lagunatic Posted March 14, 2016 Share Posted March 14, 2016 I'm considering upgrading my CPU but want to keep my existing H100i that's been in use for 2 yrs. Should I add new 3rd-party paste or can I just typically use the existing H100i as is (existing temps with current CPU are fine)? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
c-attack Posted March 14, 2016 Share Posted March 14, 2016 You need to clean off all the old and add new paste. The TIM is meant to be a super thin barrier between the CPU lid and the cooler contact plate. Any time you lift off the pump, you essentially break the seal. When you go to put it back down, the TIM will not longer be in the same place and you wind up with too much or too little coverage. Both are bad. You were probably due to change it anyway. There really aren't any hard guidelines, but once a year is probably a good idea for most people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lagunatic Posted March 15, 2016 Author Share Posted March 15, 2016 Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slenda Posted March 16, 2016 Share Posted March 16, 2016 This happened to me. I changed out my mobo and added a new cpu and did not add new Thermal compound at first because I thought I had enough on. I Had unstable temperatures and sporadic loud fan raw. I added just a couple small drops of thermal compound on the cpu and the cooler worked like brand new again. I was surprised it made a big difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colesdav Posted March 16, 2016 Share Posted March 16, 2016 I'm considering upgrading my CPU but want to keep my existing H100i that's been in use for 2 yrs. Should I add new 3rd-party paste or can I just typically use the existing H100i as is (existing temps with current CPU are fine)? Thanks! Hi. You need to carefully clean the rectangular area where the CPU was making contact with the H100i using TIM (Thermal Interface Material) cleaner. You can leave any untouched TIM material on the H100i as a "thickness guide" for the replacement material you will use. Then you need to apply a thin layer of replacement TIM material over the contact area. Various TIM (Heatsink Compound) options are available. Since no advertising on this forum I will not say which TIM cleaner or replacement material I used. If you do not do the above you will end up with areas of the CPU that are not properly connected to the heatsink on the H100i. You will definitely end up with poor thermal performance. You may even end up with a dead / degraded CPU if the on board sensors on the CPU are far enough away from an area with poor / no contact to the heatsink via TIM. Replacing the TIM is probably a good idea every 1-2 years in any case. So replace the TIM, refit the H100i correctly, and you will be fine. I have done it. It works. Hope this helps. More background info below if needed. Good Luck. colesdav. Background ... =========== I have the H100i with an i7-4700K CPU. They were fitted 2 years ago. My PC suffered a shut down and I could not get the Motherboard to reboot. The motherboard CPU Error light was red, so I thought my CPU was dead. As part of the debug process I removed the H100i from the CPU. The fail to boot up / CPU light issue was unrelated to the CPU / H100i directly. However I ended up with better temps on my CPU in benchmark tests after I replaced the TIM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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