remove thermal paste from a CPU

sujanne · 09-23-2009, 11:23 PM

What is a safe way to remove thermal paste from a CPU? I got a new CPU fan for my desktop and I am afraid to scrape the old thermal paste off. I have killed a few computers in the past, so thats why I don't want to mess this one up because I depend on it so much.

Reedbeta · 09-23-2009, 11:29 PM

I use rubbing alcohol and q-tips to get it off. The alcohol dissolves the stuff very readily.

Hertta · 09-25-2009, 06:32 PM

You can not really kill the CPU as long as you keep the golden contact pins(or pads, if using newer Intel CPU) clean and don't damage them.

Just use some alcohol based mix. The actual CPU core is under the copper heat spreader, so you can't really do any harm to it as long as you dry off the CPU afterwards.

Whatever you do, keep the pins from bending.

alphadog · 09-29-2009, 06:18 AM

Scrape most of it off with a blade (as Hertta says the CPU has a "shell" on it, so don't worry), and use rubbing alcohol with a foam makeup pad to remove the rest. (Cotton balls leaves "micro hairs" on it.) Let it evaporate for an hour, then re-apply new compound (Artic Silver).

09-23-2009, 11:23 PM	#1
sujanne New Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 1	remove thermal paste from a CPU What is a safe way to remove thermal paste from a CPU? I got a new CPU fan for my desktop and I am afraid to scrape the old thermal paste off. I have killed a few computers in the past, so thats why I don't want to mess this one up because I depend on it so much. ___________________________________________ yahoo keyword tool ~ overture ~ traffic estimator ~ adwords traffic estimator

09-23-2009, 11:29 PM	#2
Reedbeta DevMaster Staff Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 3,709	Re: remove thermal paste from a CPU I use rubbing alcohol and q-tips to get it off. The alcohol dissolves the stuff very readily. ___________________________________________ Currently working at Sucker Punch reedbeta.com - OpenGL demos and other projects Luabridge - a lightweight, dependency-free C++/Lua binding library. CD Lite - an unobtrusive, minimal CD player application for Windows.

09-25-2009, 06:32 PM	#3
Hertta Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Finland Posts: 76	Re: remove thermal paste from a CPU You can not really kill the CPU as long as you keep the golden contact pins(or pads, if using newer Intel CPU) clean and don't damage them. Just use some alcohol based mix. The actual CPU core is under the copper heat spreader, so you can't really do any harm to it as long as you dry off the CPU afterwards. Whatever you do, keep the pins from bending.

09-29-2009, 06:18 AM	#4
alphadog DevMaster Staff Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Left Of Albakurky Posts: 734	Re: remove thermal paste from a CPU Scrape most of it off with a blade (as Hertta says the CPU has a "shell" on it, so don't worry), and use rubbing alcohol with a foam makeup pad to remove the rest. (Cotton balls leaves "micro hairs" on it.) Let it evaporate for an hour, then re-apply new compound (Artic Silver). ___________________________________________ Hyperbole is, like, the absolute best, most wonderful thing ever!

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