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What to use to clean off CPU paste?

T

tracerit

Senior member
I changed motherboards and noticed that the CPU paste (Artic Silver) has pretty much hardened and I'd like to apply a new drop. What should I use to wipe off the old paste? I was thinking tissue but fibers could be left behind. So far I have used a piece of paper to wipe as much as I can.
 
I've had 3 year old Arctic Silver dry up on an old Athlon chip, and it wiped off after repeated rub with paper towel. Don't be afraid to just rub it off. It'll come off.
 
Q-Tips and rubbing alcohol work fine. I prefer to use the 90%+ alcohol, but the regular 70% stuff will work as well.
 
I'd still recommend trying with just paper towel first. I distrust chemical items on these delicate pieces. As long as you have steady hands and not slip up, the paper towel wont' hurt the IHS (integrated heat spreader) housing one bit.
 
Goo gone to get the crap off (works like magic), then clean the surface with rubbing alcohol. Spray away any residue with compressed air if necessary.

Not sure why everyone is so worried about cleaning their CPU's with certain products - it's a hunk of metal! The problem with just using something like a paper tower is that when stuff gets caked on there you need to use a lot of force.
 
If you press ctrl+z that is the usual undo function and it will undo the last operation performed. So, for example, if you just copy and pasted, it will unpaste for you.
 
Nice one, soccerballtux! Mind you, the rest of the world calls the game 'football'.

Seriously though, eyeglass lens cleaning tissues (no lint) & 90% iso-propyl (don't use rubbing alcohol, the 70% stuff, it'll leave a residue). Goo-gone might well eat the whole pga package, it's kerosene really!!!
 
Agree with jiffylube1024. Goo Gone is fast and easy for every type of compound I've tried it on. I finish with 90 or 99% isopropal alcohol. I usually use a piece of an old t-shirt to apply.

And leave it in the socket when you clean it. Even if you put back into the plastic shipping pack it came in, rubbing it can bend the pins.
 
Originally posted by: GundamF91
I'd still recommend trying with just paper towel first. I distrust chemical items on these delicate pieces. As long as you have steady hands and not slip up, the paper towel wont' hurt the IHS (integrated heat spreader) housing one bit.
Click to expand...

Just using a papertowel won't remove the the microscopic pieces of thermal grease that have baked in. From the eye, it may look clean but it's not.

Using alcohol, arctic-clean will help dissolve/loosen any thermal grease on the IHS.
 
MOST IMPORTANT TOOL:

Patience.

Take your time, Don't rub hard. Let the alcohol do the work. Use a bunch of q-tips and an old lint-free piece of cloth for the final shine.

 
Alcohol is fine and will not hurt the chip in any way.
Circuit boards and chips are sprayed with the stuff to remove flux in the manufacturing process. They use a lot more on the chip than you would removing paste.
 
Q tips and T shirts can leave a lot of lint and fibers. I use coffee filters to wipe with and 90% alcohol
 
Originally posted by: GeezerMan
Q tips and T shirts can leave a lot of lint and fibers. I use coffee filters to wipe with and 90% alcohol
Click to expand...
Yes, alcohol (isopropyl 70-100%), Arcti Clean, Acetone ...and coffee filters, they're lint free. It's not a good idea to use anything with any oils in it (like Goo-Gone or nail polish remover) without following up with the former.
 
Acetone is a very good cleaner, but it's so hot it will melt most plastics. Be very careful around a motherboard with it.
 
ended up using alcohol. after i repasted the goo, my CPU temps are spiking from 40C to 49C just by web browsing. Before it stayed around 42C with web browsing but would jump to 52C when playing games.
 
If its arctic silver 5 it has a burn in time before it performs at its optimal.
Also the temp increase could have to do with using too much or too little thermal paste/grease. The percentage alcohol you used to cleaned it with and what you used to wipe it with.
 
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