removing thermal paste

[jgt8229]

i know i asked this before but i wasnt shure how you removed thermal paste do you just whip it off wit a paper towel?

[Stryker]

http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.p...+thermal+paste

[Cricket]

You can clean off old thermal compound with alcohol and a clean rag. If the old stuff has hardened and difficult to remove, get a old credit card and use the edge to scrape the old stuff off...then follow with alcohol. Don't use rubbing alcohol that has lanolin or some other lubricant in it, use the stuff that only has water as the additive. I use denatured alcohol since it's considered a solvent.

You can also use coffee filters to wipe any residue off the CPU and heatsink since coffee filters are lintless.

Cricket

[jgt8229]

what if it just coems of without echole shoudl i still use it. there is still like a little left but its liek smooth on it could i just out my newthermal paste on over that? or should i get echole

[Cricket]

You really should remove all residue of the old thermal compound before you apply new compound. Alcohol will remove the old residue from both surfaces.

"Echole"?

Cricket

[jgt8229]

lol ok is the alchole your talking about green?
and when i put the new stuff on i jsu put it on the cpu right ir do i put it on the heatsink too

[Cricket]

Originally Posted by jgt8229 lol ok is the alchole your talking about green?

Green? No, it's a clear liquid. The label on the bottle is green though.

Originally Posted by jgt8229 and when i put the new stuff on i jsu put it on the cpu right ir do i put it on the heatsink too

You put a small amount on both surfaces. Instructions.

Cricket

[jgt8229]

i couldnt find it at like cvs were can i buy it do u know?

[Cricket]

You can buy rubbing alcohol almost anywhere...at the supermarket, the drug store, KMart, WalMart, etc...just make sure the added ingredient is water, not lanolin.

If you want denatured alcohol, I bought the Brite-Lite brand from a local drug store. I think you can get it at hardware stores too.

Cricket

[jgt8229]

woudl this stuff work
http://www.cvs.com/CVSApp/cvs/gatewa...1&subcatid=103

[Cricket]

Not sure what those other ingredients in there...but this is what I would use if I had to get it from that vendor.

Cricket

[jgt8229]

ok thanks cricket, woudl there be much difference if i got denatured alcohol or will the cvs kind be the same. sorry if i ask alot of questions

[Cricket]

The one from CVS is fine. The main thing is that you clean the surfaces really good before you apply thermal compound again. The rubbing alcohol will do that just fine.

Cricket

[jgt8229]

i cleened my old heatsink jsut to test it, is it ok that u can still see were it was or should all that come off. because i cleaned it for about 10 minutes and i couldnt get thoose line things of of were it was, is it ok that i jus put the acohole on a paper towel or should i get a rag or soemthing. just want to make shure before i do the cpu i dont want to have to buy a new one.
thank you for the help cricket

[Cricket]

Originally Posted by jgt8229 i cleened my old heatsink jsut to test it, is it ok that u can still see were it was or should all that come off. because i cleaned it for about 10 minutes and i couldnt get thoose line things of of were it was

There will be a mark left on the heatsink where the CPU was making contact...you can just leave that as is.

Originally Posted by jgt8229 is it ok that i jus put the acohole on a paper towel or should i get a rag or soemthing. just want to make shure before i do the cpu i dont want to have to buy a new one.

I've used cleaned rags and paper towels to clean the heatsink and CPU. The paper towel tends to leave lint behind. You can use a coffee filter to clean the surfaces too. It's lintless. I prefer to use clean rags and then use canned/compressed air to blow the surfaces clean of dust just before I apply the thermal compound.

Cricket

[jgt8229]

i put it on but i had to turn the heat sink a but i covered the cpu good it should be fine right?

[Cricket]

How much thermal compound did you apply? You only need enough to cover the surface of the heatplate evenly with a thin coat. Same with the heatsink, you only need enough to cover the contact area with a thin even coat. Too much thermal compound acts like a insulator and prevents heat from transferring from the CPU to the heatsink.

Cricket

[jgt8229]

ya i think its fine but what temp shoudl a amd 3500 be running at just to make shure it doesnt over heat

[Cricket]

Sorry, I honestly don't know what kind of temps you'll see. Just make sure it doesn't keep rising past 80C or the CPU will get damaged from overheating.

Cricket

[jgt8229]

ok thanks for the help cricket

[kisk]

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProduc...100-010&depa=1

This stuff works pretty good (or so I hear)
I'm adding a new heatsink to my chip and just bought some ... waiting on it to get here