Reuse existing factory applied thermal compound?

[Elliott Veares]

Hi all;

Had a Intel Core i7 computer from a well know reputable manufacturer go bad where I work recently that was still under warranty, so the manufacture sent an engineer out to diagnose it. Ended up being the CPU after he tried a CPU from a working PC.

However the engineer did not replace the thermal compound when he put the working Core i7 CPU back in the original computer and simply reused the existing thermal compound. I asked him why he did not replace the thermal compound, and said there was no need as the thermal compound was still wet.

Was this ok what he did? These are your general mass produced Intel Core i7 business PC's.

Regards: Elliott.

 

[Jason H.]

Hi all;

Had a Intel Core i7 computer from a well know reputable manufacturer go bad where I work recently that was still under warranty, so the manufacture sent an engineer out to diagnose it. Ended up being the CPU after he tried a CPU from a working PC.

However the engineer did not replace the thermal compound when he put the working Core i7 CPU back in the original computer and simply reused the existing thermal compound. I asked him why he did not replace the thermal compound, and said there was no need as the thermal compound was still wet.

Was this ok what he did? These are your general mass produced Intel Core i7 business PC's.

Regards: Elliott.

I would HIGHLY recommend to shut down the PC and apply some new paste.

I mean as long as your temps are fine, then it could be fine. So check temps quickly if you want but I would NEVER reuse paste ESPECIALLY if its been longer than a couple hours. Just so many NO's in this situation. And stock paste is not even that good to begin with the consider reusing.