Is this paste removable?

[ZachGuyTheTechGuy]

Hi im reapplying my fan and paste considering the fact that my cpu is 95 celcius. So i got a thermal compound and is 99.9 percent silver. is this compound removable incase i do another fan swap?

 

[hans_pcguy]

The thermal compound is removable. I use a little charcoal lighter to clean it. And a qtip. Most ppl use alcohol. Just be careful if you have an exposed cpu chip that you don't chip or crack the chip. Always clean off all the compound when you replace the heatsink. I have seen a tiny tiny grain of sand get under the heatsink in the compound and crack the chip. (on a gpu but the same is true for a cpu)

 

[kira70591]

Yeah, just use rubbing alcohol with a cotton swab. Then use a microfiber cloth to wipe away any fibers left behind by the cotton.

 

[ZachGuyTheTechGuy]

The thermal compound is removable. I use a little charcoal lighter to clean it. And a qtip. Most ppl use alcohol. Just be careful if you have an exposed cpu chip that you don't chip or crack the chip. Always clean off all the compound when you replace the heatsink. I have seen a tiny tiny grain of sand get under the heatsink in the compound and crack the chip. (on a gpu but the same is true for a cpu)

im going to use a coffe filter with an artic silver cleaning kit

 

[kira70591]

If you have not purchased the cleaning kit yet, then I would not do it. Regular rubbing alcohol is much cheaper and what people normally use to clean a CPU. I have used the cleaning kit before and it is much more time consuming. You have to use the cleaner and then use the "prep." Twice the time for the same results.

 

[ZachGuyTheTechGuy]

If you have not purchased the cleaning kit yet, then I would not do it. Regular rubbing alcohol is much cheaper and what people normally use to clean a CPU. I have used the cleaning kit before and it is much more time consuming. You have to use the cleaner and then use the "prep." Twice the time for the same results.

i can use a coffee filter too instead of cloth right?

 

[kira70591]

Yeah, I have seen people use that method before. Either that or q-tips with a final wipe down. From personal experience I have found that q-tips or regular cotton swabs get the job done more quickly as the paste seems to wipe off better and more of it sticks to the swab. However, the filter should work if that is the route that you want to take.

 

[ZachGuyTheTechGuy]

Yeah, I have seen people use that method before. Either that or q-tips with a final wipe down. From personal experience I have found that q-tips or regular cotton swabs get the job done more quickly as the paste seems to wipe off better and more of it sticks to the swab. However, the filter should work if that is the route that you want to take.

Thanks so much hopefully my cpu temp goes down

 

[ZachGuyTheTechGuy]

Yeah, I have seen people use that method before. Either that or q-tips with a final wipe down. From personal experience I have found that q-tips or regular cotton swabs get the job done more quickly as the paste seems to wipe off better and more of it sticks to the swab. However, the filter should work if that is the route that you want to take.

Thanks so much hopefully my cpu temp goes down

 

[kira70591]

Sure, let us know how things go.