Removing Old CPU Thermal Paste Properly  

Thank you

I'm very glad I could help. Thanks for the comment.

Anything with some alcohol in it would work fine.

I hope my video helped.

@@PE4Doers it did tnx alot

You are very welcome.

Thank you

Not dangerous necessarily, it may just be a little messy and leave some small pieces of tissue and/or thermal paste behind. I like to use Paper towels or real cotton clothe (like a piece of an old white tee shirt. Then I can scrub it down thoroughly.

I would want to make sure the cloth material you use is wet. As dry paper towel, q-tip, tissue, etc could potentially be abrasive. Tissue paper, while it seems it wouldn't be quite as abrasive as a q-tip or paper towel, tends to break down easily and leave tissue dust. Personally, I wouldn't want tissue dust landing on my components. I have used q-tips in the past and those have left visible micro-scratches on an aluminum heatsink, even while wet with iso alcohol (a cheap generic Foxconn AM2+ cooler. That may just have been poor quality aluminum - maybe not?). But no scratches visible on the CPU die. I also scrubbed the same CPU and cooler with a coffee filter as well, so that also may have been the culprit. Coffee filters aren't dusty, but I have a feeling they may be too abrasive. I'm sticking with the q-tip and 91+% iso method. Easier to get into the nooks and crannies that way too.

Thank you

Yep, it has to be changed every so often.

Hmmm. I never considered that.

I have found that it helps loosen up the older thermal paste and thereby easier to remove it.

OK

Is it really cheaper? I also get concerned about it being a bit 'Too Strong' and harming some of the nearby discrete components, but I must admit I never tried it, so I am not really sure.

That is recommended, however as long as you touch a large metal area, such as you PC case or the metal legs of a table, you would probably be fine. Also, don't rub your feet on a carpeted floor while touching a CPU.

Are you suggesting the the the CPU be de-lidded?

I use general purpose paper towels. Of course clean cotton would be best. I have also use white cotton patches used to clean a Shotgun barrel, on my higher-end CPU's, which are amazingly cheap.

You probably got thermal pastes on the CPU pins (if AMD) or Socket pins (if Intel of AM socket). I wish you luck, and hope you have a lot of alcohol.

What happens if you remove the processor and clean it with water and put it back? Because i just did before watching this video. But i really looked close if there is any paste on the pins. Wish me luck

Umm, how about you let me know how that goes?

I think steel wool should polish any microscopic smears off even better! And then use a pressure washer to flush out the underside before using the vacuum. 😊

YES. If you accidentally bend some of those motherboard CPU socket pins it will be VERY difficult for you. It is NOT easy (and that's putting it mildly) to get them straightened out - if at all or ever. Most likely the mother board will become scrap.

and I'm laughing

I assume you are referring to the alcohol content level. I sometime use 91%, and on rare occasions when doing a LOT of cooler or CPU switches I will go down to 70%. 99% is my choice when building a PC that will be around a while without cooler or CPU changes. Thanks for watching 🙂

They can get into the tight spots, however, the ones I've considered using seem to leave behind small pieces of cotton.

Not at all. The battery only supplies power to the BIOS chip(s)

Do they have wipes with 91% Alcohol?

Just run it for about 30-mins before shutting it down to remove the cooler from the CPU.

I just use folded high-quality paper towels, but many other use the 'Blue' shop towels because they have minimal lint. When I am really concerned, such as one of my key servers, I use two coffee filters since the link is virtually non-existent.

@@PE4Doers nice. I have a lot of coffee filters

@@solidnate7389 Great. They work well on camera lenses as well.

No need to do that, unless you tried overclocking and starting having strange issues.

I always remove the old one, since you never know if some of the older one has clumped-up and may lead to a hot-spot if you leave it on.

Better than nothing. You just need to not over-swamp the CPU area, since the 30% that is not pure alcohol will take a lot longer to dry, so if it creeps under a crevice, it could lead to a short if power is applied before it dried.

That would be best. The closer to pure alcohol the faster it will dry and not become a problem to you electrical components.

Not really, it will just take longer to dry and you should wait longer before putting on the new paste to avoid water mixing with the paste and nearby motherboard components. Also, let it wait longer before you turn on the power for a similar reason.

@@PE4Doershow long should I wait

@@BreezyFN-_- Just a few minutes (5 to 10\mins)

@@PE4Doers thx I thought I would have to wait for like 2 hours

@@BreezyFN-_- Not at all. Good luck.😀

Then of course, you need to carefully remove it and put the replacement in. I only suggested not removing it if you want to clean off any thermal pastes that may have fallen into the sides of the CPU.

I wouldn't take the chance. If it slips while you are wiping it, you could accidentally bend some of the pins.

@@PE4Doers : ouch! Hopefully i didn't make that mistake, coz i just cleaned that old paste with the locking system open. 🙄 Thx for ur answer sir..

Which processor chip do you have?

@@PE4Doers intel i5 11400. Why?

@@kyai_funky Mostly curiosity. The pins are on the socket, so that is what I prefer.

I've seen 91%, 97% and 99%. I prefer 995, but 96 should be fine. Just let it dry a little longer due to the extra water.

@@PE4Doers Ok

Hmm, I do not believe their is a residue left behind (but not 100% sure). If so, then it should be fine.

Just put a little 99% alcohol on it.

@@PE4Doers Thanks

@@FloopaGaming-ye4gc You are very welcome

There is nothing that absolutely requires it, however if is highly recommended. We use the 99% version is used because it will evaporate very fast and not get water into other motherboard components. They also sell special fluids that can do the same function, however the cost of that option is high.

Yes, if you don’t have isopropyl alcohol you can also use acetone (nail polish remover).

@@gipsydanger1394 That will work, but be careful not to spill any on the PC board. It's very strong stuff.

@@PE4Doers Yup! Thanks for the info!

@@gipsydanger1394 No problem at all.

That is something I try to do every year to year and a half. It always seems to drop the temps by 3 or 4 degrees C.

I guess I will have to disagree on the heating-up point. Warming it up ahead of time definitely softens the old paste and make it less like that the CPU will pull out of the socket when you try and remove a CPU from a socket after a long period of time (especially for PGA motherboard). Also, anytime you want to compete with me on perfectly pronouncing the word 'paste' (every time you say it while creating a video), please let me know and I will set-up a Zoom call with you to hold that competition - recording it of course for everyone to hear and having it become a video.

@@PE4Doers I never said it didn't. There's just no need to when you have a bare CPU. He never made that distinction.

@@PokèMyBalls What do you mean by 'Bare CPU'?