Thermal paste and non-overclock

[admbautista]

Hi,

I have a 3570 cpu and using a stock cooler from it. So now, I'm wondering, do I need to change the cooler/heatsink if I'm not overclocking? And do I need to apply thermal paste once in a while? if yes, how often?

 

[amuffin]

Nope! You can use the stock cooler for years, just as long as your temps aren't over heating.

 

[blackdevilmt]

Hi,

I have a 3570 cpu and using a stock cooler from it. So now, I'm wondering, do I need to change the cooler/heatsink if I'm not overclocking? And do I need to apply thermal paste once in a while? if yes, how often?

Well, I am favorable of after markets coolers. I'd get a Coolermaster 212+ cheap and a reasonable good performance. Well I use Artic MX 4 a tiny pea or a bit of wide line and let it spread evenly by pressure applied,mostly as defined by manufactures manual guide.

PS: I only changed compound when changing coolers.

 

[steddora]

Some thermal pastes will actually "wear out" over time; but in my many years of running overclocked chips; only once have I ever had to change mine over and that was on an old Athlon XP system that ran the same paste for about 6 years. The cheap cooler started at 27C idle temperatures and 5-6 years later idle temps were in the mid 30's. A quick new application of AS5 chilled the temps back to the sub-30's.

The intel stuff, it's not "bad" but in any of my systems I build even when using the stock HSF I'll clean that crap off and drop some AS MX-4 on it.