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Tried using thermal paste from 2015 on a rebuild yesterday
I was putting together an old Optiplex for a media server and found a tube of Arctic Silver in my drawer. Figured it was still good since it was sealed. Applied it like normal but the CPU hit 95c under load within 5 minutes. Had to scrape it off and run to Micro Center for fresh stuff. Anyone got tips for checking if thermal compound has gone bad besides just testing it?
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mary_west11h ago
Yeah, victor's right about the separation thing. I've had paste that was sealed but when you squeeze it out, it comes out all watery at first before you get the actual paste. With Arctic Silver especially, you can usually tell if it's bad by looking for a clear liquid seeping out when you squeeze the tube... if it's not a consistent grey goop right away, toss it. I always give the tube a good squeeze in the air first now, just to see what comes out before putting any on the chip.
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