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Thermal paste question :)

mojothehut

mojothehut

Senior member
Hey all,
So I've just purchased a http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103064&Tpk=cooler master tx3
To replace the stock cooling on my AMD 975.
Im kind of sick of the loud noise my amd stock fan makes..

Anyway, when I put the stock fan on, it had a thin layer of silver thermal paste. I know when I go to swap heatsinks out, that stuff will be baked all over my cpu. Is there a safe way to clean it off in order to put new paste that comes with my new purchase? Or should I just slap some new paste on top of the old residue left behind from the stock heatsink?
 
Wiping it off is ok, even with a paper towel. Fingerprints are OK too, they don't really affect temps. Just don't leave a rock or other object sitting there to interfere with the fit between the parts and cause an air gap. You want good contact between them.

If you want to really get into it, you can use varying grades of sandpaper to polish the surface down to a mirror finish. That definitely gets all the old stuff off.
 
I always wipe off the old grease with a paper towel, then use a cotton ball or makeup sponge (if you are or live with a woman, you will probably easily be able to find these) and use isopropyl alcohol to clean the surface, which removes thermal grease super fast and makes it quite clean, plus it evaporates quickly so you don't risk damage to your components.
 
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