thermal compound

[chorb]

Im still running my Barton 2500+ (yaya, time to upgrade i know) and I have noticed higher than normal temperatures lately, I was thinking this may be due to the thermal compound being on there for close to 3 years now.
But then again I know nothing about thermal compound and how long it lasts for. I do know it was the arctic silver compound, the expenisve one with actual silver in the paste.

Can anyone confirm or deny that I need to reapply the thermal compound? If I do need to reapply it what is the best way to clean the chip and heatsink?

 

[cmdrdredd]

Won't hurt to try it.

 

[Zepper]

I would want to redo it at least annually. Most folks here don't leave things alone long enough to experience a TIM's aging effects...

The dust bunnies and dust coating on your heatsink fins is probably contributing to the temp rise as well. I've been putting off cleaning the dust out of my HSF, but now that I got this free tube of Ceramique from SVC, I guess I'll have to get in there and do it.

.bh.

 

[OBCT]

For cleaning, use a lint-free cloth and high purity isopropyl alcohol. Usually they sell 91%.

 

[Zepper]

I think it depends on the TIM what cleaner you'd select. Most soft goops like AS5 or Ceramique will clean well with alcohol. Rubbery gooey TIMs like some pads will cut better with something like lighter fluid (naphtha). Scrape first with plastic tool to remove most of the pad, then lighter fluid to remove the remainder, followed by an alcohol rinse. Works well for me.

.bh.

 

[Bluefront]

The answer to your question is maybe....It depends on the brand/type of TIM. I have removed heatsinks, even relatively new, where the TIM had dried up to a little bit of white powder. Really there's no way to even check if your TIM is in good shape....remove the heatsink and you need to reapply the TIM. Use a good brand like AS5 and you should be ok for at least three more years.....