Why does nobody talk about thermal paste pumps failing?

I used to think thermal paste was basically bulletproof, just slap it on every few years and call it done. Then last month I fixed a GPU that was overheating at idle, and the paste had literally turned to a dry, cracked mess even though the card was only 4 years old. I replaced it with a decent brand and the temps dropped 25 degrees Celsius, which blew my mind. Everyone rants about capacitor brands or solder joints, but nobody seems to warn newbies that paste has a shelf life, especially if it gets baked in a hot case. Now I check paste on any device over 3 years before I even look at other parts. Has anyone else found dried paste that looked fine from the outside but was totally useless?

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mason.drew2d ago

I get where you're coming from with the dried paste and the temp drop, but I see it differently. Thermal paste failing isn't really a pump problem, it's usually a heat or age problem, and most pumps don't even have paste in them. I've pulled apart old laptops and desktops where the paste was still gooey after 6 or 7 years because the cooler was decent and the room wasn't a sauna. Your GPU probably sat in a hot case with a weak fan curve, so the paste baked out faster than normal. That's not a hidden issue, that's just how materials work when you cook them.