Isopropyl Wipes to Clean CPU

happy_2008 · 5 Oct 2011 at 12:17

Got some cheap wipes from the popular auction site and was wondering if these 70% wipes are sufficient to clean the thermal paste off the CPU and heatsink?

Also which is the best way to apply the new thermal paste line or cross method?

david_129 · 5 Oct 2011 at 12:38

blob method seems to work well for me.

yes that should work...

Plec · 5 Oct 2011 at 12:47

The wipes will be fine.

Pea/rice sized blob method is fine for most smooth surfaced HS.

However, if you have exposed heatpipes on the base of the HS it's best to tint the base of the HS first and then apply blob/line to CPU.

happy_2008 · 5 Oct 2011 at 13:00

Excellent

happy_2008 · 6 Oct 2011 at 09:58

Cleaned the CPU yesterday but the previous owner had put way too much thermal paste on. I have managed to clean it all off but some spilled between the gap of the cpu and heatsink where the heatsink is joined to the CPU. Does this matter? Tried using my nail to push into the joining gap to remove as much as possible only some small bits of residual left.