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    Googone and Thermal Paste CPU

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by hendra, Mar 29, 2009.

  1. hendra

    hendra Notebook Virtuoso

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    Is it safe to use Googone or Windex to wipe off thermal paste from a Core 2 Duo CPU?
     
    hendra, Mar 29, 2009
    #1
  2. Ayle

    Ayle Trailblazer

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    No. Just wipe it off with a tissue or use isopropyl alcohol.
     
    Ayle, Mar 29, 2009
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  3. Mastershroom

    Mastershroom wat

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    A Q-tip and rubbing alcohol (higher percentage is better) seems to work best. I've cleaned countless CPU dies this way, including several Core 2 Duos. Just soak the Q-tip in alcohol, and rub it on the die until you can clearly see reflections in it.
     
    Mastershroom, Mar 29, 2009
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  4. avanish11

    avanish11 Panda! ^_^

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    Use isopropyl alcohol and a coffee filter to wipe it off. Coffee filters are lint free.

    If the thermal paste is dry and baked on, only then should you use goo-gone.
     
    avanish11, Mar 29, 2009
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  5. Mastershroom

    Mastershroom wat

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    Alcohol got all the dry caked paste off of my T5750 just fine.
     
    Mastershroom, Mar 29, 2009
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  6. garetjax

    garetjax NBR Freelance Reviewer NBR Reviewer

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    No, never! And never use any type of degreaser either! These types of applications (including Goo Gone) contain harmful solvents and/or oils that soak themselves into the IHS on your CPU and are extremely hard to remove.

    I disagree. This leaves a film behind which can greatly affect the performance of any TIM that you put on your CPU. This is why it is crucial to always use isopropyl alcohol that is at least 90% or more pure. It is important to note that Arctic Silver makes a thermal paste remover which does just as good a job as IPA. Check it out: Arctic Silver's Artic Clean.

    And lest I forget, I agree with the coffee filter method. Q-Tips are good, but coffee filters are even better to wipe thermal gunk off your CPU or GPU.
     
    garetjax, Mar 29, 2009
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  7. Mastershroom

    Mastershroom wat

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    Not to derail this thread, but I lol'd at the fact that the forum automatically parsed the word "crucial" in your post to link to Crucial memory. :p
     
    Mastershroom, Mar 29, 2009
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  8. sgogeta4

    sgogeta4 Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    sgogeta4, Mar 29, 2009
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  9. garetjax

    garetjax NBR Freelance Reviewer NBR Reviewer

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    Truth! It's one of those things that I've told myself I'll do one of these days, but never do, lol. And yeah, that Crucial parse is a bit ridiculous. :eek:
     
    garetjax, Mar 29, 2009
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  10. avanish11

    avanish11 Panda! ^_^

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    Not to be a troll, but I think that you're blowing it way out of proportion. I've seen some people just wipe the old stuff off with a wet paper towel. Sure you won't get the best result, but what will it do? As long as you ONLY clean the IHS of the processor, the worst that can happen is that the CPU temps increase by 2-3 degrees, that's all. However, if someone is a moron and dunks the whole CPU into a vat of the liquid cleaner of their choice, then it doesn't matter what they used; their processor is done, even if they used 100% iso-propyl alcohol ;)
     
    avanish11, Apr 1, 2009
    #10