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Reapply CPU thermal paste??

I

ingeborgdot

Golden Member
I have an older machine that has an Abit ip35 Pro motherboard with an aftermarket cooler. As I said it is older and I have not used it for about a year also. I am using a Q6600 intel Quad core and was wondering if you felt after time the thermal paste should be replaced. It does seem to be running a lot hotter than when I was using it at about 45-50C at idle. I have these three to choose from, a cooler master one, a thermalright one, and Ceramique by Arctic Silver.
 
If the computer powered off for a couple months, it probably should be. Reapplying the thermal paste will either help or not really cause any change as long as it's done right.
 
Coolermaster is junk, If its the Thermalright chill factor then it only lasts a year. Go with the Ceramique.
 
I personally love MX-4. Pretty cheap and does its job well. If you only have those three to choose from, I'd choose the Ceramique one as well.
 
I've been saying it for years, and I've seen enough comparison reviews. I won't argue the point too strenuously, but IC Diamond paste is not expensive, never wears out, not conductive, and has about the lowest thermal resistance bested only by the metal-pad or liquid-metal products.

There won't be any variation over time in the performance of the stuff, if you apply it carefully. You can even re-use it after scraping it off your HSF and IHS.
 
Most experienced people will tell you, if you do real life benchmarks, usually they are all pretty damn close(meaning a negligible difference) between most compounds. Ive come to realize its not worth stressing over. Typically ill use whatever I have around. Over the years I have acquired Ceramique, AS5, Shin Etsu, Coolermaster paste, etc etc and have plenty of each left over. Im still trying to use up my AS5 and Ceramiques. Stuff lasts forever...

My advice, dont worry about it too much, just pick a popular mainstream paste and use it. There is a very negligible difference between all of them despite what some people try to claim.
 
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Ceramique definitely gets my vote. Been using it for years, almost since it came out. Never had a machine show higher temps than when initially installed, even on some that sat around for quite a while between uses.
 
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