The Thermal Paste In The Syringe Dried Out...Can I Use it (Please Answer By Reading The Details).?

Question

Hi,i have a cooler master thermal paste in syringe which i bought 7-8 months back and used it at that time for my cpu and gpu.after that,i did not use it and kept the syringe like that.now i see my cpu temperatures are constantly rising,so i am thinking of changing the thermal compound and check whether the temperature reduces.but when i saw the syringe,i found out that the paste has dried out completely in the syringe and i was unable to bring out the paste by pushing the syringe.what things can i do to melt the paste and can i use it again?i am asking this because its an expensive paste and since i have used it a single time,so i caanot throw it away if it can be re-used.thank you very much in advance.

Update:

please let me know if it is possible to re-use it and will be safe for cpu,otherwise i will have to get a new one.

Matt · Accepted Answer

If the paste in the tube is dried out it is pretty much useless.   Throw it out and pick up another tube.  There is no reason to spend a lot of money on thermal paste.  Don't fall for the gimmicks and go for the cheapest stuff from a dependable brand.

Now, to be honest thermal paste probably isn't the reason your temps are rising.  Its not something you need to change every 6 months.  It should last the life of the machine if applied properly.

Dust is the most likely cause of rising temps.  Clean out the CPU heat-sink with compressed air, and make sure all the case fans and grills are clean and free flowing.

Jimmie · Answer

Arctic Silver is pretty much the industry standard in thermal paste. It's not very expensive for a small tube and it will last years if you keep the twist cap on it. You can get some online or at Radio Shack. You don't have to use a specific brand but you will want to use a quality paste or else you'll be doing it again in the near future.

The reason thermal paste is used is because of it's ability to transfer heat to the heat sink and close any microscopic air pockets. Without any moisture in the paste it's thermal transferring properties are severely crippled.

All of that being said, you should consider what's actually happening with your system. Have you overclocked anything? Are the fans working properly? When's the last time you cleaned out the dust bunnies? You can monitor the heat using freeware.

Not many systems are optimized for cooling (which is your issue). Extra cables, cluttered layouts, and giant graphics cards are all culprits. Audit your cooling just to make sure. It beats disassembling, adding thermal paste, and putting it back in the same hot environment.

starpc11 · Answer

once it's dried out can't be use again throw it out, can go to radio shack, best buy where i got some dynex thermal paste for less than 5 dollars was on sale, sometimes replacing the fan and heat shrink assembly  make a lot of difference in the cpu temps

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The Thermal Paste In The Syringe Dried Out...Can I Use it (Please Answer By Reading The Details).?

3 Answers