I swapped out a client's old thermal paste and the temp drop was wild

Had a gaming PC in yesterday that was hitting 95C under load, which is way too hot. The paste on the CPU was bone dry and cracked, probably hadn't been changed in five years. Cleaned it off and applied a fresh bead of Arctic MX-6. After running a stress test for 30 minutes, the max temp was 72C. That's a 23 degree difference just from a simple re-paste. How often do you guys recommend doing this for client machines?

3 comments

3 Comments

eva_garcia562mo ago

Honestly, that's not a normal fix. If a machine needs new paste that often, something else is wrong.

grace_fox313d agoMost Upvoted

Whoa, wait. @rose_young said hopes and prayers? That thing's a fire hazard.

rose_young2mo ago

Sounds like you're expecting a normal fix from a normal machine. This thing is held together with hopes and prayers. I'm just happy it turns on at all.