I never applied thermal paste on my CPU! And I’ve had it for 5 years!

Jul 15, 2018
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Ok so it seems I’ve done something terrible and I’m afraid I might have to buy a new CPU. Today I noticed my CPU was running at about 82 C (first time I ever checked temps). This was a bit odd because I never OC’ed it. Then I remembered that I actually never applied thermal paste to my CPU. It’s been like this for 5 years!!

Do I need to replace my CPU now? Can I just apply thermal paste to fix it?
(I know this is incredibly stupid but keep in mind I was 13 when I first build it.) (18 now)
 
Solution
Most stock CPU coolers had a paste pre-applied. If you had no thermal past, you would have known about it within five minutes of operation.

If needed now, just remove the old and reapply.