Cleaning off thermal paste off old i7 4700MQ from AW 14

Have a question folks. On my AW 14 when I had the old i7 4700 MQ (replaced with i7 4930MX), I noticed there was thermal paste on some of the green part of the CPU and on some of the gold dots on the green part (are the gold dots also counted as the golded pins? I know the golden pins on the other side are a diseaster calling if you accidently get thermal paste on the gold pins. Not too sure if the gold dots on the side of the heat spreader on green part are considered gold pins as well.)I was wondering if I ever do sell the i7 4700MQ how would I go about cleaning the old paste as they did a bad job installing it? Is it safe to clean the thermal paste of the green part and some of the gold dots on the green part of CPU? What proper supplies would I need to clean off the paste and prevent from short circuiting? The paste that was used was the Shin-Etsu 1234 paste.

 

I always use isopropyl alcohol and cotton swabs for cleaning up thermal paste on CPU, GPU and heat sinks, but you can buy special electronics cleaning wipes (which also use isopropyl alcohol) if you would prefer to spend money on those. Here are what many IT professionals like to use: Amazon.com: Chemtronics Chempad Wipes, 4" X 3", 50 Pack: Industrial & Scientific and these will also work for less money: Amazon.com: MG Chemicals 824-W 99.9% Isopropyl Alcohol Handy Wipe, 6" Length x 5" Width (Bag of 50)

How is the AW14 handling the 4930MX? Are you able to overclock the crud out of it and still maintain good temps?

Edit: I see the answer to my question here... http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...lly-running-i7-4930mx-cpu-alienware-14-d.html :thumbsup:

 

@Mr. Fox thanks for the links. Do you use %70 or %90 isopropyl alcohol? Also is it okay to use the isopropyl alcohol on the green part of cpu and gold dots cause there is a tiny bit of shin-etzu 1234 thermal paste in those spots? Is it even worth it to clean those spots? I know it is not good to get thermal paste on the gold pins on the other side but wondering about the gold dots and green area of the cpu on the heat spreader side.

 

senzazn12, I don't know about Mr.Fox, but I use 70% alcohol wipes/pads. I'm a diabetic so I have a bunch of the wipes around, so they are convenient to use for thermal grease cleanup.
I use the wipe everywhere on the top of the CPU/GPU, even the green and gold dots, and have never had a problem. I am VERY careful around the gold dots!
I also use a thicker paste when I re-paste, and I do NOT get ANY "run-off" onto the green or gold dots.
This last time I used PROLIMATECH | PRO-PK3-5G, I got it at NewEgg, it's pretty good stuff! Really helps with keeping the heat down.

 

Arcticlean all the way!

 

Higher the value , the better it is

 

I see. You said you are careful around the gold dots. May I ask how so? How do you properly clean the gold dots? I know the gold pins in the back shouldn't get any paste at all.

 

I make sure that I only use the alcohol wipes and nothing hard. I use only slight pressure to slowly wipe away the residue. It takes a while, but patience and persistence pays.