Thermal paste policies?

erek · Nov 28, 2010

this may be an issue of general common sense, but i want to understand more about what happens when you temporarily remove a HSF to say.. swap it with another HSF...

generally I would think the preferred situation is to re-apply thermal paste properly to the HSF when you replace it..., but

what all happens when you just put the HSF on without re-applying the thermal paste... and maybe just wiggle it around to spread the current goop around...

is this fairly below optimal practice, and how dangerous is it to practice reseating a HSF without re-applying thermal paste properly?

I am just curious because in the past I have swapped and reseated HSFs without re-applying the thermal paste...

my other question is... does thermal paste prefer to be active as in at least transferring heat always to stay good? or can formulas such as Arctic Silver Ceramique remain passive for storage purposes while applied for long amounts of time?

hat · Nov 28, 2010

You can store thermal paste forever, but I wouldn't be swapping heatsinks around without cleaning them and re-applying paste.

erek · Nov 28, 2010

hat said:
You can store thermal paste forever, but I wouldn't be swapping heatsinks around without cleaning them and re-applying paste.

say if thermal paste is applied to a video card, one can store this away for a long time?

scaminatrix · Nov 28, 2010

I used to do it all the time, change CPU HSF's without re-applying paste. As soon as I found out how much it affected temps, I went round and re-did all the paste on the rig's I had worked on (family and friend's ones, etc.)

erek said:
say if thermal paste is applied to a video card, one can store this away for a long time?

I've always assumed OEM paste lasts for about 2-4 years before temps become affected (using the rig regularly). I'm unsure how long paste would stay good for if the rig was unused for, say, a year or two.
I would change paste just to be safe.

PVTCaboose1337 · Nov 28, 2010

Thermal paste will actually "cure" when left in air with any amount of heat. Paste in tubes stays good before it starts to get crusty. Even then, squeezing out a little will show that the paste behind it is still good. Just applying paste and leaving it on a surface will ruin it.

erek · Nov 28, 2010

PVTCaboose1337 said:
Thermal paste will actually "cure" when left in air with any amount of heat. Paste in tubes stays good before it starts to get crusty. Even then, squeezing out a little will show that the paste behind it is still good. Just applying paste and leaving it on a surface will ruin it.

i have a couple systems that are turned off, and also a video card laying in a antistatic bag inside a box with thermal paste applied

i did run them though..., but will they be all right several months from now in storage?

scaminatrix · Nov 28, 2010

erek said:
i have a couple systems that are turned off, and also a video card laying in a antistatic bag inside a box with thermal paste applied
i did run them though..., but will they be all right several months from now in storage?

Providing there's nothing wrong with cards, yes they'll be ok. I've had cards in storage for over 2 years and have still been fine. Temps were acceptable, but of course I still changed paste.

hat · Nov 28, 2010

As long as the cooler is installed, I don't see the paste going bad on you.

sneekypeet · Nov 28, 2010

depends on the paste all together. If the paste cures dont reuse it, of it is non-curative, than you can even re-spread the same paste.

Optimally you should replace it, but for building rigs and testing them out at stock I have run the same tim on the proc and cooler even though I swapped motherboards for case builds over like 3 months time. For stock it was fine. Again I dont suggest this, but it will work.

System Name	Beaver's Build
Processor	AMD Ryzen 9 5950X
Motherboard	Asus ROG Crosshair VIII Hero (WI-FI) - X570
Cooling	Corsair H115i RGB PLATINUM 97 CFM Liquid
Memory	G.Skill Trident Z Neo 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3600 Memory - 16-19-19-39
Video Card(s)	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Founders Edition
Storage	Inland 1TB NVMe M.2 (Phison E12) / Samsung 950 Pro M.2 NVMe 512G / WD Black 6TB - 256M cache
Display(s)	Alienware AW3225QF 32" 4K 240 Hz OLED
Case	Fractal Design Design Define R6 USB-C
Audio Device(s)	Focusrite 2i4 USB Audio Interface
Power Supply	SuperFlower LEADEX TITANIUM 1600W
Mouse	Razer DeathAdder V2
Keyboard	Razer Cynosa V2 (Membrane)
Software	Microsoft Windows 10 Pro x64
Benchmark Scores	3dmark = https://www.3dmark.com/spy/32087054 Cinebench R15 = 4038 Cinebench R20 = 9210

