# how often should you replace thermal paste on cpus and gpus?



## oldcomputerguy2 (Apr 28, 2011)

how often should you replace thermal paste on cpus and gpus? i decided i would replace the thermal paste on my old slot 1 pentium 2 processor in my old gateway. the paste was very dry, and thought i could improve performance if i replace the thermal paste


----------



## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

you replace it when its not doing its job anymore i.e 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 replace.

Or if you remove the cpu cooler then you have to replace the paste as the old paste is now redudant.


----------



## Tumbleweed36 (May 14, 2005)

greenbrucelee said:


> you replace it when its not doing its job anymore i.e 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 replace.
> 
> Or if you remove the cpu cooler then you have to replace the paste as the old paste is now redudant.


Excellent advice by *greenbrucelee*. I call that response the "don't fix it if it is not broken" solution.


----------



## oldcomputerguy2 (Apr 28, 2011)

what is the life span of thermal paste and when would be a good time to replace it? is dry thermal paste bad?


----------



## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

oldcomputerguy2 said:


> what is the life span of thermal paste and when would be a good time to replace it? is dry thermal paste bad?


there isn't a life span as far as I know, as I said when its not doing its job you replace it. Paste gets dry after a while but thats inevitable but it doesn't need replaced unless its not doing its job.


----------



## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

There is no definitive life span of thermal paste. If it is dried it is not doing it's job as well as it could be.


----------



## oldcomputerguy2 (Apr 28, 2011)

well i bought some arctic silver 5 to replace the thermal pastes on both my old gateways processor, and for the new cpu i ordered for my current computer. does arctic silver work better than other thermal pastes?


----------



## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

All paste is about the same for quality and longevity and AS is as good as any.


----------



## oldcomputerguy2 (Apr 28, 2011)

i hear that arctic silver brings the tempatures down by 10 degrees compared to other thermal compounds


----------



## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

Don't believe all the advertisements you read. I've never seen any thermal paste bring temps down 10C. "Maybe" 1C to 4C after the break-in time.


----------



## makinu1der2 (Jan 1, 2008)

Tyree said:


> Don't believe all the advertisements you read. I've never seen any thermal paste bring temps down 10C. "Maybe" 1C to 4C after the break-in time.


Agreed, It is all about applying correctly


----------



## oldcomputerguy2 (Apr 28, 2011)

do you gys have any advice on applying arctic silver 5? i have never applyed new thermal compound to anything before so i might need help


----------



## makinu1der2 (Jan 1, 2008)

See the link below. Just make sure that the old thermal material is thoroughly cleaned

Arctic Silver Incorporated - Route to Product Instructions for Arctic Silver 5


----------



## XP1 (Apr 10, 2005)

greenbrucelee said:


> there isn't a life span as far as I know, as I said when its not doing its job you replace it. Paste gets dry after a while but thats inevitable but it doesn't need replaced unless its not doing its job.


How long is too long? I have an old computer that was probably designed for Windows 98, and so, the thermal compound hasn't been changed ever since, maybe even over 13 years ago.

A couple years ago, the computer started freezing randomly and constantly, every several minutes. I have reinstalled the OS several times (switched between Windows and GNU/Linux-based OS, which both had the same freezing problem), removed two failed RAM modules, and swapped to a few different hard drives. However, the problem remains and has gotten worse over time.

Last week, I underclocked the Pentium III CPU from 550 MHz to 366 MHz. It is a lot more stable now and freezes a lot less often, but it still freezes occasionally, nonetheless.

Because of the stableness of the CPU underclocking, I began to wonder that the CPU may be the culprit. I decided to check the thermal compound, but first, I had to figure out how to disassemble the Slot 1 CPU SECC!

The SECC is probably the worst computer hardware contraption I have ever touched. It is nearly impossible to remove the stock heatsink without inflicting some scratches and damages to the plastic placeholder clips. I only found a couple of articles on how to disassemble the SECC, and there are several ways to do it. One article (plier method) is #1 on Google, and the other article (screwdriver method) is on a website that no longer exists.
#1 on Google:
How To Disassemble A "Stock" Slot-1 SECC2 Heatsink
Dead website:
Removing a Pentium 3 OEM Heatsink.​Anyway, after an hour of trying to remove those horrible plastic clips (and after breaking two tips with the pliers), I was able to look at the thermal compound. The stock thermal compound is white, very dry, very crusty, and very flaky.

Would you think that the old, stock thermal compound may have been worn out too much, which may have caused the computer to randomly freeze constantly?


----------



## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

XP1 said:


> How long is too long? I have an old computer that was probably designed for Windows 98, and so, the thermal compound hasn't been changed ever since, maybe even over 13 years ago.
> 
> A couple years ago, the computer started freezing randomly and constantly, every several minutes. I have reinstalled the OS several times (switched between Windows and GNU/Linux-based OS, which both had the same freezing problem), removed two failed RAM modules, and swapped to a few different hard drives. However, the problem remains and has gotten worse over time.
> 
> ...


please start your own thread in regards to your issue as it can get confusing trying to reply to two different people. Just so you know freezing can be cause by heat, power supply and ram

If the computer is dusty blow out the dust with compressed air, check the temps and voltages in the bios, check the ram with memtest86

Like I said I dug out a 15 year old pc the other day it works perfectly fine. no need to replace paste or anything.


