How Long Does Thermal Paste Last In The Tube? Guidelines to Know

Thermal pastes have an age limit of around two years, much like most products. The only issue is the fact that the thermal paste tube doesn’t make mention it. The exact duration of thermal paste in the tube depends on a variety of factors.

This article will go over a thermal paste’s ingredients as well as the best ways to store it to extend its lifespan.

How Long Does Thermal Paste Last with What Ingredients?

A liquid matrix that is polymerizable and a few conductive additives that are electronically insulating make up a thermal paste. Several materials may be employed to create the thermal paste for this base fluid.

The greatest thermal pastes for desktops are virtually exclusively formed of liquid metal, even though many other materials may be utilized to manufacture them. These, however, include gallium, a metal that is extremely corrosive to aluminum.

This sort of performance is not as important because the thermal paste’s sole purpose is to maintain the CPU’s heat at a reasonable level.

What to Know About the Lifespan of Thermal Paste

The thermal paste that remains in the tube ought to keep working for one to two years. Once more, I do not advise storing or having outdated thermal paste on hand. Another one is inexpensive and simple to purchase.

1. Placing in Cold Temperature

Although it often lasts for 1-2 years, it might potentially last for a few more years because of a variety of circumstances. As previously said, keeping it in a cool location rather than inside a refrigerator or freezer is preferable. To put it simply, stay away from hot areas so that they won’t dry as rapidly. To keep the air inside, you must also ensure that the cap is properly closed.

2. Unique Recipies from Each Brand

It also matters what mix or chemicals the business or brand uses. Some opt to stay since each brand’s form of thermal paste is made using a unique recipe. Thermal paste varies in “Watts per meter-Kelvin” readings, as you shall see. It estimates the rate of heat transmission to any homogeneous medium and is sometimes abbreviated as w/mK.

Given all these factors, it is difficult to predict how much a tube of thermal paste will persist, although it often floats around for a year or two. It is therefore advisable to just purchase it when necessary.

How Frequently Thermal Paste Should Be Changed?

There are three things at play here. They are the type of material and brand you’re using, how frequently your CPU is heated, and whether or not you applied enough or excessive thermal paste. Thermal paste should generally be changed every 4-5 years or whenever the existing paste has dried out or become damaged.

With so many factors at play, this is quite difficult to quantify. If everyone used a thermal paste of the same standard, it should last longer than five years before needing to be reapplied to the CPU. Ensure that you know how to properly clean thermal paste so that there is no lingering substance from the prior thermal since it can trigger the temperature to increase.

FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)

How Long Would The Container Of Thermal Paste Last?

Depending on the thermal compound’s ingredients, the average shelf life ought to be approximately two years assuming the cap was correctly secured and it was kept cold and away from the sun.

If The Thermal Paste Dries, What Occurs?

Thermal paste, as its name implies, fills in minuscule gaps between CPUs and heatsinks. Even though paste conducts heat much better than air, it still falls far short of metal. Since dried materials are brittle, they may leave air pockets in the gaps.

Is Using Outdated Thermal Paste Okay?

Yes, you must change the thermal paste as it becomes worn out since it dries within the CPU. It usually lasts four years before you need to redo thermal paste, but it also depends on how much your CPU is used at the end of each day. The thermal paste must be reapplied since the greater load, the faster it dries.

Conclusion

Other tech websites and forums would all have different responses if you searched them. Their lengthy estimations are the only similarity you can draw from this. It may endure for more than a year or perhaps ten years. You may estimate the time your thermal paste will last when you take into consideration all of the aforementioned criteria.

As long as they are maintained out of the sun or other sources of heat, thermal paste tubes can typically endure for more than a year. Because you can estimate how much you’d need, the majority of thermal paste tubes are only meant for single use. But since thermal paste on the CPU will live longer than that of the tube’s expiration date if your PC is treated properly, storing them is not advised for subsequent usage.