MX-4 does it go 'off'.

chief barker · 17 Apr 2013 at 10:32

I've just given my PC a spring clean, took everything apart dusted all the fans blew out the rad on my H50 (not much dust) and the paste that has been on the HS for about a year was slightly dried. So I re-applied with some MX-4 (grain of rice sized blob as before) and my temps. are about 15C lower :confused:

The cpu was idling at ~49C now it's around ~34. Under load (BF3) it never goes above 62C as before it was topping out at about 80C.

So does MX-4 go off after some time?

On Holiday · 17 Apr 2013 at 10:54

Not sure if it goes "off" but I certainly notice a temperature decrease after applying new paste! 15'c lower seems a lot though!

OLDPHART · 17 Apr 2013 at 11:07

Hi, if l remember rightly its got a shelf life of about 8 years or something like that, l have always used MX range of TIM. Using MX4 myself reapplied the paste when l serviced my water loop after 2 years. But if l was air cooled l would not have bothered at all reapplying the paste, only if core temps go up.

chief barker · 17 Apr 2013 at 11:15

YarwoodUK said:
Not sure if it goes "off" but I certainly notice a temperature decrease after applying new paste! 15'c lower seems a lot though!

Yes 15C is a massive drop in temps. The paste I wiped off was a bit like how toothpaste dries, slightly crusty/solid and not in any way how new paste looks/feels.

Strange.

WingZero30 · 17 Apr 2013 at 11:20

chief barker said:
Yes 15C is a massive drop in temps. The paste I wiped off was a bit like how toothpaste dries, slightly crusty/solid and not in any way how new paste looks/feels.

Strange.

How long ago did you apply the MX-4 for the first time ?

Edit: Just read it was a year ago. I also applied MX-4 9 months ago. Would be interesting to note if my Q9650 temps have risen since then

chief barker · 17 Apr 2013 at 11:22

It was about a year ago I think, maybe a bit longer. It was probably due a change anyway.

Rooster212 · 17 Apr 2013 at 18:42

That seems very strange, longest I've had paste on was 8 months and it was nearly the same consistency, maybe a bit stiffer. 15 degree temp difference is large.

chief barker · 17 Apr 2013 at 19:38

Rooster212 said:
That seems very strange, longest I've had paste on was 8 months and it was nearly the same consistency, maybe a bit stiffer. 15 degree temp difference is large.

I'm going to bin my tube of MX-4 as i think it's maybe a bad batch?

There's not much left in the tube anyway.

Any recommended alternatives? Or just buy another tube?

olivier renault · 17 Apr 2013 at 22:18

Chill Facrtor III is good. Comes with Silver Arrows.

pastymuncher · 18 Apr 2013 at 11:54

It's been around 18 months since i last reseated my cpu block using MX4. No noticeable rise in temps here.

IRLeetly · 18 Apr 2013 at 13:47

Hmmm haven't reseated my H50 in.....nearly 2 years. Temps have increased on my i5 760 but not that much.

Avenged7Fold · 18 Apr 2013 at 14:13

I think the temp rise occurs as the paste drys. Also that you nottice much less of a temp change if your paste is in a much thinner layer.

scotsdragon · 18 Apr 2013 at 14:21

Paste by its very nature is viscous but it eventually dries out less moisture means less efficient heat transfer so yes it goes off/drys out you should re apply paste once every 6 months maybe a year. i do it mostly every 6 months.

BluD · 18 Apr 2013 at 15:00

Its most likely the first time ya applied your paste a bit of dust got in there holding the heat sync a fraction of a mm from the cpu, i had the same thing a tiny strand of a cotton bud had gotten into my thermal paste, when i got it out, i saw a good 15 degrees temp drop.