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Quoted from Spike Himself

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unless you’re convinced the paste that’s in there has been applied poorly, i wouldnt necessarily advise replacing it. the trick with thermal paste is that it takes a while to “settle”, it needs a good number of cycles (going hot, cold, hot, cold, etc) before it works to its full potential. if you replace it you’re just setting yourself back a step for a while.

This was true a few years ago. Some thermal paste brands like Artic Silver, made thermal paste where the thermal paste curing time was very high. Usually it would also be reached after 10-15 hours of running, depending on brand. This was a few years ago and now most (if not all) thermal paste have little or no curing time. With that said, I know gaming laptops very well, and I own one myself. Even high quality thermal paste dries up/is completely evaporated after 4-5 months of use, if you use your laptop 5-6 hours daily as I do, for gaming.

Knowing the average gamer, he probably hasn’t changed his thermal paste at all since he got his laptop, so changing the thermal paste, if he has heat problems would be a natural step in the troubleshooting process, should he possess the skills to change it himself. Just remember to apply it correctly, and all should be good :)