Should I reapply thermal paste when moving my h100i v2 rad?

[Tmas_]

I've had really bad cooling in my Noctis 450, my idle is typically at 40 and I decided I'm going to move my rad from top of case to front because i feel like the warm air is circulating inside of the case. My question is, when just shifting the rad, should I reapply thermal paste? I've been trying to fix my high temps for a while, should I just change the thermal paste too in case it is the culprit?

 

[Rogue Leader]

I've had really bad cooling in my Noctis 450, my idle is typically at 40 and I decided I'm going to move my rad from top of case to front because i feel like the warm air is circulating inside of the case. My question is, when just shifting the rad, should I reapply thermal paste? I've been trying to fix my high temps for a while, should I just change the thermal paste too in case it is the culprit?

You don't *NEED* to reapply thermal paste as you won't be removing it from your CPU if you just move the radiator.

But lets dig deeper into your issue. How many fans do you have and where are they and what direction are they going? I am assuming you have the fans on the radiator pushing air through it and out the top of the case?

System specs?

 

[Tmas_]

I've had really bad cooling in my Noctis 450, my idle is typically at 40 and I decided I'm going to move my rad from top of case to front because i feel like the warm air is circulating inside of the case. My question is, when just shifting the rad, should I reapply thermal paste? I've been trying to fix my high temps for a while, should I just change the thermal paste too in case it is the culprit?

You don't *NEED* to reapply thermal paste as you won't be removing it from your CPU if you just move the radiator.

But lets dig deeper into your issue. How many fans do you have and where are they and what direction are they going? I am assuming you have the fans on the radiator pushing air through it and out the top of the case?

System specs?

I5 7600k (Not OC because of poor temps)
Asus Z270e mobo
2x 8gb G.Skill 3200mhz
GTX 1070 Strix OC
H100i V2
Noctis 450

I have 3 120mm fans as intake at the front of the case, 2 120mm fans at the top back 2 slots pushing up through the rad and one rear 140mm exhaust.
My assumption that my temps could be due to poor radiator placement was because I spotted this video,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNAMxZgvves

 

[Rogue Leader]

What kind of temps are you getting under full load stock (CPU and GPU)? What he is saying if you have an open GPU card is true in that your temps can relatively be hotter (normal convection, heat rises). However if you move the radiator to the front a good bit of your intake air will already be warm which can heat up your GPU.

 

[Tmas_]

What kind of temps are you getting under full load stock (CPU and GPU)? What he is saying if you have an open GPU card is true in that your temps can relatively be hotter (normal convection, heat rises). However if you move the radiator to the front a good bit of your intake air will already be warm which can heat up your GPU.

I just ran prime 95
Idle was about 43
Stress test was 73
The reason my temps have been concerning me is because on hotter days 25c+ my idle can go up to 50 and my stress test temps will reach close to 80. I know those temps aren't insanely high but in the long run couldn't it affect the longevity of my CPU? And shouldn't I be getting temps better than this with a watercooler

 

[Rogue Leader]

What kind of temps are you getting under full load stock (CPU and GPU)? What he is saying if you have an open GPU card is true in that your temps can relatively be hotter (normal convection, heat rises). However if you move the radiator to the front a good bit of your intake air will already be warm which can heat up your GPU.

I just ran prime 95
Idle was about 43
Stress test was 73
The reason my temps have been concerning me is because on hotter days 25c+ my idle can go up to 50 and my stress test temps will reach close to 80. I know those temps aren't insanely high but in the long run couldn't it affect the longevity of my CPU? And shouldn't I be getting temps better than this with a watercooler

idle temp seems high but honestly if you're stress testing to 73 then it doesn't matter. Prime 95 is not real life, 80 is not a damaging temperature. That CPU won't throttle till 95 degrees, thats when you start doing damage. If you were gaming and it was running at 80 degrees i'd say something is wrong, but you are not.

CPU's don't wear out like that. That CPU will be obsolete performance wise long before it could ever wear out. You'd need to be overclocking it to the moon and running it up against throttling temp daily to do damage. Honestly I don't think anything is wrong with your system. You may get some improvement moving it to the front, but at the expense of your GPU possibly running hotter.