Ok to use 2 year old thermal paste?

[StinkyPinky]

I've got a totally unopened virgin tube of it. Never been used but it is two years old. Arctic Silver 5 I think it is.

 

[fx_rage]

Should be fine. I did that and temps are pretty low. And that was from an open tube

 

[bryanW1995]

haha, my record is like 8 years old. 2 years might need seasoning if anything!

 

[AkumaX]

I've had my AS5 for years...

 

[smakme7757]

As long as it hasn't dried up into powder you should be fine, no problems at all!

 

[Arcanedeath]

I would not use AS5 that is that old as it has small silver particles that settle and you most likely will not get good performance from any paste that has particulates in it that has sat that long as it should be remixed after that long a time. Normal paste as long as it's not dried out is another story but the stuff like AS5 with micro fine powders in a suspension don't have as long a shelf life for optimal performance.

edit: this is not to say it won't work, it just won't work anywhere as well as it could.

 

[StinkyPinky]

Thanks guys. I think I'll just use it and look at the temps. If they're not what I hope for I'll just replace it.

 

[Rvenger]

Thanks guys. I think I'll just use it and look at the temps. If they're not what I hope for I'll just replace it.

2 year old AS5 is fine. I reapplied my 3 year old computer recently with 4 year old AS5 and the temps dropped about 5c since the reapplication. It mixes up the more you spread it over the CPU.

 

[Dravic]

as long as you kept it capped and moist you should be fine..

 

[ThatsABigOne]

I am sure that silver particles will accumulate into balls of useless gunk that is impossible to spread. Good idea on testing it out before buying anything else.

 

[x26]

Should be fine. I did that and temps are pretty low. And that was from an open tube

Yep.
I just did the same thing...
Opened artic 5-9 yo or so. Works fine.

 

[Ben90]

snip

 

[Avalon]

Should be alright. I was using a tube of AS5 for about 4-5 years and it performed great.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

I have AS5 from my junior year in high school. That's 2002-2003. I used it on my i7 system last year and I got better temps than MX-3. Only 2-3 degrees above IC7.

 

[StinkyPinky]

Just an update. I installed the B3 revision with no problems. Temps with the 2 year old paste seems fine. Idles late 30's. Once it settles I expect it to idle mid 30s.

Everything works fine. All I needed to do was reactivate Windows.

 

[hawtdawg]

The tube of AS5 that I have is at least 5 years old, it might be older than that. I've used it multiple times in the last year and it definitely still works well.

 

[tweakboy]

Dont wory you can use thermal paste as long as its not dry. gl