The importance of replacing thermal paste

azazl187 · 26 Mar 2021 at 09:45

Hi all.

I just wanted to reiterate to all concerned about the importance of reapplying thermal paste.

I've had my 9900k for around 2 years and my strix 1080ti from launch and decided the other weekend to reapply the thermal paste on both with grizzly kryonaut (I'm not endorsing just this product but this is the one I used) and my temps have gone from 85 degrees at 100% usage to 70 on the cpu at 4.8 and from 70 to 60 at 100% GPU usage.

This may not be ground breaking to all of you but I feel it makes a huge difference. My GPU can now overclock to way over 2000mhz and the fans on my CPU cooler don't make anywhere near as much noise.

Not only will the silicone last a bit longer but for a little bit of messing around everything is running cooler and more efficiently.

It's worth it

.

Have a great day all!

azazl187 · 26 Mar 2021 at 13:57

Cooler running said:
Your mileage may vary with re-pasting but as long as you know how to take the GPU apart and re-assemble without damaging the cooler or thermal pads, then it's a good exercise to partake in once every year or two.

Agreed. The 1080ti strix is just 4 screws

azazl187 · 26 Mar 2021 at 20:21

Devious said:
What paste did you replace?

The GPU paste I replaced was whatever Asus use and the paste I replaced for the CPU was whatever Corsair use on the 115i 140mm pump.

The GPU has always hovered around 70 degrees since having it. I just assumed it was due to its overclock due to it being the OC version. Apparently not as it's much cooler now. I did notice it looked like the chip could be making contact with the heatsink or the paste was crazy thin as the chip writing on the top of it was partly printed on the heatsink!!

azazl187 · 27 Mar 2021 at 02:40

jaybee said:
With any builds I ever do, the CPU paste gets done once and once only, unless there's an obvious issue. I have a socket 775 system sat beside me that has probably been in service for 10+ years on the same artic silver 5 paste running a significant overclock 24/7 and it's always been rock solid. GPUs are reknown for often poorly applied TIM so you do tend to find differences if you redo the stock factory applied one.

Mine was rock solid too. Now it's rock solid but 15 degrees cooler

azazl187 · 28 Mar 2021 at 09:37

Rroff said:
Yeah - I've used AS5 and MX-4 for years and never had any problems - my current system went from 2013 to 2020 on the same CPU and original paste with maybe 1C worse temperatures over time (hard to really compare).

It makes me laugh with some of the hyped up pastes lately and then people finding they are drying out and needing replacement after 12-18 months, etc. or worse doing damage to the CPU or cooler surfaces.

EDIT: Like above I've had Core 2 based systems on AS5 10+ years on with no degradation of thermal performance - maybe 1-2C after a few years.

I used to use AS5 and still have a tube of it somewhere. I went with grizzly kryonaut after looking at some reviews and I was not disappointed

azazl187 · 28 Mar 2021 at 15:40

Vimes said:
For those people who re apply paste to their GPU's do you need to consider any screws that are covered with a tamper covering..?
AFAIK some manufacturers still apply those, my MSI card has one, and try and use that to avoid warranty claims if broken.

This thread convinced me redo my 5ghz 9900k. For me same temps before and after, still the Noctua cooler got a dusting..!

I have a sticker on mine but as the 1080ti is out of warranty anyway i did it anyway