How often do you change your CPU Thermal Paste?

[Faceman]

I got into a bit of a debate with a friend recently over how often you want to replace your CPU's thermal paste, and wanted to expand this discussion to a broader audience.

 

 

I am a believer of not changing the paste at all, or until temperatures start to increase drastically, and not as a result of seasonal change.  I have a Hyper 212 EVO, and just used the paste that came with the heatsink.

 

He is a believer in doing it once every 6 months, a year at most.

 

I scoured the internet and opinions on this vary greatly, ranging from every 6 months to never.  Thermal paste companies say to change it every 6 months, but that is biased because they want to sell more paste.  Mechanical technicians say it never has to be replaced.  They will repair components that are 10+ years old, and the thermal paste is still intact.

 

I just don't understand why you would mess with something if it is still performing as it should.    That is the only rationale I could come up with.  If your temperatures are spiking, and you notice your CPU is starting to throttle, by all means, you should do everything in your power to get it back to working normally.  Yet to replace the thermal paste on a cycle, when it is already doing its job, I can't wrap my head around that.  Maybe being pro-active about a problem?  Some pastes even say it gets better after 200+ hours at a certain temperature!

 

This isn't even taking into account removing and applying the paste, which some people really make a mess of.

 

You will notice a bit of a bias in my poll, I am aware of it, I would like to hear other opinions though.

 

Debate starts.......

 

 

NOW!

 

 

 

[SAV1OUR]

not that often what i normally do i run a bunch of tests seeing what one gets a lower temp when i find a temp range i like ill stick with that application  

[Redportal]

I just prefer to ensure that my computer is going to perform well all the time, without any risks. I don't go around changing my paste every few months but I do change it yearly.

[Antistatic12]

I haven't as of yet. I have tube of ARCTIC MX4 just sitting there collecting dust.

If your friend wants to do it every 6 months, thats cool. Ask him why he doesn't do the same for his GPU too. or does he.

[alpenwasser]

I'm with you on this one, if things work as they should, I really see no reason to do anything.

Taking preemptive measures makes sense in scenarios where the time between a warning and

actual failure is too short to prevent failure once you've gotten the warning, but that really

shouldn't be the case here, so unless you really enjoy changing your thermal paste then

I don't really see a point to this behavior.

 

And as @Antistatic12 says: If you change the paste on your CPU, consistent behavior

would suggest also changing it on everything else: GPUs, RAM heatspreaders, chipsets

and so on.

 

EDIT:

Also, if your CPU has thermal paste between its chip and its heatspreader: delid and replace

thermal paste on that one too.

Edited March 30, 2014 by alpenwasser

[Ryan Leech]

Minnesota winter air is incredibly dry, so I find myself reapplying every spring

[jbr]

1 year but if your temperatures are starting to soar then just do it.

 

Just make sure it's not dust that causing your heat issues.

[Phage]

whenever i want to upgrade, its a bitch working in a matx case ._.

[MegaDave91]

I voted for the last one. I can't see the need to change the thermal paste if your CPU is staying as cool as it was from day one. 

 

If it gives you piece of mind knowing you have fresh thermal paste on it, then by all means go for it. Just makes sure your temps don't actually increase after applying new thermal paste.

[Faa]

I'm only replacing thermal paste if I'm taking the cooler out.. 

[One Who Craves Souls]

Never, but to be fair I normally end up upgrading the cooler or the cpu in a year anyways.

[Foxxer]

Yearly.

[LogicalDrm]

When I change CPU and/or cooler. I've changed coolers orientation without changing paste.

[Kamina]

Never. By the time I replace it is when I either get a new cpu cooler or when I get a new cpu.

[WoodenMarker]

I agree with you. The job of the thermal paste is to help cool the cpu. Since it's one of the things that would predictably get worse gradually, there's no rush to replace it until necessary.