Do you need to replace thermal paste ?

[PeyoteFTW]

Hey guys my notebook just 3 years old and i am thinking about replacing thermal paste to new one. But is that necessary to place it with new one ?
And how long does thermal paste last ?
Sorry for my english and thanks in advance.

 

[Ali Tauseef]

Depends how long it was there. But usually I'd just let thermal paste stay until I change cooler. I guess you can replace it every 6 months?
Although people usually do that when they replace their heatsink.

 

[QwerkyPengwen]

Thermal paste if of a high enough quality and applied in just the right amount should last longer than you will probably have your laptop.
If your laptop currently has the stock thermal paste from manufacturer and it's been 3+ years with decent daily usage then yeah, replace the paste with higher quality paste and then you don't need to touch it for a very long time.

If you need a recommendation for paste I would just say to go with Arctic Silver. There are others but you are just kinda splitting hairs when it comes to which is better. You can look up similar performing pastes and then see what might be on sale and go with what you can grab for less money.