How clean is clean?

[AtlantaBob]

Ok, I know the importance of getting the old thermal paste off this processor (AMD 1800+), especially because they're supposed to run a little on the warm side.

I've been cleaning with rubbing alcohol and q-tips, and the gunk came from the thermal paste on the bottom of an AMD-supplied heatsink.

However, how clean is clean? The processor die itself is mirrorlike now. But there's still some gunk right at the juction where the die meets the pcb that the chip is held on. I've been scrubbing for a while, and wanted to know if I could be done...

Thanks.

 

[Cerb]

Don't worry about the sides, unless there is a lot of it. if it's the thick stuff, carefully use a razor/boxcutter to work it off (try not to do too much to the gummy stuff on the side of the die that is part of the chip). If you can't see any on the top, you aught to be fine, just give it a little time (a few minutes aught to be good) to make sure all the alcohol and water is gone.

It's not that hard. We like to stress it, though, because if you do screw up, it could mean a fried chip (depending on mobo, at least), or you'll have to take the time to do it all over again once you realize it gets too hot, due to bad contact, too much old TIM, a bubble, etc.. A few extra minutes of work initially pays off.

 

[ClydeFrog51]

arctic silver makes some stuff, i would check that out

 

[AtlantaBob]

Thanks for the replies guys. This is only the third or fourth install of a heatsink that I've done, so I'm still a little nervous about the whole thing. Nice to be working on old parts, though... won't feel horrible if things end up bad.

 

[John]

If you use Brake Cleaner then you can have both the cpu and heatsink cleaned in less than 30 seconds. Alcohol requires too much rubbing.