OK to use 2-year old Arctic Silver?

[Quad]

here's the rundown for your amusement:

went away to school, ran 3 50cfm case fans for almost all of first term (4 months), half-inch layer of dust formed inside case, heatsink completely clogged with dust, no air movement through heatsink.
temperatures shot up from 42 idle to 77 idle, case is a mess.

Question:

so, i'm doing some spring cleaning.......but my arctic silver tube is about 2 years old....is it still ok to use? or does this stuff expire or something?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Mday]

depends.

the syringes they come in arent really air tight. the areas near the plunger or the exit probably made the AS around there dry. so dont use that. squeeze that out, and use what's in the middle. double check the consistency. and you're GTG. silver doesnt really "dry up" but the other stuff does.

 

[Quad]

coolness! thanks

 

[BG4533]

I have heard AS3 is really only lasts optimally for 6mo to 1 year. I have also heard you get better results changing whats on your HS at least once a year as well. If you do what Mday said though you should have the best luck. You will know what to suspect if you get high temps though.

Brian

 

[Corporate Thug]

quad, next time your at your local staples, look for antec silver 3 aka artic silver 3 for $2.50 for the 3 gram syringe

 

[BG4533]

Is it relabeled AS3 or just similar silver compound?

 

[Corporate Thug]

Originally posted by: BG4533
Is it relabeled AS3 or just similar silver compound?

its relabled AS3

 

[sodcha0s]

AS3 expires, DRIES UP??? HUH????? If it dried up it would be completely useless. Dude, there is no active ingredient or organic material that I know of in that stuff, how could it go bad? Are you people really college educated?

 

[WarCon]

Originally posted by: sodcha0s
AS3 expires, DRIES UP??? HUH????? If it dried up it would be completely useless. Dude, there is no active ingredient or organic material that I know of in that stuff, how could it go bad? Are you people really college educated?

The only thing that I know that it does is separate over time. Nevin recommends that you store it nose down (so the silver settles to the tip).

 

[BG4533]

Originally posted by: sodcha0s
AS3 expires, DRIES UP??? HUH????? If it dried up it would be completely useless. Dude, there is no active ingredient or organic material that I know of in that stuff, how could it go bad? Are you people really college educated?

There is some liquid substance in it other than silver that will evaporate and change textures and separate.

 

[WarCon]

I am not sure that the synthetic oil that Nevin uses evaporates at a rate we could notice. You would have to check with Nevin at Arctic Silver and I am sure he could give you some idea as to the evaporation rate.

 

[0roo0roo]

Originally posted by: sodcha0s
AS3 expires, DRIES UP??? HUH????? If it dried up it would be completely useless. Dude, there is no active ingredient or organic material that I know of in that stuff, how could it go bad? Are you people really college educated?

we have a winner. if 2 year old thermal grease, let alone premium can't last in a tube, how do you think pc's last 2 years baking the stuff? they'd all fry.... good lord think people.

 

[BG4533]

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo

Originally posted by: sodcha0s
AS3 expires, DRIES UP??? HUH????? If it dried up it would be completely useless. Dude, there is no active ingredient or organic material that I know of in that stuff, how could it go bad? Are you people really college educated?

we have a winner. if 2 year old thermal grease, let alone premium can't last in a tube, how do you think pc's last 2 years baking the stuff? they'd all fry.... good lord think people.

Most people that use AS3 do not leave the same HS on the same computer for many years. Companies like AMD give thermalpads because they last much longer. Besides, I dont think anyone here said AS3 will block all heat transfer after 2 years, just that you may get temps a few degrees higher than before. Unless you are heavily OCing, that shouldnt matter much.

 

[pac1085]

Ive got a 3 year old tube of it that i still use without any problems..and a 2 yr old AS2 tube

 

[beatle]

Been using the same AS2 for 2 years. Still looks, feels, and tastes like new.

 

[BeauJangles]

Originally posted by: BG4533

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo

Originally posted by: sodcha0s
AS3 expires, DRIES UP??? HUH????? If it dried up it would be completely useless. Dude, there is no active ingredient or organic material that I know of in that stuff, how could it go bad? Are you people really college educated?

we have a winner. if 2 year old thermal grease, let alone premium can't last in a tube, how do you think pc's last 2 years baking the stuff? they'd all fry.... good lord think people.

Most people that use AS3 do not leave the same HS on the same computer for many years. Companies like AMD give thermalpads because they last much longer. Besides, I dont think anyone here said AS3 will block all heat transfer after 2 years, just that you may get temps a few degrees higher than before. Unless you are heavily OCing, that shouldnt matter much.

I haven't switched my processor in at least 1.5 years and temps haven't increased a degree. I would therefore believe that there is nothing wrong with AS over time. Even if it seperates, just shake it a bit.

 

[cpufan]

Originally posted by: beatle
Been using the same AS2 for 2 years. Still looks, feels, and tastes like new.

For those of you that don't know, beatle is joking. Do not taste AS. I assume it has some sort of petroleum distilate in it, which you would not want to ingest.

 

[beatle]

Originally posted by: cpufan

Originally posted by: beatle
Been using the same AS2 for 2 years. Still looks, feels, and tastes like new.

For those of you that don't know, beatle is joking. Do not taste AS. I assume it has some sort of petroleum distilate in it, which you would not want to ingest.

 

[amcdonald]

Why not just look at the website.......

Controlled triple phase viscosity.
Arctic Silver 3 does not contain any silicone. The suspension fluid is a proprietary mixture of advanced polysynthetic oils that work together to provide three distinctive functional phases. As it comes from the tube, Arctic Silver 3's consistency is engineered for easy application in a thin even layer... blah blah blah, 50 to 200 hours, etc.
Absolute Stability.
Arctic Silver 3 will not separate, run, migrate, or bleed.

While this is specifically referring to AS3, its quite simple.
Because of the nature of the product, common sense forces me to assume that this compound does not have an expected time when its suffers thermal conductivity degradation.
Any responsible manufacturer would note otherwise either somewhere on the website or on the product. Maybe its on the website and I missed it.