I used to think thermal paste was a 'one and done' thing for years

I was working on a gaming rig in Austin that kept overheating after two years. I opened it up and the paste was dry and cracked, like old clay. The owner said he never had it serviced, and that was my light bulb moment. I always told people paste lasted the life of the build, but I was totally wrong. How often do you guys actually re-paste systems for clients?

3 comments

3 Comments

hunt.kevin24d ago

Is it really that big of a deal?

gonzalez.alice1mo ago

Honestly, I've seen the opposite. Most of the paste I check on older systems is still fine, just a little dry. Unless someone is pushing crazy overclocks or the application was bad to start with, it usually holds up. I only re-paste if I'm already in there for another reason or there's a clear overheating problem.

shah.shane1mo ago

My old i7-3770 still runs cool on its original paste after eight years. I only repaste when I'm swapping coolers anyway.