Question Thermal Compound on motherboard socket and on the CPU - What to do?

[gtx580benq]

Hi.

Considering I seem to be very bad at this for some reason (and unlucky), I managed to get Thermal Compound on the motherboard socket and on the CPU.
There was another thread about this issue (with the exact same Thermal Compound it seems), and in that case the advice mostly seemed to be to let it go.
(Don't ask me how this is possible, I don't really even know, but it happened to me).

I also included image of the Thermal Compound, so experts here can tell if it's 100% non conductive or not.
As you can see, there is Thermal Compound from the Arctic MX-4 2019 Edition on the bottom right on the cpu, and on the bottom right and top left on the motherboard socket (and one small in the middle).

I also want to clarify that the same thing happened to me with another motherboard and another cpu like 5 years ago, in that case I just kept it as it was and never had any issues, also then with the exact same, Thermal Compound Arctic MX-4 2019 Edition.

What would your best advice to do be, just let it be, or remove it? It works without any problems. (And yes, I know I am clearly bad at this and unlucky).

Online I could find the following replies:
"Does not conduct electricity.
The Arctic MX-4 is a metal-free and non-electrically conductive compound. That eliminates the risks of short circuit and provides protection to your computer."

See these images:

 

[In2Photos]

I think you could clean this up fairly easily, but you'll need to be very careful with the CPU pins. the socket doesn't seem to be that bad. Use a Q-tip and some Isopropyl Alcohol to GENTLY wipe the side of the CPU removing as much as you can. Don't be stingy with the Q-tips, use a new one after each pass. Once you get the majority of the thermal paste off you may need to switch to a VERY soft brush (think paint brush for arts and crafts or an automotive detail brush) to remove the rest. Spray some alcohol on the CPU and then EXTERMELY gently use the brush to soften and loosen the rest of the paste. You don't have to get it all.

The real question is how you managed to get that much paste on the side of the CPU? You only need a small amount, like the size of a pea or small blueberry on the center of the CPU when applying. Here's how much we used on my son's build.

 

[aigomorla]

OK there is nothing wrong with you setup as your pins are located on the CPU and not on the board like a LGA style.
That TIM is NON-CONDUCTIVE. No need to worry even if it covered the entire board, you can still recover from that.

The clean up is easy.
You will need in order:

1. 90-91% Isopropyl Alcohol. - Drug store
2. Soft synthetic fiber toothbrush. - Cheapest soft headed toothbrush you have...
3. Paper Towels.

Get the toothbrush wet with alcohol.
Brush gently with very little force so you don't bend the pins on the cpu.
Once the brush turns a bit gray, matte it with a paper towel, put more alcohol and repeat.

For the socket repeat.

You want to essentially try to wick out as much stuff possible from the cpu socket with the toothbrush.
I will dab and brush/flick in 1 direction... away from the center of the cpu socket, to try to dislodge or pull out any TIM that may be stuck.
(Make sure you have a paper tower next to the brush to catch the "flick" residue that may fly when you flick the brush away. )

Once all done.... let it out in the sun for 10 min, to allow the ISO Alcohol to evap completely.

 

[mindless1]

I would just let it be, put it back together and do some testing, then if you get errors, attempt cleaning.

 

[aigomorla]

I would just let it be, put it back together and do some testing, then if you get errors, attempt cleaning.

Just incase someone thinks this is a bad idea...

You could cake the socket with paste like icing on the cake and it will still post if the TIM is non conductive.
This is 100% real, and not a TTS Dare.