Is my tube of MX-5 still good to use?

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I have a tube of the discontinued MX-5, I just spread some on paper and it looks good, no separation of the compound or yellow oil. Am I good to use it? I am hoping mine was not part of a bad batch.

Alternatively, I have a couple of tubes of MX-4, these are even older though, however both still look good and spread smoothly.

Thanks.
 
Arctic MX-5 is a fine choice if your goal is to glue the CPU to the heatsink. I ripped a 5950x out of the socket when I used it but luckily there was no damage to the pins.
 
Arctic MX-5 is a fine choice if your goal is to glue the CPU to the heatsink. I ripped a 5950x out of the socket when I used it but luckily there was no damage to the pins.
I found that running the PC on full load for a few minutes, turn off then remove the cooler straight away, once the fixing screws are off give the cooler a twist laterally does the trick.
 
I've just used some Artic Silver 5 I bought in 2011 on my 7700 AM5 build. Seems OK

Finished off my AS5 and ceramique some months ago and likely from that date as well....works fine.

Now onto my IC Diamond paste that I was part of the testing groups back in the day when it was about to be released. No consistency issues.
 
I'd use it if it doesn't look abnormal. I know MX5 had specific problems but most tubes of paste I've owned in the past have been with me for 5+ years. Come to think of it, first PC build was in 2002 I think? Since 2002 I've owned one tube of Arctic Silver and one tube of Thermal Grizzly Hydronaut (not the big tubes either). About a year ago I bought a large tube of MX6 - so that will last me until about 2044 I'm assuming.

That said MX6 is really quite cheap if you want to just throw your MX5 for peace of mind. Or just use the MX4, I doubt the age has affected it from my experience anyway.
 
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As already stated, no problem using old thermal paste as long as it isn't separating solids from liquid.
As Grimely said, best way to prepare for cooler removal is to start and run system on a heavy load for a 3-6 minutes. Turn it off and immediately try removing cooler by lightly twisting and lifting at an angle. Tey usually come right off .. no fuss, no mess
 
I still have a few pieces of the pressure test paper they sent out as well to get an idea of what the mounting pressure was like on various setups....I should probably just throw it now, it was so long ago....really can't think of a use for it anymore. :D
 
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