----------



## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

XP1 said:


> The stock thermal compound is white, very dry, very crusty, and very flaky.
> 
> Would you think that the old, stock thermal compound may have been worn out too much, which may have caused the computer to randomly freeze constantly?


I would say you got your money's worth out of that paste. :smile:
It is a very good possibility the dried paste could not properly conduct the heat away from the CPU to the heatsink. You will find out when you replace it.


----------



## XP1 (Apr 10, 2005)

greenbrucelee said:


> please start your own thread in regards to your issue as it can get confusing trying to reply to two different people.


Yeah, I guess I should have done that, but I had a similar question about the thermal compound and then I merely provided the background info.

The problem is not really a huge deal because it is not my main computer. The computer is just junk from a friend who doesn't want to deal with the freezing anymore. Solving the problem is purely for my information and experience.



greenbrucelee said:


> If the computer is dusty blow out the dust with compressed air, check the temps and voltages in the bios, check the ram with memtest86


Yup, those were among the first things I did. I already mentioned that I tested the RAM and found that two RAM modules were giving a bunch of errors, so I removed them.



greenbrucelee said:


> Like I said I dug out a 15 year old pc the other day it works perfectly fine. no need to replace paste or anything.


But has it been under regular, constant use for 10+ years? :s
Maybe that's the difference.


----------



## Johnny1982 (Oct 15, 2010)

The only time I replace my thermal paste is either as a result of excessive heat, changing cpu's (upgrading), or cleaning out your graphics card cooling system. The best way I got to my GPU's heatsink & heatpipe was removal of the whole heatsink as a result of dust. The end result brought the temp down by 10-15c. It actually went upto 101c before I stopped it  Most people swear by Arctic Silver 5, I find it hard to get where I stay so I always get my favourite: Zalman ZM-STG1 with the brush applicator as it's SO much easier to apply.

I noticed from this test conducted: TipidPC.com | Tech Review: Zalman STG1 vs Artic Silver 5 that the Arctic Silver 5 was surpassed by the Zalman, yet when I did research the AS5 has a much better thermal conductivity than the Zalman at 9W/mK vs the Zalman's 4W/mK. Is this possible?


----------



## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

I reapply thermal paste about once a year just because I'm OCB. :smile:
I have yet to see any temp drops more than a few degrees with any brand unless the original paste wasn't properly applied.



Johnny1982 said:


> I noticed from this test conducted: TipidPC.com | Tech Review: Zalman STG1 vs Artic Silver 5 that the Arctic Silver 5 was surpassed by the Zalman, yet when I did research the AS5 has a much better thermal conductivity than the Zalman at 9W/mK vs the Zalman's 4W/mK. Is this possible?


Reviews are reviews are reviews. I'm not saying AS isn't a good quality product but I do not put a lot of faith in any reviews for any product.
My faith goes with those that use a product in the real world.


----------



## Johnny1982 (Oct 15, 2010)

Tyree said:


> Reviews are reviews are reviews. I'm not saying AS isn't a good quality product but I do not put a lot of faith in any reviews for any product.
> My faith goes with those that use a product in the real world.


Thanks, well put. I agree.


----------



## oldcomputerguy2 (Apr 28, 2011)

well i have successfully installed the thermal paste on the slot 1 pentium 2 gateway and it works great  it seems like the heatsink is sucking more heat out of the cpu now because the heatsink gets alot hotter now than it used to, is that a good sign that heat is being dissipated more?


----------



## XP1 (Apr 10, 2005)

oldcomputerguy2 said:


> well i have successfully installed the thermal paste on the slot 1 pentium 2 gateway and it works great


Does your CPU SECC have the stock Intel heatsink and fan? If so, how did you disassemble it?


----------



## oldcomputerguy2 (Apr 28, 2011)

now here me now when i say this, do this at your own risk. 
depending on what kind of slot 1 processor you have and the design of the case i believe they are similar in design.

for me it took me awhile to figure how to do it, and i figured out that for mine you have to stick a small flat heat screw driver in between the top and bottom of the cpu casing and try to pry it open carefully, which will pop out the pins inside that keep the case together. it will take some time and effort to do this as those pins dont easily pop out. now my slot 1 cpu design is just the plastic casing and the heatsink on the front. the fan that cools it is built into the power supply and faces down toward the heatsink. if you can post a pic of your cpu i can get more of an idea how to get it apart


----------



## XP1 (Apr 10, 2005)

What design is yours? SECC1 or SECC2? Intel's website has some pictures:
Processors — Package type guide (Desktop Processors)

SECC1
Front side:
http://www.intel.com/support/processors/procid/pix/secc_t.jpg
Back side:
http://www.intel.com/support/processors/procid/pix/secc_b.jpg​
SECC2
Front side:
http://www.intel.com/support/processors/procid/pix/secc2_t.jpg
Back side:
http://www.intel.com/support/processors/procid/pix/secc2_b.jpg​
My Pentium III CPU is SECC2, but I already got mine open from the two guides that I mentioned earlier. I am just interested in how you got yours disassembled.


----------



## oldcomputerguy2 (Apr 28, 2011)

mine is an secc1. like i said i used a flat head screwdriver and pushed it between the back and front plastic and pried it to make the pins pop out. mine doesn't have the built in fan like in the pics, mine only has a heatsink, but it has a cooling fan facing the heatsink built into the power supply


----------

