Removing Old Thermal Paste From CPU?

[CyberChild]

Hey all,

It's come time to perform some maintenence on my PC and I need to apply a fresh coat of Arctic Silver to my CPU. I've known for a while that one can safely use rubbing alcohol and a soft cloth to clean the thermal compound off of the heatsink, but what I don't know is how to safely remove the compound from the CPU core. I have an AMD Athlon XP 2800 and looking at the core there appears to be a very small holographic square on one of the corners of the core. Do I need to be cautious of this area? Can I still use a cloth and rubbing alcohol to clean off the old thermal paste? If not, how do I safely clean it? Any feedback would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[ponyo]

I use running water from my kitchen sink and small amount of dishwashing detergent. Works like charm. Then I let it sit and airdry it or if I need to use it in a hurry, I use hair blowdryer to dry it for about 5 minutes.

 

[Corporate Thug]

acetone?

 

[beatle]

I used isopropyl alcohol and q-tips to clean my cpu.

 

[jhites]

Use acetone (finger nail polish remover) and then come back over using a 90%+ Isopropyl Alcohol.