Thermal paste

[Daleaholic]

Ok, If i was to replace my heatsink..... 1) How would i remove thermal paste that was there already? 2) what would happen if when applying new paste it went onto the mobo, how would i get it off?

Thanx in advance :)

[Alan]

Some people seem to swear by rubbing alcohol but I find a kitchen paper towel removes the last traces just fine.

In answer to your 2nd question, don't get it on the mobo! You are only supposed to apply and spread a tiny amount - sometimes to the CPU, sometimes to the HSF but if you must squirt it everywhere - kitchen towel again.

[Daleaholic]

not so confident about putting alcohol nr my CPU or heatsink. Thanx for the advice and i will remember not to squirt the thermal paste everywhere :p

[Fat Jez]

We're talking Isopropyl Alcohol here, which is pretty much pure alcohol and evaporates very quickly without residue. Alternatively, there is this stuff (http://www.kustompcs.co.uk/acatalog/info_3718.html).

Cheers,
Stephen

[Cable Monkey]

I use 'that stuff' and it is ok, especially for removing that minging white stuff so many manufacturers like to put on their thermal surfaces. It does make the more viscous stuff easier to remove. I would also advocate the use of cotton buds for delicate work like GPU's and other devices without the big heatspreaders modern CPU's have. I don't have kitchen towel in my house!

[daniel_owen_uk]

Acetone is suppost to be the best stuff, m8 of mine just "borrowed" me a bottle full from his work so I will let you know next time I have to remove cpu.

[Big Adam]

If using PURE acetone, make sure it goes only on the core to soften the paste. It's VERY agressive stuff and will eat through circuit boards.

You can spray IPA pretty much everywhere. It's cheap, harmless and good stuff. Never tried the TIM cleaner.

[Rchiileea]

Akasa tim cleaner works fine for me

[stdPikachu]

...but IPA does the job just the same and costs pennies ;)

[Archaon]

TIM is good, albeit relatively expensive, though you may have to soak things in it for a bit longer if you were a bit zealous with the ol' thermal paste. :p

[reaper]

*cough* vodka *cough*.................. :p

Well, it's alcohol. and if summit goes wrong, you can always just get fired into the rest of the bottle!!

[stdPikachu]

*cough* vodka *cough*.................. :p

This was prolly a joke, but don't get the two confused. Vodka will leve a residue on your chip, IPA won't.

[BUFF]

Vodka will leve a residue on your chip, IPA won't.
Of course Indian Pale Ale will leave a residue! :p

http://www.pittenweemharbour.co.uk/images/pg/pg_deuchars_ipa.jpg

[Fat Jez]

Of course Indian Pale Ale will leave a residue! :p

http://www.pittenweemharbour.co.uk/images/pg/pg_deuchars_ipa.jpg
Stop it, you're making me homesick. I would kill for a pint of Caledonian 80' or Deuchars IPA. My local gets in IPA infrequently and I make my yearly pilgramage to a nearby beer festival for my fix.

Going back to the topic in hand, make sure that the stuff you are using to remove the heatsink material is pure IPA or acetone, as some of the other stuff leaves a residue. Frankly though, I would stick to the IPA, as you can flood your motherboard in the stuff and it won't do it any harm. As Big Adam said, acetone is nasty stuff (smells nice though ;) ).

Personally, I use a combination of the Akasa TIM remover to get the worst of it off and a cotton bud with some IPA (Isopropyl Alcohol) to remove the last dregs.

Cheers,
Stephen

[muddyfox470]

I use isopropyl quite cheap and available from all good chemists, i got a £5 that will last me over a lifetime! lol

Ian

[jnm21]

I use isopropyl quite cheap and available from all good chemists, i got a £5 that will last me over a lifetime! lol

Ian
I must not have a good chemist near me then! What do they sell it as/for? (They looked at me as if I had two heads when I asked for it by name!)

[muddyfox470]

Lol, i had to ring around all the chemists in my area (yellow pages came in handy) however i did find that most don't keep it in stock, but mine did order it so it came the next day, money exchanged hands and im happy!

They should sell it just say do you stock or sell isopropyl alcohol to clean my pc, they should have a massive manual (of chemist crap) and it should be in there!

Just write it on a piece of paper and go in and see if they can order it in all i can say, if the phone calls fail!

Cheers Ian

[Fat Jez]

Or go to Maplins, where I got mine.

Cheers,
Stephen

[jnm21]

Yeah, saw it there, but it was quite a bit dearer than I expected. Do they only sell it as cassette head cleaner fluid?

Thanks Ian - I may try again.

[muddyfox470]

cassette head cleaner fluid can get a bit dodgy as it aint as pure as chemist isopropyl, if i can recollect it is only about 70% pure (cassette cleaner), so some residue will be left behind, whereas to clean pc innards i found places that recomended using only 95% pure plus!

the chemists did look at me kinda funny tho, as i was wearing my beanie and stuff they must have thought i was gonna do something dodgy with it! lol

[as530]

OK

I am about to get an AMD 3000+ 90nm socket 939, plus a thermalright XP-90 to cool it. About thermal compound: i bought AS ceramique and silver 5 - what are the differences and which should i use?

[jnm21]

From memory, the difference is that AS5 is (obviously) silver based & therefore better than ceramique (based on a man made poly something iirc). Basically silver is a better heat conductor giving better performance - hence the higher cost is tolerated.

[muddyfox470]

not stictly true, if you read the reviews and comparison, ceramique performs on par on some, other times it can fall just 1 degrees behind (i.e. 1 higher)

but i always use ceramique now, as it is not electrically conductive at all, so if you do spill it everywhere it aint gonna do anything!

its doing great on my cpu and gpu (and gddr) but i must add, that it does take time to set in and perform at its optimum level, i.e. about 100-200 hours i think!