Reapplication of Arctic Silver 5 on 2600k?

[kooked]

I got my i7 2600k from 2011 with a nice Zalman cooler (nice back then) and only applied thermal paste once.

I have my system overclocked to 4.6ghz using 1.375v. Idle temps are 38-40C in this room when overclocked and mid 30s on a lower clock. Running my Prime95 26.6 using 1344k, I’m getting the following max core temps:

Core 0: 79
Core 1: 86
Core 2: 85
Core 3: 83

Do I need to reapply thermal paste after 7 years? Are these temps suitable for a 4.6ghz OC on air cooling?

I’m considering leaving things as is, just reapply paste for this Zalman cooler, or get the Corsair H60 CPU AIO water cooler. If these are ok numbers for Prime95, I’ll leave things as is.

Suggestions?

 

[R_1]

after 7 years I would change the paste, I suggest changing every 2 at the most, but that is my preference.

change the paste, the cheapest solution, measure the temps and see what is what. if the temps are still high the AIO is an option

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/307792-31-intel-core-2600k-temp

 

[zyh1987]

It actually depends, my 9550 had as5 for 10 years, too my surprise, when I finally took it apart after a total pc upgrade, the paste did not dry up, it still has that pasty consistency, and temp was comparable to when it was first installed. i used my pc for about 9 years, about 2-3 hrs of mixed daily usage. I think it depends on your situation, are you seeing temp going up?

 

[kooked]

Well I took my Zalman CPU off and it was still freshy and pasty on the inside. I did clean it and added fresh thermal paste, but this Zalman was always a PITA to get back on and I was having a hard time to seat just perfectly to where temps were running 97C in BIOS when I turn on the PC. I finally just dumped it and bought the Corsair H60 AIO. Rather than 79-86 avg temps from the Cores, I'm now getting 69-76 instead with this AIO. I didn't want to stress test it long since I just applied the cooler and the thermal paste is fresh. Does the thermal paste work better over time? Can I expect better cooling results as time goes by?

 

[zyh1987]

As5 tends to *cure* after number of thermal cycles. ( about a few weeks)

It may not be as good as the top of the line paste. But it’s still an excellent thermal paste.

 

[shmoochie]

Well I took my Zalman CPU off and it was still freshy and pasty on the inside. I did clean it and added fresh thermal paste, but this Zalman was always a PITA to get back on and I was having a hard time to seat just perfectly to where temps were running 97C in BIOS when I turn on the PC. I finally just dumped it and bought the Corsair H60 AIO. Rather than 79-86 avg temps from the Cores, I'm now getting 69-76 instead with this AIO. I didn't want to stress test it long since I just applied the cooler and the thermal paste is fresh. Does the thermal paste work better over time? Can I expect better cooling results as time goes by?

AIOs need to be tested for at least 40 minutes before the water temps plateau. Using initial temps is misleading. AS5 can take up to 200 hours to cure, and you need to power cycle at least a few times so that it can cool to room temperature.

 

[kooked]

Thanks for the replies. With the Corsair H60 I just used the thermal paste that was already on the product. I heard their paste is fairly decent. I did do the Prime95 stress test around 30 mins and temps were holding around 69-76. Pretty much a 10C difference from the Zalman under stress. It’s an improvement since my system is avoiding 80 temps under stress for a 4.6gzh OC and 1.37v, so I’m happy. Just afraid to stress test for very long while it’s fresh. Curious to see how it does in several weeks.