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Should I need to replace thermal paste and pads on a used motherboard?

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Hello guys, I just purchased an used Asus P8P67 deluxe motherboard, and I was wondering should I replace the thermal pads and paste on the heatsinks? I would rather not disassemble the board, but if it would help the board perform better I will do it.

Thanks.
 
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I wouldn't unless they were damaged
 

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I would be tempted to; however, as @Jetster stated above is a good start. If all looks good, then no.
 
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Agreed - In the case of thermal pads I'd leave those alone as long as it's not causing a problem as is.
As for heatsinks with TIM (Paste) I'd check those, redo the TIM then just let it ride.

That's how I do things concerning such, esp with older boards.
 
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The board looks good, but I cant tell whether or not the pads need to be replaced without taking off the heatsinks. What about the thermal paste on the north and south bridge heatsinks?

Should the paste still be good after several years?
 

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A much bigger concern with the P67 chipset is the failing SATA controller. Hopefully you made sure you got a revision that doesn't have that issue (B3 revision chipset).
There's also no north or south bridge on that board, just a PCH or platform controller hub. It would most likely rely on a thermal pad, not grease/paste.
The heatsink below the CPU socket is not cooling a chipset.
 
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Pads themselves are probrably OK, those usually last a very long time before any problems start.

I'd run it before doing anything at all and only do something if an issue is spotted.
 
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A much bigger concern with the P67 chipset is the failing SATA controller. Hopefully you made sure you got a revision that doesn't have that issue (B3 revision chipset).
There's also no north or south bridge on that board, just a PCH or platform controller hub. It would most likely rely on a thermal pad, not grease/paste.
The heatsink below the CPU socket is not cooling a chipset.

Ok so your saying most likely none of the heatsinks will be using thermal paste?

Also if the heatsink under the cpu isnt cooling a chipset then what is it cooling?
 

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Ok so your saying most likely none of the heatsinks will be using thermal paste?

Also if the heatsink under the cpu isnt cooling a chipset then what is it cooling?

Nothing much at all, it's connected to the MOSFET heatsinks by a heatpipe. It's mostly for looks.
I can't find a picture of a stripped board, but review here that explains what it's (not) cooling - http://ixbtlabs.com/articles3/mainboard/asus-p8p67-deluxe-i67p-p1.html

Edit: Found a YouTube video which shows the board with the heatsinks removed. There's a very small change the kind of thermal pad used for the chipset is going to go bad as well.
 
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The board looks good, but I cant tell whether or not the pads need to be replaced without taking off the heatsinks. What about the thermal paste on the north and south bridge heatsinks?

Should the paste still be good after several years?
Try to stress the system with heavy I/O, benchmarks, stuff like that. If it's stable and you don't see dips in performance, then it's not overheating - no need to replace/reapply anything.
 
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Unless i saw evidence that they were at one point removed, I wouldn't tough them unless after installation, I was unhappy with the numbers i saw in AI Suite / HWiNFO
 
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Nothing much at all, it's connected to the MOSFET heatsinks by a heatpipe. It's mostly for looks.
I can't find a picture of a stripped board, but review here that explains what it's (not) cooling - http://ixbtlabs.com/articles3/mainboard/asus-p8p67-deluxe-i67p-p1.html

Edit: Found a YouTube video which shows the board with the heatsinks removed. There's a very small change the kind of thermal pad used for the chipset is going to go bad as well.
Thanks for the video, I was trying to find one like this and I wasn't having any luck.

I removed the heatsink on the chipset(the one with the Asus logo on it) and the thermal pad was almost completely disentagrated so I put some thermal paste on the chipset, should I wiped it off and use a pad instead?

And perhaps I should check all the pads, what's the easiest way to remove those heatsinks with the little tabs that hold them in place?

Thank you
 
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I put some thermal paste on the chipset, should I wiped it off and use a pad instead?
Thermal paste is fine as long the heatsink is in contact with the die.
 
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Ok, but which one would work better?

Thanks.
Thermal paste should be better than a thermal pad but for the VRMs I would stay with thermal pads. For that older board a replacement of pads/paste wouldn't hurt.
 

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Thermal paste is fine as long the heatsink is in contact with the die.
And the pads are the pads as long as they still have proper contact. It’s when you pull them apart they need replacement same as paste.
 
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Ok, how much paste should I use? About the same as you would on a cpu? Or would it need more? I put a thin layer.

I can't check the temps because the board isn't running, I am still waiting for a couple of parts before I can build it.
 
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I can't check the temps because the board isn't running, I am still waiting for a couple of parts before I can build it.
I would stop changing anything until you have a base line to work from.
I put a thin layer.
That's all you need. The paste fills in the empty space between the imperfect surfaces, anymore is overdoing it.
 
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