Took the CPU cooler off a few times, is the pre-applied thermal paste still good?

[LordRascus]

So I was having trouble getting my newly built system to boot, and a few times I would disconnect the water cooler from the cpu, will the pre-applied thermal pastes still be right to use, or will I need new thermal paste? I did touch where a bit of it was smeared over the cpu to check if it was dry, will I have to get new thermal paste?

 

[rolli59]

Once or twice without fingers should be OK but eventually you will need to apply new paste.

 

[LordRascus]

Once or twice without fingers should be OK but eventually you will need to apply new paste.

So I will need to buy new paste if I did touch it?

 

[rolli59]

Try it without getting new paste but if temps are high then you know for sure that you have to get new paste.

 

[1N07]

Well there is no given number of times you can do that. If you have thermal paste I would just re-apply it pretty much every time you take it apart. It's not like thermal paste is expensive.

If you don't have some. Get some. In the meanwhile you're probably just fine with the pre-applied paste.

If you touched it, it just means that you might have wiped some of it off or your fingers might have introduced all sorts of impurities to the paste that might degrade it. It's still probably fine. Just not at it's best.

Just keep an eye on your temps. That's pretty much all you need to worry about. If your temps are fine, it's all good.
Best still get some paste for the next time.