Old thermal compound removal??

[TuanSupreme17]

Hi,guys. I am about to change my old stock heatsink with aluminum one for better cooling. I noticed that there is residue of the old thermal compound on the CPU core. How can I remove it without damaging the core?? Thank you.

[OneShotUno]

Last time I needed to clean my heatsink and core, I was told to use isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol. It cleaned the artic silver right off and I could see the clean, untarnish copper where my core had sat for several months.

[TuanSupreme17]

Thanks for your reply. Just one quick question, where can I get isopropyl alcohol?

[t00lband]

Try nail polish remove if you dont have isopropyl alchohol.

[BigBlue66]

You can buy the alcohol at any friendly neighborhood pharmacy. As OneShot said, it's commonly referred to as Rubbing Alcohol. Try to get the 91% or more.

[morphid]

i use alcohol too, but once, no matter how hard i tried, i couldn't get get the old thermal compound off (it was the old pink hard stuff that comes with bad HSF's. I used stove cleaning compound. it's the white gooey stuff you buy to get the burnt food residue off hard stove tops. it worked like a charm. the old compound slid off like a sled on a slope <- i made that one up myself. im proud .

[Thermo]

Go to Walmart or Pep Boys and get a can of Break Clean, spray a little on a rag and the AS will just wipe away.