How long does thermal tape/compound last?

[DR_K13]

am re-vamping moms computer, she has a dell demension 4100 with a p3 in it ( 3-4 yyears old )
I was wondering how long stock thermal tape/ compound lasts for, I might take off some odd ball shroud and add a fan or I might put an all new heatsink/ fan on it and put some artic silver on..... so how long does it (origional) last?????

 

[MindBuster]

Tape last a long time, thats why most prebuilt computers comes with that. With compound it's best to reapply every 3-6 months as some of the stuff in the compound can "vaporize/disappear" after a certain amount of time, dpending on the quality of the compound.

So atleast every 6 months for compound to have it optimal, waiting longer and it might start degrading.

 

[DR_K13]

so would a dell stock unit come with tape?

 

[xdviper]

yes a dell stock does come with a tape on the hs

 

[DR_K13]

thanks, I will just add a fan

 

[GlobalFear]

Well silicone based pastes degrade over time. When TechTV built thier server on TSS they went over this. (Death to g4!)