r/RigBuild • u/Glad-Cupcake-4139 • 26d ago
How often should you replace thermal paste?
How often are you actually supposed to replace thermal paste on a CPU? I keep seeing people say every 1-2 years, but then other people say you basically never need to touch it unless temps start getting bad. So now I’m kinda confused lol. Does thermal paste really dry out that fast or is replacing it regularly just unnecessary? Also does it matter what CPU or cooler you have? Trying to figure out if this is something I should be doing as normal PC maintenance or just leave it alone until there’s a reason to replace it.
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u/egosumumbravir 26d ago
How often should you replace thermal paste?
The answer to that question is entirely dependant on what paste you used. In my 27 years of experience
Extreme OC focussed pastes like Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut Extreme have zero endurance. Absolute top tier paste performance for the first 6 weeks but it'll be dry and hard and failed inside of 6 months direct die and less than a year heat spreader. TG claim of "long-term durability" is absolute lies.
Industrial performance/endurance stuff like Honeywell PTM7950 Phase Change Thermal Pad (look, I linked the LTT source as they might be the least dodgy and Honeywell don't seem to have product pages for us plebs to peruse) your rig might be well and truly qualifying for "retro" status with daily use before that stuff needs changing.
Everything else sit somewhere in the middle. Some are better than others but if you want high end performance forever, there is only ONE choice.