Should I apply new thermal paste after fan cleaning in my laptop or the stock TP is sufficient?

[SB55]

Hi guys, recently I cleaned my old laptop but I also removed the heatsink. I want to know if it is ok to use old thermal paste.

 

[Bossyfins]

Are you saying use the old paste that was already put on? If you removed the heat sink, it is highly recommended that you apply NEW paste. Make sure to clean the heat sink with 99% isoprphyll alcohol.

 

[ss202sl]

If you remove the heatsink, you need to clean off the old thermal paste and apply new. If you try and re-seat the heatsink with the old thermal paste, you'll end up with bubbles (air pockets) in between the CPU and heatsink which will lead to overheating.

 

[boosted1g]

If you removed the heat sink, you need new paste simple as that.


The purpose of the paste is because the metal of the chip and the metal of the heat sink are not a flawlessly perfect smooth surface. The paste fills in these tiny gaps and allows proper heat transfer. Once you remove the hetsink that precision filling in of those holes is gone and you will never fit it back in the precise location it was in, not to mention the paste will harden over time.