Need to Clean off Thermal Paste

[chowmein]

can someone please provide a step by step procedure of clean off Thermal Paste off a A64 3000 (939) and the heatsink.

i've visited various websites but they gave mixed opinions about the materials that should be used.

cpu temp is 45 idle and mid 50c under load. i'm concerned this might be too high due to cheap paste i purchase at some store.

 

[globalcitizen]

Just use 91% isopropyl alcohol and use cotton to wipe it off. Nothing special. Those temps are spot on if you are using stock heatsink. I had exactly those same temps.

 

[Promethply]

You can scrape most of the gunk off your CPU heatspreader and heatsink using an old credit card, or something similar,

Then use either a Napthalene or Kerosene to get rid of the remaining gunk,

And then Isopropyl Alcohol to really clean both the CPU heatspreader and the heatsink.

 

[imported_Kensai]

99.9% Iso works fine for me.

 

[pulsedrive]

Yeah I used the stock 91% stuff you can find in your local Pharmacy store. It cleaned it right off, and I was getting the thermal paste that came with the stock HSF off too. Those temps are fine, I get about 34c idle and about 54c under load. What core is it?

 

[Fern]

Your temps are OK. Very little difference in temps with cheap paste vs. expensive. But the cheap is likely to dry out faster. So, I'd wait and do it later.

Sorry to disagree, but I would not use Napthalene or Kerosene as these will leave residue that will hamper the thermal conductivity properties of the paste. Otherwise you'll have to clean it off really well. But why put something on that makes one more cleaning step.

Isopropyl alcohol in the 90% range is sufficient.

Fern

 

[chowmein]

so are my temps something to worry about? i have an aria, which is a pain the butt to change the fan (have to mount it from the bottom for a zalman)

thanks for the advice btw.

 

[albumleaf]

i use everclear

 

[Ike0069]

That's warmer than I would expect for that CPU, but I wouldn't worry about it too much. Winchester can run up to 65C. Mine runs about 53-54C when gaming, and I have no problem with that.

 

[IntegraGSR]

even 70% rubbing alcohol will work fine.. cue tips work great

http://www.arcticsilver.com/arctic_silver_instructions_big2.htm <--official instructions

as everyone else has said, your temps really are fine, as5 MAY improve temps a bit, or it may be negligable... personally i'd feel more comfortable with a quality thermal compound keeping my cpu cool... it only takes a dab of thermal paste and a few minutes to reseat a hs

 

[essasin]

i usually just use a clean cloth to wipe it off if i ever due remove the heatsink. But I suspect you used too much thermal paste because really there should be hardly any paste on there

 

[mauiblue]

I just installed my new Thermalright X-90 and found the old Artic Silver 5 was still soft under the Coolermaster Jet I was replacing. I just wiped old paste off with a soft cloth then finished it off with some iso alcohol. BTW, when I applied the new paste, I just used a dab the size of a grain of rice that's all.

 

[keeleysam]

I use the 99% iso, hard to find if ya don't know where to go though.

 

[HardWarrior]

Get a can of Goof-Off and some denatured alcohol. Get a lint-free cloth; an old T-shirt that's been washed a thousand times works too. Go over the core with a bit of Goof-Off, which will break up the heavy stuff, when you're done with that go over it again with the denatured. Your core will look as good as new.