Thermalpaste on CPU Pins

[Sleeper47]

I bought myself a used Ryzen 7 2700x last week, now only had the time to actually open the box and see the contents for myself

 

Long story short, some pins ( around 3 or so ) sinked in old thermalpaste that the old seller applied - and I had no idea how to clean them.

 

Here is a pic for a better clarification of the situation https://imgur.com/gallery/M88wYdK (right side of pic)

 

Is it safe to use still or should I clean them up? Also how should I clean them? I am very afraid the pins might get bent if I were to clean those

[Mark Kaine]

Take a toothbrush, preferably a soft bristled one and dip that into the alcohol. Softly and I mean softly brush in between the pins till all the thermal grease is removed. Let CPU dry on either a lintless towel or a paper towel till the alcohol is evaporated. 

 

 

*taken from Toms hardware 

 

 

I think this would work,  especially because the paste is only on the side of the CPU.  Use a really soft toothbrush and preferably isopropyl alcohol. 

 

 

[Outragious]

That thermal paste is non conductive, so you could put it back in. If it were coating your cpu pins, it could prevent the pins from making contact and the cpu will no longer work correctly. for piece of mind you can clean the pins., but you don't have to based on that photo. Definitely be careful pushing on pins.

[Sleeper47]

46 minutes ago, Mark Kaine said:

Take a toothbrush, preferably a soft bristled one and dip that into the alcohol. Softly and I mean softly brush in between the pins till all the thermal grease is removed. Let CPU dry on either a lintless towel or a paper towel till the alcohol is evaporated. 

 

 

*taken from Toms hardware 

 

 

I think this would work,  especially because the paste is only on the side of the CPU.  Use a really soft toothbrush and preferably isopropyl alcohol. 

 

 

I will do this however I am a bit let-down because I waited for more than a week for this thing then I need another week to buy the alcohol online. Big time waste right there.

However I messaged the seller and he declared that he used the CPU in that state no problem for 2 months because he was also afraid to touch the pins lol. But I will play it safe and let time decide this build

 

 

[Sleeper47]

40 minutes ago, Outragious said:

That thermal paste is non conductive, so you could put it back in. If it were coating your cpu pins, it could prevent the pins from making contact and the cpu will no longer work correctly. for piece of mind you can clean the pins., but you don't have to based on that photo. Definitely be careful pushing on pins.

Indeed the seller just told me that he used the CPU as is and it ran great. I will clean the pins with isopropyl next week, but what are the risks that can come if this case is more severe?