How long can I store thermal paste? Because I don't need all at once.

[Hiten Das]

I have bought Arctic MX-4 from market and applied on my processor. But, I don't need to apply so much at once. There is a lot of paste left in the syringe.

My question is,

• Can I store the thermal paste for future?
• How to store?
• How long can I store without any performance lose?

Please tell me.

Thank You.

[WereCat]

<5 years +-

[TheReal_ist]

8 minutes ago, WereCat said:

<5 years +-

Where did u get this number from?? I need data to know your telling the truth. 

 

Also does the cap on the syringe seal it enough so it doesn't dry up after a few years?

[WereCat]

1 minute ago, TheReal1st said:

Where did u get this number from?? I need data to know your telling the truth. 

 

Also does the cap on the syringe seal it enough so it doesn't dry up after a few years?

The data is my experience.

I have MX-4 tube from 3 years ago which I use to this day, the paste is still like new and the thermals are the same as when it was new. (I just almost used it all up by now so I will have to get another one sooner or later).

And yes, I do use cap on the syringe.

[TheReal_ist]

1 minute ago, WereCat said:

The data is my experience.

I have MX-4 tube from 3 years ago which I use to this day, the paste is still like new and the thermals are the same as when it was new. (I just almost used it all up by now so I will have to get another one sooner or later).

And yes, I do use cap on the syringe.

Alright.............the data seems legit but I'm still watching you.

 

 

Jokes aside good to know hope this is the same for all other half empty thermal paste tubes.

[WereCat]

2 minutes ago, TheReal1st said:

Alright.............the data seems legit but I'm still watching you.

 

 

Jokes aside good to know hope this is the same for all other half empty thermal paste tubes.

IDK how it is for different thermal compounds but I guess that as long as it sits in the syringe and you have not pulled air in, it should be sealed well and therefore fine in most cases.

Having something like a can full of paste would likely not last nearly as long after you opened it.

 

I also have a 5 year old tube of the BeQuiet! paste that was bundled with my Dark Rock Pro 2 cooler but I have not used it for so long that I have no idea whether its good or not.

[TheReal_ist]

1 minute ago, WereCat said:

IDK how it is for different thermal compounds but I guess that as long as it sits in the syringe and you have not pulled air in, it should be sealed well and therefore fine in most cases.

Having something like a can full of paste would likely not last nearly as long after you opened it.

 

I also have a 5 year old tube of the BeQuiet! paste that was bundled with my Dark Rock Pro 2 cooler but I have not used it for so long that I have no idea whether its good or not.

Ooof a DR pro 2 aren't they on the 4 now damn thats old.

 

Why not check to see the performance on some shit old PC u still have. And then scale the data up to see how it would theoretically perform on a modern PC with temps extracted from your current build. Would be something cool to do if u had the time.

[WereCat]

1 minute ago, TheReal1st said:

Ooof a DR pro 2 aren't they on the 4 now damn thats old.

 

Why not check to see the performance on some shit old PC u still have. And then scale the data up to see how it would theoretically perform on a modern PC with temps extracted from your current build. Would be something cool to do if u had the time.

DRP2 is not really worse than the 4. Just the design and mounting mechanism is what mostly changed.

 

I do have the time but TBH I just really dont care about thermal paste so much to bother myself with this  

[TheReal_ist]

1 minute ago, WereCat said:

DRP2 is not really worse than the 4. Just the design and mounting mechanism is what mostly changed.

 

I do have the time but TBH I just really dont care about thermal paste so much to bother myself with this  

Come on thats useful data to have archived on this forum for all future users. You have the product which has experienced the time passing on it. Not many others I imagine have that. misewell then right??

 

Ya I love the new mounting technique wish the German engineers would over engineered to that point earlier. Rather then under engineering the over engineering method they originally had which backfired because they realized they had to mount the damn thing. And said "well we aren't changing it now it'll be fine probably for users right?'. lmao

 

Great cooler on average tho 

[WereCat]

4 minutes ago, TheReal1st said:

Come on thats useful data to have archived on this forum for all future users. You have the product which has experienced the time passing on it. Not many others I imagine have that. misewell then right??

 

I guess. But I dont have a controled enviroment. My room temperature changes all the time so that would skew the data a lot.

 

4 minutes ago, TheReal1st said:

 

Ya I love the new mounting technique wish the German engineers would over engineered to that point earlier. Rather then under engineering the over engineering method they originally had which backfired because they realized they had to mount the damn thing. And said "well we aren't changing it now it'll be fine probably for users right?'. lmao

 

Great cooler on average tho 

As much as I hate the mounting mechanism on the DRP2, it would be physicaly impossible to mount the DRP4 in my system as it is right now with its new mechanism.

[LogicalDrm]

Arctic says 8 years for use. Maybe half of that is safe storage duration. Noctua recommends 2 years for storage.

 

Just keep it where you would keep spare components and tube closed.

[EsaT]

10 hours ago, LoGiCalDrm said:

Arctic says 8 years for use. Maybe half of that is safe storage duration. Noctua recommends 2 years for storage.

 

Just keep it where you would keep spare components and tube closed.

There's no info about age, but performance difference of "old" to new NT-H1 tube was completely insignificant:

https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/thermal-paste-comparison,5108-9.html

 

Would expect storage conditions being biggest variable besides sealing of paste container.

[LogicalDrm]

1 minute ago, EsaT said:

There's no info about age, but performance difference of "old" to new NT-H1 tube was completely insignificant:

https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/thermal-paste-comparison,5108-9.html

 

Would expect storage conditions being biggest variable besides sealing of paste container.

Iäm aware. I guess Noctua has those low numbers to keep their critics quiet. They don't want to make promisses on something they haven't tested in full.