How often should thermal paste be replaced? I have a i7 i have had it about 4 years? wondering if it needs to be done. No temp issues with cpu.
1795571
It can't hurt. I redo it once a year or so (If I even keep a CPU that long), whichay be considered overkill by some. It only takes a few minutes.
1795572
You pretty much don't have to unless there is a problem or if you've removed the heatsink for some reason. This doesn't dry out and quit working like many of the cheap compounds. So, as long as it was applied correctly to begin with, you won't need to replace it. If you've taken off the heatsink, it's advisable to clean both sides and reapply the compound to make sure there aren't any bubbles.
1795573
you replace it when its no longer keeping your temps under control. when your cpu is getting hot and there is no specific reason like dust or fans not working to cause the heat, thats when you should replace it. Or if you remove the cpu heatsink/cooler, then i usually replace it as there will be air bubbles or places where the paste doesn't touch well enough and can rise your temps of the cpu
1572653
it has pre-applied thermal paste on the heatsink, but I always recommend getting your own and cleaning theirs off, putting your own on, if you know how. If you are not familiar with this process, leave the OEM thermal paste in place, it will do an ok job.
1704051
Hmmm... After all this time it seems to be ok my i7 8 thread cpu operates at 35` on average. Right know that its almost winter.
759907
It's 1 time usage, cuz it's a form of liquid metal. It turns solid/hard when pc is off. But I have it for 2 years now on a the cpu and it's still there. I would imagine it would last 5+ years if you don't take off the heatsink or unused in syringe. So I wouldn't recommend taking of the heatsink or reappplying the product.
436976
It took me 3 hours. It's like swapping ram. Easy except alignment at the end. You have to align the chip or your picture won't be aligned. Lot's of trial and error to get it just perfect. Part of the time was for cleaning dust and using silver paste rather than the the bad thermal pad that does not conduct heat very well. I think that poor heat conductance caused chip failure. That's why I took my time to clean dust off and using silver paste to replace thermal pad.
1201466
I agree with Jamieb, However Once the motherboard completes its post the device will continue to monitor the board. But it may not report the problem until you reboot. On a side note being a laptop if a virus has been ruled out I would insure that the fan is operating. And if it is older than 3 years old the thermal paste on the cpu may be getting weak and your cpu may be over heating.I paid $60.00 usd to have fan replaced and new thermal paste applied to a HP G series unit which had the same symptoms. The board did not report the problem. Hope that helps. Good Luck a competent honest technician will do wonders. I agree with Jamieb, However Once the motherboard completes its post the device will continue to monitor the board. But it may not report the problem until you reboot. On a side note being a laptop if a virus has been ruled out I would insure that the fan is operating. And if it is older than 3 years old the thermal paste on the cpu may be getting weak and your cpu may be over heating.I paid $60.00 usd to have fan replaced and new thermal paste applied to a HP G series unit which had the same symptoms. The board did not report the problem. Hope that helps. Good Luck a competent honest... » Read More I agree with Jamieb, However Once the motherboard completes its post the device will continue to monitor the board. But it may not report the problem until you reboot. On a side note being a laptop if a virus has been ruled out I would insure that the fan is operating. And if it is older than 3 years old the thermal paste on the cpu may be getting weak and your cpu may be over heating.I paid $60.00 usd to have fan replaced and new thermal paste applied to a HP G series unit which had the same symptoms. The board did not report the problem. Hope that helps. Good Luck a competent honest technician will do wonders. « Show Less
1323492
the thermal paste in already intalled on the cooler so just tighten it down on the cpu
1029105
If you are using the stock heatsink then thermal compound is already applied in the packaging. If you are using an aftermarket heatsink, then you definitely want to make sure to use some if it doesn't already have it on it.
434482
Yes it does come with pre-applied thermal paste on the sink with fan included. you can always clean it off and use your own thermal paste but why? the cooling is sufficient. under heavy load when i play games, it never goes over 60C. just make sure your case has good cooling and/or airflow. it may get hotter if u do things such as 3d editing and etc in which others have noted so watch out for that. just use HWMonitor to monitor your temps. it's a free software.
2066884
I would honestly contact Noctua support. IIRC this cooler comes with extra clips for a second fan. If you damaged a clip or were shorted one, I'm sure these guys will replace it. The cooler comes with a 6-year warranty and I've read countless occasions about their customer service being second to none. So I'd say start there! http://www.noctua.at/main.php?show=support&lng=en
81179
I didn't have any high temps, but I only ran it stock long enough to verify it works. I basically always replace stock sink and TIM. If you're intending on using this for pretty demanding stuff (gaming, photo/video editing, 3D modeling and render, etc.) I'd recommend replacing TIM and sink.
1022054
Comes with the stock cooler, no thermal paste. If you are going to overclock I recommend upgrading the cooler.
335488
As of July 2013, I've used this on 4 PS3 CPUs and GPUs for fixing/replacing. So far, none have reencountered the 'Yellow Light of Death.' So yes, this should be better than stock thermal if treated right. Worth the money.
588433
no, it comes with a heatsink with thermal paste already applied to it. However if you are going to use an aftermarket heatsink you will have to buy thermal paste and apply it to the processor. also if you see that a processor is an OEM part it will not come with a heatsink or thermal paste. This one is not OEM which means that its got all the required things to cool it.
1132052
Thanks for all the answers. I really appreciate them. I'm currently using a hyper 212 evo as many of you have recommended. The temps are really good and I think the hyper 212 evo is really good for me. I'm been using it for about 7 months now and everything is running really good. Thank you guys.
1395871
Had it for almost a year now and no problems at all. I'm going to be getting rid of it due to the fact that I'm going to be watercooling in a little bit in a new case, but it was amazing while I had it.You can't go wrong with ASUS motherboards. It's scary how reliable they are.
1209188
http://daydull.com/reviews/does-arctic-silver-thermal-paste-expire-go-bad/I'm not sure I'd trust it at ten years old, but who knows, maybe it would work just fine...The link above has more info.