angela728•14d agoProlific Poster

Just found out thermal paste dries out way faster than I thought

I swapped CPU coolers on my gaming rig last Sunday and decided to check the old paste while I was in there. It's been about 18 months since I built the thing and the paste was straight up crispy and flaky in spots, almost like dried clay. I always figured thermal paste was good for like 4 or 5 years minimum, especially since I used a decent brand, Arctic MX-4. But then I looked it up on a hardware forum and found a guy who actually tested paste degradation over time with temperature logs. He showed that even quality paste can lose 3-5 degrees of cooling performance after just a year depending on temps and how hot your room gets. That surprised me because all the build guides I watched back in 2022 just said slap it on and forget it. Has anyone else noticed their temps creeping up after a year or two without a repaste?

3 comments

3 Comments

xena_hernandez9814d ago

mx4 turned to dust on my rig after 14 months, swapped to kryonaut and its been solid since.

hannahj4914d ago

even quality paste can lose 3-5 degrees" thats wild, I didn't know it was that fast. actually reminds me of the time I repasted my old laptop after like 4 years and the paste was basically dust, it crumbled when I touched it with a qtip. temps dropped like 10c after I put new stuff on, made me realize I should check my desktop more often too lol.

colegarcia14d agoMost Upvoted

Respectfully disagree, I've had MX4 last years without seeing that drop.