Should I replace the thermal paste on the GPU

[yeahme]

I just bought a second hand XFX Radeon 6850 on ebay but I've been finding it rather noisy so I decided to take it apart to give it a clean in the hope that the fan would not need to do as much work and therefore be quieter. Anyway I'm now just wondering whether I would need to replace the thermal paste on the GPU after taking off the cooler. The card is supposed to be only six months old but I've just been wondering if removing the cooler from the GPU actually reduces the effectiveness of the thermal paste and therefore would require it to be replaced. Even if that doesn't reduce it's effectiveness would there be any advantage in replacing the thermal paste anyway?
Any advice appreciated.

 

[borisof007]

There are advantages to different thermal pastes. For example, Arctic Silver thermal paste is typically made from higher quality materials that transfer heat better.

You don't "HAVE" to replace it if you don't want to, however if you already have it off, why not? Arctic Silver thermal compound isn't expensive either, like 10 bucks.