System Name	Starlifter :: Dragonfly
Processor	i7 2600k 4.4GHz :: i5 10400
Motherboard	ASUS P8P67 Pro :: ASUS Prime H570-Plus
Cooling	Cryorig M9 :: Stock
Memory	4x4GB DDR3 2133 :: 2x8GB DDR4 2400
Video Card(s)	PNY GTX1070 :: Integrated UHD 630
Storage	Crucial MX500 1TB, 2x1TB Seagate RAID 0 :: Mushkin Enhanced 60GB SSD, 3x4TB Seagate HDD RAID5
Display(s)	Onn 165hz 1080p :: Acer 1080p
Case	Antec SOHO 1030B :: Old White Full Tower
Audio Device(s)	Creative X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Pro - Bose Companion 2 Series III :: None
Power Supply	FSP Hydro GE 550w :: EVGA Supernova 550
Software	Windows 10 Pro - Plex Server on Dragonfly
Benchmark Scores	>9000

System Name	Beaver's Build
Processor	AMD Ryzen 9 5950X
Motherboard	Asus ROG Crosshair VIII Hero (WI-FI) - X570
Cooling	Corsair H115i RGB PLATINUM 97 CFM Liquid
Memory	G.Skill Trident Z Neo 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3600 Memory - 16-19-19-39
Video Card(s)	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Founders Edition
Storage	Inland 1TB NVMe M.2 (Phison E12) / Samsung 950 Pro M.2 NVMe 512G / WD Black 6TB - 256M cache
Display(s)	Alienware AW3225QF 32" 4K 240 Hz OLED
Case	Fractal Design Design Define R6 USB-C
Audio Device(s)	Focusrite 2i4 USB Audio Interface
Power Supply	SuperFlower LEADEX TITANIUM 1600W
Mouse	Razer DeathAdder V2
Keyboard	Razer Cynosa V2 (Membrane)
Software	Microsoft Windows 10 Pro x64
Benchmark Scores	3dmark = https://www.3dmark.com/spy/32087054 Cinebench R15 = 4038 Cinebench R20 = 9210

System Name	Benny
Processor	Phenom II 1055t @ 3.3GHz; 300x11; 1.380v; NB 2700; HT 2400
Motherboard	ASUS Crosshair IV Formula (2002 BIOS)
Cooling	Thermalright TRUE 120 Black + 2 Xilence Red Wing PWM 120mm (push/pull) + polycarbonate fan holders
Memory	8GB GeIL Ultra 2133MHZ C9 running at 1600MHz @ 7-7-7-21 1T 1.5v
Video Card(s)	MSI Twin Frozr II GTX470 @ Stock w/CPU fan cable-tied on, as one of the GPU fans broke.
Storage	60GB OCZ Agility3 (OS);500GB WDC Grn; 1x1TB WDC Blk (Backup)
Display(s)	ASUS PA823Q
Case	Silverstone Raven 2 (all cables custom sleeved with velcro mod on side panel...)
Audio Device(s)	X-Fi (Onboard) + Harmon Kardon HK6100 amp powering JVC HA-RX700's with Zalman mic
Power Supply	Corsair HX650W
Software	Win7 Pro x64
Benchmark Scores	No benchies so making this space useful! Corsair M90, Logitech G19. Phobya FlexLight LED's (gawjus)

System Name	Whim
Processor	Intel Core i5 2500k @ 4.4ghz
Motherboard	Asus P8Z77-V LX
Cooling	Cooler Master Hyper 212+
Memory	2 x 4GB G.Skill Ripjaws @ 1600mhz
Video Card(s)	Gigabyte GTX 670 2gb
Storage	Samsung 840 Pro 256gb, WD 2TB Black
Display(s)	Shimian QH270 (1440p), Asus VE228 (1080p)
Case	Cooler Master 430 Elite
Audio Device(s)	Onboard > PA2V2 Amp > Senn 595's
Power Supply	Corsair 750w
Software	Windows 8.1 (Tweaked)

Thermal paste policies?

erek

hat

Enthusiast

erek

scaminatrix

PVTCaboose1337

Graphical Hacker

erek

scaminatrix

hat

Enthusiast

sneekypeet

Retired Super Moderator

System Name	EVA-01
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Motherboard	Asus ROG Maximus Z690 HERO EVA Edition
Cooling	ASUS ROG Ryujin III 360 with Noctua Industrial Fans
Memory	PAtriot Viper Elite RGB 96GB @ 6000MHz.
Video Card(s)	Asus ROG Strix GeForce RTX 3090 24GB OC EVA Edition
Storage	Addlink S95 M.2 PCIe GEN 4x4 2TB
Display(s)	Asus ROG SWIFT OLED PG42UQ
Case	Thermaltake Core P3 TG
Audio Device(s)	Realtek on board > Sony Receiver > Cerwin Vegas
Power Supply	be quiet DARK POWER PRO 12 1500W
Mouse	ROG STRIX Impact Electro Punk
Keyboard	ROG STRIX Scope TKL Electro Punk
Software	Windows 11