Is my thermal paste dried out?

[juja890]

Is my thermal paste dried out? Can anybody send me any pictures of what thermal paste should look like after taking off your cpu cooler for about a year or atleast try to explain?
Thank you in advance.

 

[ajpaolello]

First of all what is raising your concern? I'm assuming the CPU is running a bit hotter than usual?

 

[ajpaolello]

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/285023-28-long-thermal-paste-replaced

Here's a thread started on whether it dries out or not

 

[Zerk2012]

Is my thermal paste dried out? Can anybody send me any pictures of what thermal paste should look like after taking off your cpu cooler for about a year or atleast try to explain?
Thank you in advance.

If you took the cooler off you need to replace it anyhow.
I've never seen it actually dry out.

 

[junkeymonkey]

as long as you did not brake the cooler loose and you had no heat issues it should be good then some guys just like to refresh ?? [I'm one that if its doing a good job leave it alone ]

that's your call if you just want fresh or not

''I've never seen it actually dry out'' this depends on type or brand some stay like fresh some firm up after time but as long as your still getting proper cooling ,and did not brake loose the cooler from the chip its all good

heck I had some act like cement dang near had to use a jackhammer to separate from the chips [most times some stock coolers / prebuilts ] they seem to use some mean stuff

 

[ajpaolello]

Some advice for what junkeymonkey said about it being tough, run the processor before trying to remove the cooler. It helps a bit. But good quality thermal paste won't dry out. If it puts you mind at ease to reapply the paste, do so every few years. No sense doing it too often as it would just become tedious.

 

[junkeymonkey]

ya, use a known quality paste like artic silver for example it for the most part set once and forget should never need to refresh it unless take the cooler off for a chip change or what ever

 

[juja890]

Is my thermal paste dried out? Can anybody send me any pictures of what thermal paste should look like after taking off your cpu cooler for about a year or atleast try to explain?
Thank you in advance.

If you took the cooler off you need to replace it anyhow.
I've never seen it actually dry out.

i was gonna replace it anyway because i had some issues with the cpu running too hot and my pc rebooting. i have replaced the paste because it felt dusty under my fingers but it was still stuck to the cpu and wasnt coming off. i still have not run the pc under load with the new paste.

 

[junkeymonkey]

that's the thing if you feel its needed for any reason you do as you feel is best .. no harm in that and your mind is at ease then .

nothing wrong in that at all ..

good luck