Thermal paste on pcb..

[ldmnbuilder]

I got a tiny speck of thermal paste of the PCB of my CPU. The pins are completely clean. Do you think it is safe to use it in a new build? I feel like cleaning it with a soft tooth brush and isopropyl alcohol may not be worth the risk if this bit of paste is not expected to give any problems.

 

Thanks!

[Flying Sausages]

What kind of thermal paste? Is it a non conductive paste? 

 

If it is a conductive paste then you better make sure no traces left behind or else rip the cpu when you turn on the computer. 

[jGD]

On 11/16/2019 at 8:32 AM, ldmnbuilder said:

I got a tiny speck of thermal paste of the PCB of my CPU. The pins are completely clean. Do you think it is safe to use it in a new build? I feel like cleaning it with a soft tooth brush and isopropyl alcohol may not be worth the risk if this bit of paste is not expected to give any problems.

 

Thanks!

 

I echo the previous reply... you want to make sure that the paste does not bridge any of the pins. I did this exact thing when I changed my stock cooler for an upgraded one. I spent about 10 minutes, and used a very thin blade with paper towel (very small piece) and rubbed it between the pins slowly and carefully until I could see the green pcb clearly around all pins. Put it back in my system, and runs just fine.