Thermal Compound and CPU fan

Alright i just took off my CPU fan... for reasons better explained in the hardware section /: ... Do i need to clean off the old thermal compound before i put the fan back on, or can i just put the fan back on with the old thermal compound?

 

you can leave it on. But if you have something better (like arctic silver), i'd wipe it off with alcohol and stick some new gunk on.

 

Probably better to re-apply anyway. You tend to get air bubbles if you stick the old stuff on... but if you're not worried about temperatures should be fine.

 

is normal over the counter ispropyl rubbing alcohol ok for removing thermal paste or is there a special solution? or is that overkill and water would be fine?

the stuff i have is 91% alcohol

 

That shoud work just fine. I use 100% when i clean my gunk off. Make sure you use a lint free cloth. Even the tinyest thing betweet your cpu and hsf can cause a raise in temps.



cooked

 

You don't wanna use water... thermal compound isnt water based and it would expand if you got a droplet in the interface, making a pocket of gas. NOT a good thing.

 

Make sure it's isopropyl alcohol, not rubbing alcohol. They're not the same thing. Rubbing alcohol is usually mostly isopropyl alcohol, but it has skin lubricants and/or water added to it. They don't evaporate readily, and may contaminate the surface of the die and heatsink. That adds thermal resistance to the interface, and decreases cooling effectiveness.

If the label doesn't confirm at leat 99% isopropyl alcohol (isopropanol), make sure that you know what the additives are. If it's other simple alcohols, no problem.