Is there any need to put new thermal grease after cleaning hs/fan?

[Mustang5521]

I removed the heatsink/fan unit off of my AMD Athlon X2 6400+ to clean it properly with an air can. I noticed there was already thermal grease on there, so I didn't touch it, and I just put the heatsink/fan back on after I was done. Was there any need to put new thermal grease on? Or is it ok?

Thanks.

 

[Noobster15]

It is preferable to put new grease on, since the old grease can be affecting temperatures. Also once you remove the HS/F you disrupt how the grease was spread across the CPU, which could lead to higher temperatures.

Id say go buy some Artic Silver 5 thermal Compound, and use some rubbing alcohol to clean off the CPU and heatsink before applying the new compound/grease.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835100007&cm_re=artic_silver_5-_-35-100-007-_-Product

Your CPU will benefit from the higher quality grease/compound.

And to straight out answer your main question it will probably be ok, BUT it is very risky to assume. Play it safe and re-apply some new thermal compound.

 

[uh_no]

you should always clean off the old paste and apply new paste whenever you remove the heatsink from the cpu

it becomes ineffective once it is removed

 

[XD_dued]

yea pretty much what they said...make sure you remove old thermal grease thoroughly as well...i use 90% isopropyl alcohol and coffee filters (cheap solution from walmart). Ideally, you should change this is soon as possible, if i were you, wouldn't even be using the computer right now.

 

[welshmousepk]

i dint think its as big a deal as some people make out, but iowuldnt want to simply pop the HSF back on without at least adding a drop more and evening out the spread.

though it IS better to re-apply it if you can. i find its always a good idea to keep some arcticlean and some TX-2 in the house at all times.

 

[jitpublisher]

The old paste dries out with time, there is no way it is going to flow back into the tiny imperfections like it should, providing good heat transfer between the processor and heatsink. You are simply begging for problems if you reuse the old stuff.
In short, yeah like everyone else said, you absolutely want to clean the old off, and apply new thermal paste when you remove the heatsink.

 

[Mustang5521]

Ok, I used Arctic Silver 5 that I bought from Radio Shack of all places. I can't believe Radio Shack sells the best thermal compound on the market.

My CPU temp dropped 6 degrees instantly! Wow!

Thanks for the responses everyone.

 

[chunkymonster]

AS5 is not the best thermal compound on the market...there are better products available that are not electrically inductive and that also do not require a new application every 9-12 months...thermal compounds like the Gelid Solutions GC-Extreme and Noctua NT-H1 are more effective at filling the gaps in between the heatsink and cpu, are not electrically inductive, and do not require a re-application after several months...

I'm just saying...

 

[Pro Llama]

AS5 is not the best thermal compound on the market...there are better products available that are not electrically inductive and that also do not require a new application every 9-12 months...thermal compounds like the Gelid Solutions GC-Extreme and Noctua NT-H1 are more effective at filling the gaps in between the heatsink and cpu, are not electrically inductive, and do not require a re-application after several months...

I'm just saying...

Where did you find the reapplication information?

 

[LoneWolf_53]

Though I use it myself Arctic Silver 5 is not the best product on the market.

Take a look at this product and the graph at the bottom right hand side of the link.

http://indigo-xtreme.com/

 

[warmon6]

Where did you find the reapplication information?

i would like to know where this info came from. Mainly the need a new application every 9 to 12 months.

Im aware of AC5 isn't the best thermal compound on the market. Although i find no info about the needing to replacing it every 9+ months.

 

[Pro Llama]

Though I use it myself Arctic Silver 5 is not the best product on the market.

Take a look at this product and the graph at the bottom right hand side of the link.

http://indigo-xtreme.com/

I’m not saying that arctic silver 5 is; I would just like to know where it says that it needs to be reapplied every 9-12 month. I have used arctic silver for a while and have never reapplied it unless I took off the heat sink for some reason. If there is an article that states this, I would like to read it. I did some searching and I came up with nothing.

 

[chunkymonster]

Where did you find the reapplication information?

I’m not saying that arctic silver 5 is; I would just like to know where it says that it needs to be reapplied every 9-12 month. I have used arctic silver for a while and have never reapplied it unless I took off the heat sink for some reason. If there is an article that states this, I would like to read it. I did some searching and I came up with nothing.

