What Is CPU Thermal Paste Working Temperature Range?

Thermal paste’s job is to help regulate the computer’s temperature — you know that at this point.

What you don’t know is the working temperature of your thermal paste. You see, a thermal paste can only do wonders until it reaches a certain temperature limit. When it goes higher than that, it won’t be able to keep the temperature under control — which could lead to catastrophic circumstances.

As you’re reading this post, you probably don’t know the safe working temperature limit of common thermal pastes — and that’s alright. You’re going to learn everything you need to know, in this post.

Let’s get started.

Thermal paste temperature limitation

A thermal paste’s operational temperature range depends on its formulation. There are many ways a manufacturer could create a thermal paste. There are silicone-based pastes, carbon-based pastes, and liquid metal-based pastes, too. However, the manufacturer adds more components to them to expand the working temperature range.

Silicone-based thermal pastes usually have better working temperature ranges than the carbon-based ones, mostly due to their chemical composition. However, it purely relies on how much work the manufacturer puts into it. If you’d like to get the best results, the general rule of thumb is to find a paste whose working temperature is higher than a CPU’s working temperature. We will talk about CPU temperatures, in detail, in the next section.

All in all, a thermal paste should stay functional at around 100 degrees Celcius, mostly because that’s the temperature a CPU reaches under extremely intensive circumstances.

However, the best-quality thermal pastes on the market, like Kooling Monster KOLD-01, can work well up to 150 degrees Celcius, which is more than enough breathing room. If you have a thermal paste that stops working well after the CPU reaches 100 degrees Celcius, that’s a serious red flag that implies you have to change the thermal paste ASAP.

You see, if a thermal paste can’t bear 100 degrees Celcius, it’s a massive indication that it’s a substandard paste that you need to get rid of as soon as you can.

CPU working temperature range

When you do something on your computer, the CPU processes tasks and generates heat as a byproduct.

If you’re doing a light task, say browsing the web, reading a book, or listening to music, only a little bit of heat is produced. Under such circumstances, the CPU should only reach a maximum of 55 degrees Celcius. 40-55 is the most probable range.

When you start doing something intensive, like editing a video or playing a game, the CPU works harder. More heat is produced, and the temperature of your CPU rises. In such cases, a temperate between 60-80 is considered normal. If the task is as intensive as it could get, a temperature up to 95 degrees Celcius is acceptable. But — anything higher than that could be dangerous!

If you’d like to read more about CPU temperature ranges, click here to read our in-depth insight.

Why do thermal pastes degrade under normal working temperatures?

A thermal paste needs to have a grease-life structure for it to be applied easily. However, making the thermal paste greasy requires a lot of work by the manufacturer.

To save money, low-quality manufacturers add organic solvents into the paste, which give the paste its paste-like form. However, those organic solvents are the top reason why a thermal paste degrades over time.

Organic solvents get evaporated faster and easier. As the paste gets older and is exposed to more and more heat coming from the CPU, the solvent is evaporated, leaving behind a cracked and solid thermal paste that doesn’t work well.

That’s where KOLD-01 comes into play. KOLD-01 doesn’t have any organic solvent added to it. Instead, it has a unique rheological structure that gives it its fluid-like properties during application.

As a result, KOLD-01 doesn’t dry out as fast as traditional thermal pastes do. We don’t say it never dries out — it does. However, you don’t have to worry about that for some good long years.

What is thermal paste lifespan under normal working temperatures?

It highly depends on the quality of your thermal paste, as well as how you use your computer. In general, chaging the paste every one to two years is a good idea.If you use a good-quality paste, it’s going to last you anywhere from a year to a few years. If you use a substandard paste, it might only last you for a few months.

At the same time, if you do intensive tasks on your computer daily, like playing games and editing videos, the thermal paste will degrade faster. But if you only do casual tasks, like browsing the web and writing documents, the paste will last longer.

In any case, you shouldn’t depend on the timeframe alone to decide whether you need to replace the paste or not. There are other indications that depict your paste needs to be replaced.

For example, when a paste gets older, it stops working as it should. So, you will start facing high CPU temperatures when that happens. You will see lags in games, app crashes, and even the blue screen of death.

Plus, the physical appearance of the paste will change as it gets older. You need to keep an eye on these clues to decide when you should replace your thermal paste.

Learn more about thermal paste lifespan.

The bottom line

Good-quality thermal pastes have higher working temperature ranges, while bad ones have worse. In any case, going with Kooling Monster KOLD-01 will save you the trouble of having to think about it.

Remember, the selection of your thermal paste goes a long way. A small investment in a top-tier thermal paste will keep your PC working well for a long, long time.