Does Thermal Paste Get Better Over Time?

Many people expect a massive performance gain after changing the thermal paste on their CPU/GPU — and we don’t blame them. Thermal paste is a crucial part of your PC’s thermal management system, and applying a good-quality paste does give you a massive performance gain.

But, sometimes the results aren’t as exciting as one might expect, and there can be several causes for that.

For instance, the thermal paste you’ve applied might be a lower-quality one, which could drastically affect the peak performance. You may also not have applied the paste correctly, which, again, affects the performance you get.

In such cases, you might want to reapply the paste and use good-quality paste this time around.

Some people expect the paste will start performing better as it “settles down”, but is that really the case? Will your newly-installed thermal paste get better over time?

That’s what we’re going to talk about today. Let’s get right in.

How long does it take for thermal paste to work?

It depends on the quality of the paste you’re using.

Good-quality pastes start working as soon as you apply them to your CPU/GPU. They don’t need any time to settle down.

That’s because the primary purpose of a thermal paste is to fill in the micro air bubbles between the CPU/GPU and the heatsink. As soon as you apply the paste, it has already started doing its job.

So, you should see the maximum performance gain as soon as you start using your PC. For instance, our very own thermal paste, Kooling Monster KOLD-01, starts giving its best performance right after the installation.

However, that’s not the case with every thermal paste.

Some brands say their paste needs a “curing” time. It’s the duration the paste takes to completely settle down and start working at its peak capacity.

To find out how long your specific thermal paste is going to take, you should check the product page on its website. It’s usually mentioned there.

Learn more about How Long Does It Take for Thermal Paste to Work?

Does thermal paste get better over time?

Again, it depends on the paste you’re using.

If your paste doesn’t have a “curing” time, it will be at its peak performance capacity from the beginning. So, it won’t get better over time as it’s already doing its 100%.

On the other hand, if your paste does have a “curing” time, it will get better over time for the next few hours, days, or weeks (depending on how long the “curing” time is). The paste will start doing its 100% after the time is over.

But, after the paste has fully settled down, it won’t get any better. In fact, it will start degrading over time. The better the quality of your paste, the slower it will degrade.

Learn more about How long does thermal paste take to dry? What is average cure time?

How long does thermal paste last?

It depends on two main factors:

1. The quality of your paste.

2. The intensity of your usage.

If you do intensive tasks on your computer, like gaming, video rendering, or 3D modeling, your computer produces more heat. So, the thermal paste dries out faster, hence it lasts shorter.

On the other hand, if you only do basic tasks on your computer, like watching Netflix or editing documents, your PC won’t generate a lot of heat. So, your thermal paste will dry out slower, and last longer.

If you’re using a poor-quality paste and doing intensive tasks on your computer at the same time, your paste will only last less than a year. Even in this period, you may not get the best thermal performance you could get.

On the contrary, if you do intensive tasks daily but are using a good paste, it can easily last more than a year or two while giving you top-notch thermal performance. If you don’t do heavy tasks, a good paste can last you for multiple years.

The rule of thumb is to keep an eye on your computer. When you notice that your PC has started getting hotter than usual, that’s the right time to replace the thermal paste.

Is it ok to run the PC with dried thermal paste?

We do NOT recommend using your PC with a dried-out thermal paste.

A dried-out paste has very poor thermal performance. So, heat will stay inside your PC and won’t be eliminated from it.

When that happens, your computer will keep getting hotter and hotter as you use it. If it overheats, it may cause problems like app crashing, blue screen of death, and even permanent hardware damage.

All in all, we recommend you replace the thermal paste as soon as it has dried out.

Learn more about Is it OK to run PC with dried thermal paste?

The bottom line

Good-quality thermal paste starts working at its peak capacity as soon as you apply it. There’s no waiting time, so it doesn’t really get better over time.

But, if you’re using a paste that has a “curing” time, it will get better over the next few hours or days (even weeks, depending on how long the curing time is).

After the paste has completed the “curing” time and started performing at 100%, it won’t get any better then. From that point, it will only get worse as it gets degraded.