Question Thermal Paste

[DylanS1]

Hello,

So my current CPU is an I5-4570 soon to be upgraded, however, I have had this CPU now for over 4 years without reapplying thermal paste. I purchased this PC as a pre-built so I am not sure how much thermal paste has been applied already to the CPU.

The temperatures I presume are fine under heavy usage I am not too sure though idle (idle around 30-40) with a heatsink.

When gaming the games I use to get 200+ fps in now I get way UNDER that I am talking one moment 200+ to 150/90 just huge spikes.

I do have some new thermal paste I purchased for my new CPU I will be purchasing in the next couple of weeks, however, due to reasons, I will have to delay getting that for at least 2-3 months.

Is it worth me applying the new thermal paste with these temperatures? could that fix my huge spike problem?

 

[CountMike]

Hello,

So my current CPU is an I5-4570 soon to be upgraded, however, I have had this CPU now for over 4 years without reapplying thermal paste. I purchased this PC as a pre-built so I am not sure how much thermal paste has been applied already to the CPU.

The temperatures I presume are fine under heavy usage I am not too sure though idle (idle around 30-40) with a heatsink.

When gaming the games I use to get 200+ fps in now I get way UNDER that I am talking one moment 200+ to 150/90 just huge spikes.

I do have some new thermal paste I purchased for my new CPU I will be purchasing in the next couple of weeks, however, due to reasons, I will have to delay getting that for at least 2-3 months.

Is it worth me applying the new thermal paste with these temperatures? could that fix my huge spike problem?

If temps are fine so is the paste.

 

[scout_03]

on the new cpu you will need to clean paste from cooler and put new one in try mx4 and use the pea spot option .

 

[Math Geek]

it won't hurt anything to replace the paste. so no reason not to really. i do it annually on my pc's just because i have a bunch of it and sleep better at night knowing it is fresh

put some new paste on and see if that helps the spikes. if it does not, then you know it is something else and can keep looking. it's quick and easy to do so no reason to hesitate.

 

[uguv]

I never replace the thermal paste unless I'm changing the CPU or cooler. You're much more likely to bend a pin or not reconnect the fan properly than you are to see a noticeable improvement in temperature. You'd probably see better results cleaning the fans of dust.

 

[DylanS1]

Hello,

Just an update I reapplied thermal paste to my CPU today and found some sort of liquid running down my power supply unit I keep my computer stood up so I can only suspect maybe something would have blown on the motherboard? It had a battery type of smell to the liquid. I think when getting my new CPU I will get a completely new cooler, motherboard just in case.

 

[Math Geek]

you need to inspect your system completely if you have something blown on it. it should not be turned on until you know for sure what caused the leak. you can completely fry the entire system depending on what the problem is. if you are not sure what you are looking for, then get someone who does to look it over.

it is not safe to run the pc with a blown capacitor anywhere in it. that sounds like what happened but it could be anything else as well.

get it looked at ASAP before it takes the rest of the system with it.

 

[DylanS1]

you need to inspect your system completely if you have something blown on it. it should not be turned on until you know for sure what caused the leak. you can completely fry the entire system depending on what the problem is. if you are not sure what you are looking for, then get someone who does to look it over.

it is not safe to run the pc with a blown capacitor anywhere in it. that sounds like what happened but it could be anything else as well.

get it looked at ASAP before it takes the rest of the system with it.

I have taken the entire computer apart and I cannot find the source of what caused the liquid. I found the liquid dripping down my power supply but it was also above the power unit so I don't think it can be my PSU due to gravity (it would not go up then down) I unplugged everything, unscrewed everything and everything looks normal I am really unsure about what could have caused it.

 

[Math Geek]

sounds like it may have been a liquid spill then. soda and such will leave the sticky goo behind as it evaporates.

if all looks good and there is no obvious damage, then it should be ok to use. glad you took the time to look it over 100%