effectiveness over time? Which ones do and which ones don't? What is the shelf life for the ones that do? Is there a way to prolong this shelf life?

Thank you. :)

EDIT: By decompose, I mean lose thermal performance over time while sitting in the tube and being used on a chip.
 
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What do you deem "Decompose"?

Its a paste, so yes it wikll dry out and lose its thermal transferness.
 
Everything degrades over time. Just look at some of the OEM paste/pads they use, granted it takes many many years, but having worked on older computers and seeing rock hard paste, sure, they still work to some degree, but it would be better to replace something like that. I would go as far as to say, most pastes we use today, would be good for the piratical life of the system, if you are not ok with this, do like many people do, and do a yearly tear down (which includes removing the HS to clean) and reapply the TIM then.

But, as far as being in a tube, so long as its sealed well, should not be any problem, sometimes the solid will separate from the vehicle, and might need shaking/stirring to remix it for a nice flow out. However, if you have TIM that's been sitting for 5-10 years, well, most of the time something better has come along and TIM is not really a high cost part, even the more "exotic" ones are still cheaper then just about any part in the system, so go and pick up a new tube of the "best" if it makes you feel better.
 
I guess it depends on the paste. I sometimes pull heatsinks off of servers at work that have been in use for 4-6 years straight. Sometimes the thermal paste is completely brittle and super dry/hard (heatsink comes off with little to no force), and sometimes it's like freaking cement and really hard to pull off the cpu.
 
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i've seen 7 year old paste turn into dry film on a cpu. MX-2 is supposed to be good for 6 years.
 
Seems like old paste turns into glue. I've ripped a few CPUs off of the boards when taking the heatsinks off. These were old throwaway machines so it didn't matter to me.
 
i persoanlly used no paste before and was fine for years in the first p4 i built (guess i forgot to put when testing and worked fine so left it) i use paste now that comes in shen itsu or some kinda brand like that in syringe needs to be warmed up to apply and seems to have lasted few years ( bout like 20 of them on sale at svc and still work fine)
 
I find that even Arctic Silver 5 will act like glue in a few years and I have pulled a important CPU out of the socket on the motherboard and bend a few pins which took over a hour to straighten out. Now days if I had to remove the heatsink I will use small twisting motion back and forth after l loosen the screws. Also I put the computer case on the side since some of the aftermarket heatsinks are quit heavy and I do not want the heatsink to fell out with the CPU.
 
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