Suggestions for cleaning a processor?

While I was pulling my Athlon 64, I ended up getting that nasty thermal grease on the pin side. Is there a recommended way to clean it?

 

If MA says alcohol works, I believe it.

 

Put alcohol (purer the better) in a squeeze bottle and hose her down. A little residue probably won't hurt, but work on it for a while before giving up.

 

Thanks folks, you confirmed what I suspected. Now... where is that bottle of tequilla?

 

Hehe, save the good stuff and buy a bottle of Isopropyl Alcohol %70 fro m your pharmacy.

 

I've got a bottle of that already... but it doesn't taste as good as the tequilla

 

70% Isopropyl, ya know the other 30% is water, Water is no good!


I only use 91% or higher Isopropyl, 91% will clean better & faster!


If your thermal paste is Artic Silver and you dont get it all off your pins you can kill your CPU :cry

I'd suspect you had too much thermal paste to begin with, Too much thermal paste is Bad :major

 

Methyl Alcohol is even better. It evaporates with nearly no traces.
Edit: It is also poisonous and volatile!!:eek

 

Not very safe though my friend
Methyl is Poison! and should be Avoided:major

 

I just added that ASUS

 

I use rubbing alcohol, the kind everyone else is mentioning that you can get at your local pharmacy. 91% is very good, and cleans faster than you can say "wow!".

I've used this method for years and everything is good on my end. I've had thermal paste on some pins here and their on pc's I've had to fix for others. & well I usually steer clear of alcohol on the cpu pins. So what I usually do is use the tiny tip of an exacto knife and wipe it off very cautiously. Either that or the tip of a baby pin. By very careful though and only take off the thermal grease left on the cpu pin, don't bite into the pin itself. After doing so take a q tip and wipe the pin down gently. Than blow on the cpu pins quick try not to put any saliva on it my friend. After doing so you'll be in the clear.

NOTE: ONLY TRY THIS METHOD IF THE CPU PIN THAT NEEDS TO BE CLEANED IS ON THE OUTER EDGES OF THE CPU NOT THE INSIDES.

 

Rubbing alcohol? There's rubbing alcohol, and then there's rubbing alcohol. If it's really intended for massage, there will be denaturants or skin lubricants in it that may not evaporate cleanly. In short -- some "rubbing" alcohols are OK, others are not. Depends what's in the bottle besides alcohol.

For cleaning contacts, the denaturants in rubbing alcohol probably won't cause a problem. But for heavens sake don't use rubbing alcohol to clean the mating surface of a heatsink. The denaturants get into the pores of the metal and impair heat transfer from the CPU die to the heatsink.

Avoid the risk -- use isopropyl alcohol (aka isopropanol) of at least 95% purity. The remainder will be water, but it's in low enough concentrations that it's not a problem.

And BTW -- isopropanol is toxic too. It's just not as toxic as methanol (methyl alcohol).

 

Thanks Rob, it's nice to know that about denatured alcohol.