Swapped thermal paste on a Dell Optiplex 3020 and saw temps drop by 12C

I used the stock Dell paste for years on these office refurbs, but last week I put Arctic MX-6 on one that was hitting 95C under load. Dropped it to 83C after three Prime95 runs and it stayed steady. Has anyone else seen that big a difference just from changing the paste on older machines?

2 comments

2 Comments

henry_moore5522d ago

Right, "perfectly good Optiplexes get tossed" - or they end up as space heaters on someone's desk.

the_elizabeth22d ago

Jumping off that, old paste on office machines gets crusty and almost ceramic-like after a few years, so even a basic swap usually helps a ton. The 3020s in particular seem to have uneven spread from the factory, which a good pea-sized dab of fresh stuff fixes right up. Makes you wonder how many perfectly good Optiplexes get tossed just because nobody bothered to re-paste them first.