How do i take off old arctic silver paste?

[HotL3@D]

Got a new Heatsink and Arctic silver 5 coming soon, was wondering what the best way to get off the old paste was without damaging the cpu... Any advice? I"ve never done this before, so i'm not sure what i can use.. Water? soap? alcohol?

 

[RickyJ]

Isopropanol and q-tips has always worked for me.

 

[HotL3@D]

Isopropanol

Thats rubbing alcohol, right?

 

[RancidWAnnaRIot]

Thats rubbing alcohol, right?

yes... but use 99% not 70%

 

[RickyJ]

yes... but use 99% not 70%

My 70% doesn't dry completely, so I just wipe up with the dry end of a q-tip and let the rest figure itself out. I clean the CPU, then clean the heatsink base. By the time I'm done with the heatsink, the CPU is dry. By the time my AS5 is spread on my CPU, the heatsink is dry.

If I had seen 99% at the store, I would have picked that up instead of the 70%. But I was in a rush, so 70% is was.

 

[Visable-assassin]

yes... but use 99% not 70%

Ive used 70% and 91% 99 % for osme reason I cant fuckin find it...oh well 91% does the job fine

 

[Dojo | Warlord]

91% and 99% are the best, try and stay away from 70%.

 

[2Fresh]

I always use 409. It works great.