Does Arctic Silver go bad?

[kenratboy]

Have the little syringe of it, about 2 years old. Its never been hot or cold.

Does this stuff ever go bad or separate, or should I just not worry about it?

Thanks!

 

[techgeek]

I have had a tube of both Arctic Silver 3 & 5 for years and never seen it separate. You should be fine.

 

[IH8U]

I'd say squeeze out a little bit, to make sure it hasn't hardened in the tube. But other than that it won't go bad that I know of.

 

[kenratboy]

Thanks guys!

My new build parts should be leaving Newegg any time now!

 

[eklipz330]

it shouldn't go bad, but you should replace it every 6 months after you apply it to your hsf...

mx-2 lasts way longer which is why i bought it

 

[kenratboy]

Why would I need to replace it? If anything, it seems once its cured (after a month), it would be like having the heat spreader and cooler as one piece of metal.

 

[eklipz330]

i read somewhere on this forum that it should be replaced every 6 months before its thermal transfer begins to transffer

 

[fantom-feltpen]

my friend had arctic silver 5 and he was told to replace it after 6-8 months, and when he took of his heatsink, it was mostly powdery dust..... but his cpu always ran hot, so maybe thats it.....