Does Arctic Silver 5 expire?

I've got 2 tubes of Arctic Silver 5 here.
One, nearly empty, from a build in 2013, that I used on the rig I'm on now in 2019, and temps are fine.
The other I bought in 2019 is full and never used.
Now I gotta wonder if I should use the 2019 stuff....... wondering again.

I squeezed out the remainder of the 2013 tube on an index card and it looks fine, no separation, still smooth and pliable. I'm leaving it on the window sill to see what it does.

I've read the internet and know that the answer is NOOOOO! Everyone will die!
But I'm skeptical (and really, really cheap!)

What say you?

TV2 said:

I've got 2 tubes of Arctic Silver 5 here.
One, nearly empty, from a build in 2013, that I used on the rig I'm on now in 2019, and temps are fine.
The other I bought in 2019 is full and never used.
Now I gotta wonder if I should use the 2019 stuff....... wondering again.

I squeezed out the remainder of the 2013 tube on an index card and it looks fine, no separation, still smooth and pliable. I'm leaving it on the window sill to see what it does.

I've read the internet and know that the answer is NOOOOO! Everyone will die!
But I'm skeptical (and really, really cheap!)

What say you?

In the tube, it lasts for just about.... ever.
On the CPU, it "dries" after a few years.

That would seem to be the case. I'm looking at it right now!

Ghot said:

In the tube, it lasts for just about.... ever.
On the CPU, it "dries" after a few years.

Yep

When I retire the i7-3820 rig I will pull the Hyper-212 cooler and let you know how the AS5 does after 10 years!

TV2 said:

When I retire the i7-3820 rig I will pull the Hyper-212 cooler and let you know how the AS5 does after 10 years!

It will be dry and it will crack when you remove the heatsink.
Un-cracked... it still works for seriously long times.

Once it does crack, it has to be replaced.

As long as I can still squeeze it from the tube I'll use it but I always clean the CPU and the heatsink and apply new before putting them back in place.

I use this stuff. It never goes bad. It's made out of the same stuff as Hostess Twinkies.


ZALMAN ZM-STG2 Thermal Greases - Newegg.com

Thanks all for confirming what I thought I already knew.
You can't believe how many sites said that it (AS5) expires.
So much misinformation about thermal compound and how to use it out there!