cleaning thermal paste

[PuNkY]

I'm getting my replacement CPU fan next week and I already have a heatsync on my CPU. Is there a safe way to get the thermal paste off?

 

[Rubber314Chicken]

rubbing alcohol. The best thing to do is buy pre-saturated, sterile alcohol pads (cheap at any drug store, $2 for 100), and then use about 10 to take off all the paste.

 

[PuNkY]

rubbing alcohol. The best thing to do is buy pre-saturated, sterile alcohol pads (cheap at any drug store, $2 for 100), and then use about 10 to take off all the paste.

yea i was thinking of alcohol but wasnt sure. thanks for the reply.

 

[Tommy Boy]

Wipe off as much of the excess as you can with a cloth, then take some ordinary rubbing alcohol and clean off the rest and wipe it dry.

 

[setishock]

Leave the cpu chip in the socket so you don't bend the pins. Lay the rig on it's side to make it easier to get to it.

 

[Celegorm]

Leave the cpu chip in the socket so you don't bend the pins. Lay the rig on it's side to make it easier to get to it.

i've found taht taking the chip out makes cleaning it easier. But at any rate, if he is using a 775 processor ( i didn't look at the kind he has, if he mentioned it) he doesn't need to worry too much about bending pins, as its hard to bend the pins on the Mobo.

 

[hascet]

Isopropyl Alcohol(doesn't stay wet, dries quickly) and coffee filters(they don't leave any lint residue) thats what I use and it works perfectly, I got it from the Arctic Silver thermal paste instructions