Can the TIM pad be removed?

[Anarchist420]

I have a gigabyte motherboard and I'd like to replace the PCH's TIM with AC MX2. Is it easily possible? I have Arctic silver tim removal and surface purifier for whatever that's worth.

Is it supposed to be stuck on there or is it removed easily?

 

[Sleepingforest]

Scrape as much off as you can with a thin plastic tab (an old credit card or something). Then, if you have some 90% or higher purity iospropyl alcohol (or your TIM remover, if you prefer) and a paper towel/cotton swab, simply rub until the rest comes off.

Your surface may remain stained or discolored, but all the TIM should come off.

 

[Anarchist420]

paper towel/cotton swab

I'd use a lint-free cloth. Thanks though

 

[ColdFusion718]

Scrape as much off as you can with a thin plastic tab (an old credit card or something). Then, if you have some 90% or higher purity iospropyl alcohol (or your TIM remover, if you prefer) and a paper towel/cotton swab, simply rub until the rest comes off.

Your surface may remain stained or discolored, but all the TIM should come off.

Alcohol doesn't remove much of the TIM. Use ArctiClean if you have it. If not, use Goo Gone ($8 for a huge bottle).

Use alcohol to clean/dissolve the ArctiClean or Goo Gone.

 

[dawp]

I'd use a lint-free cloth. Thanks though

coffee filter works well. that's what I use

 

[Dstoop]

Alcohol doesn't remove much of the TIM. Use ArctiClean if you have it. If not, use Goo Gone ($8 for a huge bottle).

Use alcohol to clean/dissolve the ArctiClean or Goo Gone.

Is goo gone seriously safe to use on a processor? They're pretty ambiguous about what they put in that stuff, and it reeks of fake oranges for weeks after applied. I think there's more warnings about how flammable it is than there is info about whats in it on the bottle...

That being said, the stuffs great for getting stickers off of things

 

[serpretetsky]

I have a gigabyte motherboard and I'd like to replace the PCH's TIM with AC MX2. Is it easily possible? I have Arctic silver tim removal and surface purifier for whatever that's worth.

Is it supposed to be stuck on there or is it removed easily?

I'm not familiar with that specific chip/heatsink combo, but most heatsinks are mounted either with some silicone thermal paste or with a thermal pad. Sometimes something might be mounted with permanent thermal epoxy, but i have yet to see this (if the heatsink has some mounting mechanism, clips, screws, etc, it's not epoxy)

If it's silicone paste, it will either still be wet, or it might be dry.

If it's wet, the heatsink will come off easily, and the paste removed with your cleaner of choice.

If it's dried, you may have to do some gentle nudging and prying to get it off, and then use your cleaner of choice (and maybe VERY light scraping)

If it's a thermal pad (doubt it, this is usually only used in laptops and heatsinks that cover multiple components) then it will come off easily, and the cleanup will be easy too. However, you want to confirm the heatsink and chip actually mate and don't hover. If they leave a gap for the pad to fill, then you should not replace this with any paste or grease, but only another pad (or maybe some aluminum shim if your feeling lucky).

 

[Anarchist420]

thanks everyone I decided I'm not going to fool with it.