Curious about thermal paste

[Dogsparky]

Quick question and was kind if curious.

 

How long can you put thermal paste and an air cooler on and not use it for? (Example:put the cpu in put thermal paste on them cooler and wait let's say 2 weeks before using your computer) would that cause harm to the computer or nothing really

[fjdhdhcyfhf]

Nothing

[Enderman]

Perfectly fine.

[Dogsparky]

6 minutes ago, Enderman said:

Perfectly fine.

Interesting I guess, always thought maybe because it wasn't being heated up something would happen 

[vorticalbox]

1 minute ago, Dogsparky said:

Interesting I guess, always thought maybe because it wasn't being heated up something would happen 

What do you think happens to pre-build PCs while they are being shipped around and then end up sitting in a warehouse/shop until sold?

[Enderman]

2 minutes ago, Dogsparky said:

Interesting I guess, always thought maybe because it wasn't being heated up something would happen 

Only some old thermal pastes need to "cure" to work their best, most modern pastes do not need this.

And if you were using an old paste, it would just cure later, when you turn the PC on and it heats up.

[Guest Kloaked]

7 minutes ago, Dogsparky said:

Interesting I guess, always thought maybe because it wasn't being heated up something would happen 

It won't deteriorate if you don't use it if that's your question. It may eventually but I'm pretty sure you wouldn't outlive the life of it, haha.

[LogicalDrm]

It would need something like 6 months to few years and really low end paste. Result would be higher temps. Nothing more than that.