Cleaning a CPU

[lee87]

Hi, i've been asked to fix a friends computer as it was turning itself off all the time. I found out the cpu was overheating, it was reaching 105c.
This is a old celeron 2.5ghz
Anyway when I removed the cpu it was stuck to the heatsink and when I finally removed it, it looked like the heatsink and cpu were covered in paint, theres lots of it and it's very thick.
I took this photo on my camera phone so it's not very good quality.


Does anyone know of how to clean a cpu safely, I normally use a cotton bud but this paste seems to be stuck to it and it's very hard to remove.

Thanks

 

[Mr Mister]

paint stripper?

 

[ns400r]

paint stripper?

He was joking.

Use some type of solvent but not paint stripper.

 

[lee87]

LOL

Will try some alcohol, never used any type of liquid on the cpu before so i'm hoping I don't break it.
Thanks

 

[TaKeN]

Did your friend think that his best wall paint was a great subsitute for Arctic Silver or something lol

 

[tickle me elmo]

white spirit, BUT there is a hole in that heatspreader, so dont get any in it!

 

[Pee For]

Try removing the thick of it with a razor blade/stanley knife blade etc. (carefully)

 

[lee87]

Did your friend think that his best wall paint was a great subsitute for Arctic Silver or something lol

It was a pre built machine that he got from a high street shop. I thought that they would have built it to a better quality.
He had problems with it since the day he got it. He said he got a technician out through their support and he said that there was nothing wrong and it must be windows and he should reinstall. He didn't have a copy of windows so he would have had to buy a new copy.
It annoys me the way technicians will try and trick customers into paying for something they don't need.

 

[lee87]

I cleaned it and it's now looks like new, i've got it set up and running prime95. Instead of loading at 105c it's now at 63c. Not great but much better than what it was.

Thanks the for advice.