Tuniq TX-2 dried up?

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GhOsT1321

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My father's computer is an a6110n. A year or two ago, I was cleaning the CPU heatsink and replaced the stock TIM with Tuniq-TX2. The system runs Ubuntu (9.04?) and recently has been locking up and unresponsive.
Today, I decided to take a look at it and replace the TIM with some fresh stuff.

To my surprise, the Tuniq-TX2 is dried up and hard. I can rub my finger on it, and it does not come off. Also, the heatsink looks like it has burn marks on it, but the CPU looks fine.

Heatsink
View attachment 5111

Processor
View attachment 5112

I currently have the Tuniq TX2 Arctic Silver AA and some ZALMAN ZM - STG1 that came with my heatsink. I'm gonna try some of the Zalman, I don't trust the Tuniq anymore...

Is it normal for Tuniq-TX2 to dry up after 1-2 years?
 

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Sure it's not dirt?

I've not seen TIM "dry" up, but thatd surely explain why you were getting lockups


It was likely dirt. It was hard to clean off, but it came off, and there was no indent, or any aluminum "melted" where it cleaned off. I have no idea how dirt got under it, between the heatsink and processor.
It was quite dry, it felt very much like dry mud that has clay in it. Sort of like drawn on crayon as well. I'm not good at describing it, but it was nothing like the TX2 was when I installed it, nor was it like the 3 year old AMD paste I have replaced. I have never seen thermal paste this dry, we have recommended it to so many people and as far as I can remember, no complaints. I'm assuming that I got a bad batch.
 
Getting dirt under there isnt too hard, as your fans blowing air and dirty/dust right there.

Is it possible that the dirt dried out the thermal paste?

The load temps are down 8-10ºC, but the computer is still experiencing lock ups.
 
I doubt you got a bad batch, if you did, so did a few hundred other people...

Dirt usually doesn't dry out stuff like that, and I have seen a lot of Tuniq TX-2 dry out when exposed to air. Guess what though, that heat sink, doesn't fully cover the CPU, if you will notice, there is a bit of area where the fins are actually on the IHS, air blowing onto the grease can be causing it to dry out, once the paste on the outside is dry, it will pull moisture from the grease on the inner portions. Anyways, I still like my AS5, never have had issues with it, though it's very costly now.

BTW, it doesn't exactly "dry up" it looses moisture content which is normal over time, and should still function just fine for many years, this is something a bit strange though.
 
I am gonna have to show people the difference between "dried up" and perfectly normal. Paste will always change to a drier state after awhile. The moisture isn't exactly what fills the microscopic cracks that are meant to be filled, it's what is suspended in that moisture. Why would we buy $12 paste, if it is useless after a few months, when a cheaper paste, though a few C hotter, never "dries" up and is meant to last the life time of the PC?

This was a case of, something funky happened, not "dry" paste, and AS5 turns hard after awhile, same as TX-2 does. They are not meant to stay in the same liquid like state the whole time, this is why I say every paste still has a cure time.

AS5 has a cure time of 200 hours, meaning that it is finally set and semi-solid after that 200 hours. TX-2 and every other paste will do the same thing at some point, and should work just fine, otherwise we would be seeing a lot of people having to complain about re-applying paste every few months to customer computers.

There is one paste that won't dry out, it's that white grease stuff, it ALWAYS stays at the same consistency somehow.
 
when i pulled off the heatsink, some of the paste on the edges actually flaked off. parts in center was pretty solid too. my Q6600 had shot up to idle in the mid 50s compared to low 40s when first installed.
so I think it was definitely "dried up".
 
Then your paste was beyond dry, it was burnt. Most all paste feels dry, and looks dry after awhile, mostly these "high performance" pastes.
 
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