Overheard a guy at Micro Center say 'just use thermal paste from the fridge'

I was grabbing a cheap SATA cable and this dude told his friend to keep Arctic Silver in the fridge. Said it spreads better cold. Tried it last night on my old FX-8350 build in Austin and it actually dropped temps by 4c. Has anyone else done this or am I just lucky?

2 comments

2 Comments

paige8707d ago

lol "just use thermal paste from the fridge" sounds like a tech urban legend but I tried it on my old Phenom II build years ago and it actually worked. The 4c drop is real but I think it's more about the paste being less runny when cold so you get a thinner, more even layer. The real trick nobody talks about though is letting the paste warm back up inside the case before you really crank the system. If you boot up with ice cold paste it can crack or separate when it expands too fast. I usually just leave the paste in the fridge for 20 minutes max then let the PC sit for an hour after applying. That's the secret sauce.

angela_coleman7d ago

Yeah I tried the freezer trick once with some cheap paste and it got condensation on the tube before I even opened it. Learned that lesson the hard way when my temps shot up 10c instead of dropping.