There is no information on the AS website to indicate that you should reapply AS5 after a specific period of time. However, my personal experience and many user forums are all of the opinion that over a period of several months, AS5 dries out and loses thermal conductivity. Of course, depending on your specific situation (oc or not, high ambient temps, good/poor case air circulation, etc) it may take nine months or two years for AS5 to dry out. But, regardless of whether it is nine months or 2 years, the fact remains that AS5 will dry out and the cpu will realize increased temps.

A google search will return any number of forums and articles that are of the opinion that AS5 should be re-applied after several months of use.

 

[Pro Llama]

There is no information on the AS website to indicate that you should reapply AS5 after a specific period of time. However, my personal experience and many user forums are all of the opinion that over a period of several months, AS5 dries out and loses thermal conductivity. Of course, depending on your specific situation (oc or not, high ambient temps, good/poor case air circulation, etc) it may take nine months or two years for AS5 to dry out. But, regardless of whether it is nine months or 2 years, the fact remains that AS5 will dry out and the cpu will realize increased temps.

A google search will return any number of forums and articles that are of the opinion that AS5 should be re-applied after several months of use.

Considering you made the comment I thought that you may have a real resource. Everything that I have found is the argument over whether it needs to be changed every 2 years or not. Considering that it takes 200 hours to cure, I can see why people may look at it after that time period and say that it is “dry”.

 

[chunkymonster]

Considering you made the comment I thought that you may have a real resource. Everything that I have found is the argument over whether it needs to be changed every 2 years or not. Considering that it takes 200 hours to cure, I can see why people may look at it after that time period and say that it is “dry”.

Semantics I suppose, however I consider the opinions of seasoned computer users as "real resources"; that is what participating in these forums is all about...but that aside, my own experience with increased temps over time led me to re-apply AS5 on a number of builds and ultimately choose another brand of thermal compound.

Taking 200 hours to "cure" AS5 is another issue altogether. Again, there are other, better products available that do not require numerous start ups/shut downs to or need 200 hours to reach optimum cooling potential. If the average person uses their machine for 4 hours a day, that's about 7 weeks before AS5 reaches optimum cooling. Or, in a 24/7 data center where there is little to no opportunity to repeatedly start up/shut down mission critical servers to meet AS5's "curing" time. In reality, 200 hours and repeated start up/shut down is unreasonable even for the most casual of computer users.

 

[Noobster15]

Ok shut up.

I basically answered OP question with my post. Go argue somewhere else.

 

[chunkymonster]

Ok shut up.

I basically answered OP question with my post. Go argue somewhere else.

That's rude...pardon us for not acquiescing to your superior technical knowledge...everyone should have recognized that you had the perfect answer as the very first post[/sarcasm]...how about you go $hit in your hat and pull it down over your ears!

 

[Noobster15]

That's rude...pardon us for not acquiescing to your superior technical knowledge...everyone should have recognized that you had the perfect answer as the very first post[/sarcasm]...how about you go $hit in your hat and pull it down over your ears!

I like how you had to edit that post. Probably trying to think up a nice smart comeback, obviously it didn't work...

 

[chunkymonster]

I like how you had to edit that post. Probably trying to think up a nice smart comeback, obviously it didn't work...

I dunno about that...I though it was pretty snappy...as for the editing, I just wanted to make sure my snappy retort complied with Tom's ToS...and, you can still go $hit in your hat and pull it down over your ears!

 

[doive1231]

I've removed and replaced the heatsink of my CPU four or five times without touching the paste and never had a problem so dont' worry.

 

[LoneWolf_53]

I've removed and replaced the heatsink of my CPU four or five times without touching the paste and never had a problem so dont' worry.

The fact that you've gotten lucky does not make it a recommended practice.

I doubt any PC technician worth his salt would even consider replacing a heatsink without cleaning it and reapplying thermal compound and to suggest otherwise is just plain reckless.

 

[warmon6]

The fact that you've gotten lucky does not make it a recommended practice.

I doubt any PC technician worth his salt would even consider replacing a heatsink without cleaning it and reapplying thermal compound and to suggest otherwise is just plain reckless.

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