Cleaning Thermal Paste

[Alir]

I had thermal paste applied on my cpu and cooler. Cleaned paste on them over a month ago and will finally put my PC back together (new mobo).

I cleaned them with A4 paper and a glasses' cloth (don't know if it was micro fibre or not). The paper scratched the metal on my cooler quite a lot! Silly me.

 

1) Should I use isopropyl alcohol (IA) or TIM cleaner to clean the surfaces just in case - to be thorough? I'd rather not spend £9 on IA.

 

2) If the above is yes, would it be a good idea to apply the thermal paste and check temps - and then buy the IA if my temps are high *At Idle* or would it be necessary to do a proper stress test?

 

3) Should I get TIM or IA?

 

4) Would the scratches on my CPU coolers metal surface affect cooling in any way? Is it possible small bits of paste are stuck inside the scratches?

[Xenift]

Use the alcohol.

Safer to do it that way, there might be acid in the TIM cleaner of sorts.

[Samfisher]

In a pinch just use alcohol swabs in first aid kits.  They are dirt cheap.

[SexyMushroom]

I always use 99% isopropyl alcohol whenever cleaning thermal paste off of a CPU and it works really well for me, they are also very inexpensive. If the scratches are scratches and not holes then performance should not be affected It is be possible for bits of thermal paste to be stuck in the scratches, but you should thoroughly and gently clean the scratches of the cooler just to make sure.

[tahmidkhan123]

go with isopropyl, 99% preferably but 70% will also do the job. As for the stress test, it's good idea to do one anyway, even for 30 minutes just to see the temperature levels under load. Idle temps can be misleading because the cpu is outputting minute amounts of heat which, even with improper thermal compound application, will not make the temperatures look crazy. Load testing reveals the integrity of the thermal compound application. 

[FAQBytes]

I had thermal paste applied on my cpu and cooler. Cleaned paste on them over a month ago and will finally put my PC back together (new mobo).

I cleaned them with A4 paper and a glasses' cloth (don't know if it was micro fibre or not). The paper scratched the metal on my cooler quite a lot! Silly me.

 

1) Should I use isopropyl alcohol (IA) or TIM cleaner to clean the surfaces just in case - to be thorough? I'd rather not spend £9 on IA.

 

2) If the above is yes, would it be a good idea to apply the thermal paste and check temps - and then buy the IA if my temps are high *At Idle* or would it be necessary to do a proper stress test?

 

3) Should I get TIM or IA?

 

4) Would the scratches on my CPU coolers metal surface affect cooling in any way? Is it possible small bits of paste are stuck inside the scratches?

1- I have it laying around, so I used it. And really? That much? IA is cheap here in the US. 16 fl oz for 2 USD.

 

2- Cleaning it off that well is really a moot point unless the old thermal paste went bad. While still a good idea, isn't always fully necessary. Checking the temps should be sufficient and if there is an issue (Which there shouldn't.) you can try cleaning it off.

 

3- Either will work, go with whatever is cheaper and what you can get within the timeframe you want.

 

4- Again, these should be moot issues. Those small amounts of thermal paste should have no effect whatsoever.