CPU temp issue

[Iervolino]

I ran prime95 for a temp check and my cpu was hitting ~90°C when using the small FFT test.

As the temperature was high I cleaned my cpu cooler (zalman cnps10x) and changed thermal paste. The thermal paste I have is 7-8 years old and I think its probably dried out but I used it anyway.

Running the prime95 test again with the same settings (small fft) I got 61°C max temp and I thought my issue was solved but the problem is, after an hour of using my pc, I ran the same test again and the temp was hitting 90°C once again...

Do you think the issue is the thermal paste?

 

[drkatz42]

few questions: cpu? overclocked? ambient temperature? system specs?

 

[Iervolino]

i7 4770k. Not overclocked. Ambient ~20°C.

MB Gigabyte Z87 D3HP
12 GB ram
R9 280X

 

[BigBoomBoom]

Most likely thermal paste, all paste has shelf life and I'm pretty sure 7-8 years is quite a bit more than most paste shelf life. For example Noctua NH-T1 has a recommended shelf life (in tube) of two years and in use of three years.