How do you clean CPU thermal paste off the cpu????

alexium said:

I'm using etanol to wipe thermal grease out. Don't know if it's the best way but it works fine for me.

zzzTNTzzz said:

the best thermal paste is Arctic Silver 5

No, it's not the best. Arctic Cooling MX-2 or OCZ Freeze Extreme are better, and the best thermointerfaces are those based on liquid metal.

Etanol ok... is there a product you can buy??

do you smoke cigarettes? if so you need to get a few caps of jel and keep them handy and clean your fan and sink about once a month. You will be amazed how much gets in there if your a smoker.

otherwise if you have a decent fan and sink your within the range not to worry to much. good jel will help but not that much.

Keep your vents open from debris and keep your comp clean.

but if you just feel compelled to replace your jel.... remember what I said. use a static wrist guard.

one little static electron and that CPU is GONE.

bytebull said:

do you smoke cigarettes? if so you need to get a few caps of jel and keep them handy and clean your fan and sink about once a month. You will be amazed how much gets in there if your a smoker.

otherwise if you have a decent fan and sink your within the range not to worry to much. good jel will help but not that much.

Keep your vents open from debris and keep your comp clean.

but if you just feel compelled to replace your jel.... remember what I said. use a static wrist guard.

one little static electron and that CPU is GONE.

Fans are all clean nothing is blocked... and I dont smoke

Gamer1238 said:

Etanol ok... is there a product you can buy??

Can't you buy etanol? In pharmacy shop?
You can also use mere vodka, it's 40%etanol/60%water, works good too.

alexium said:

Gamer1238 said:

Etanol ok... is there a product you can buy??

Can't you buy etanol? In pharmacy shop?
You can also use mere vodka, it's 40%etanol/60%water, works good too.

Hmm ok what about isopropyl alcohol??

My thought is alcohol may contain shugar or other unwanted substances, so choose with caution.

You don't really need anything substance to clean the cpu. Use a paper towel and q tips. Lap it carefully after if you want to be extra nice.

Gamer1238 said:

alexium said:

Gamer1238 said:

Etanol ok... is there a product you can buy??

Can't you buy etanol? In pharmacy shop?
You can also use mere vodka, it's 40%etanol/60%water, works good too.

Hmm ok what about isopropyl alcohol??

Isopropyl is actually the best alcohol for these types of cleaning purposes because it evaporates completely without leaving any residue. Booze will obviously contain some non-alcoholic additives, even vodka(!), and ethanol (methylated spirits actually - you can't buy pure ethanol unless you work in a lab) leaves crud behind when it evaporates.

That's why isopropyl is used (by old people) to clean video and tape heads.

However, as torrentg said, I really don't think it matters in this context. A damp paper towel will do nicely.

H2SO4 said:

That's why isopropyl is used (by old people) to clean video and tape heads.

I know the feeling well, although I now have to consider myself "old." hah

Before I got my first cd burner when they were first available, I'd store my .mp3s to highest quality vhs tapes I could find.

torrentg said:

H2SO4 said:

That's why isopropyl is used (by old people) to clean video and tape heads.

I know the feeling well, although I now have to consider myself "old." hah

Before I got my first cd burner when they were first available, I'd store my .mp3s to highest quality vhs tapes I could find.

Don't worry - I'm so old I've owned a "Walkman"

Now there's a once-ubiquitous term which has gone the way of the Dodo.