topic Re: Intel 4th Gen Thermal Material Lifespan? in Mobile and Desktop Processors

Intel 4th Gen Thermal Material Lifespan?

AMarr2 — Sun, 18 Aug 2013 19:09:28 GMT

Okay, so this question is relatively simple. What is the lifespan of the thermal material used underneath the IHS of the i7-4770k (and other 4th gen desktop CPU's)?

I've heard from one place that it has an effective lifespan of around 3 years, but from another that it will last for over 10 years (if not over 15). But I've seen no proof or evidence for either of these statements, so I'd like to try and get a solid answer (maybe with proof?) from someone on here. I usually like people's opinions on such matters (and they shall be very much appreciated); however an actual solid and definite answer would be perfect

Extra info:

I'm looking to get either an i7-4770k or an i7-4820k (upon its release). I intend to keep the computer for a *long* time, as it will be passed over to a parent when I no longer have a use for it. Obviously the solder will basically last forever (presuming / hoping the 4820k will be soldered), however the 4770k will use less power and is slightly better for general use (slightly higher IPC, and again presuming that the 4820k will be around the same level of performance as the 3770k, going by the performance difference between the 3820 and 2600).

Re: Intel 4th Gen Thermal Material Lifespan?

Kevin_M_Intel — Mon, 19 Aug 2013 20:04:43 GMT

Hello AskingAlex,

When you are talking about 4th Gen Thermal Material Lifespan, do you mean the Thermal Interface Material added in the fan or the Thermal Interface Material in sticks that can be bought in any Electronic Shop?

Re: Intel 4th Gen Thermal Material Lifespan?

AMarr2 — Tue, 20 Aug 2013 14:26:42 GMT

I mean the Thermal Material that is used between the CPU cores and the IHS

Re: Intel 4th Gen Thermal Material Lifespan?

AMarr2 — Tue, 10 Sep 2013 14:47:54 GMT

Does anyone actually have an answer to this?

Re: Intel 4th Gen Thermal Material Lifespan?

Kevin_M_Intel — Thu, 12 Sep 2013 14:03:43 GMT

At this

point I do not have the information handy but let me research and I will get

the information for you as soon as possible. Sorry for the delay.

Re: Intel 4th Gen Thermal Material Lifespan?

Kevin_M_Intel — Fri, 13 Sep 2013 15:29:39 GMT

Hi AskingAlex,

Based on the research, the TIM has been tested through Bake and Power Cycle for 7 years to meet Thermal performance.

Re: Intel 4th Gen Thermal Material Lifespan?

AMarr2 — Sun, 15 Sep 2013 18:00:43 GMT

Thank you very much for that information

So would I be able to prolong the life of the thermal compound if I used a more effective heatsink to help increase thermal conductivity away from the CPU, therefore reducing the temperature of the TIM? Or is temperature not a factor, but rather only the amount of thermal cycles that it actually goes through?

Re: Intel 4th Gen Thermal Material Lifespan?

Kevin_M_Intel — Mon, 16 Sep 2013 19:31:10 GMT

Hi AskingAlex,

We recommend a good heat sink to cool enough the processor when running task but it depends on the thermal cycles that it actually goes through.

Re: Intel 4th Gen Thermal Material Lifespan?

AMarr2 — Sun, 22 Sep 2013 18:08:05 GMT

Ahh, thank you very much for that I'm most likely going to go for an i7 4770k with an Asus Maximus Hero motherboard, because that seems to be a very good price to performance, especially for what I intend to be doing with my (soon to be) new computer

Re: Intel 4th Gen Thermal Material Lifespan?

AMarr2 — Tue, 01 Oct 2013 19:09:28 GMT

And I'm back again, with another question I thought I'd just add it here, rather than creating another thread because it's still somewhat relevant

What is the expected lifespan of the CPU itself? If assuming that the TIM will suffice for the life of the CPU, and assuming that the stock heatsink is used, how long should a Haswell based CPU be expected to last? 3 years? 5 years, perhaps? Or maybe even 10+ years? Or even is there a different average MTBF for each category of CPU, like the i3's, the i5's, and the i7's?

I just got to thinking about it because I've very recently used an old Pentium 3 that was made around 12 years ago now, and (apparently) it's been running for at least 5 days a week, 8 hours a day since it was new (albeit with it leaving behind a few motherboards that died before it did over the years). And I've heard that the more recent CPUs from Intel have been progressively more resistant to the effects of electromigration, so I just started pondering about the lifespan of current gen CPUs... and that then brought me back here So sorry to be a bit of a nuisance, I just like to know as much as I can about things like this

Thanks in advance... again!

Re: Intel 4th Gen Thermal Material Lifespan?

Kevin_M_Intel — Tue, 15 Oct 2013 16:57:25 GMT

Hello AskingAlex,

The lifetime of a processor has been calculated in 4-6 years of usage; however, based on the high quality components that are used on these products they can last more than that.

Re: Intel 4th Gen Thermal Material Lifespan?

AMarr2 — Thu, 17 Oct 2013 13:21:56 GMT

Is this calculation based off if the processor was under a constant heavy usage scenario, with near to the maximum TCase temperature allowed, or is this figure based on an average consumer workload, with a lower TCase value (i.e maybe 20 degrees celsius lower)?

Re: Intel 4th Gen Thermal Material Lifespan?

Kevin_M_Intel — Fri, 18 Oct 2013 14:32:24 GMT

Hi AskingAlex,

This has been tested under constant heavy usage so we can assure the correct functionality and High Quality manufacturing process.