How do i remove paste from processor

[iNeb]

?

[NDC]

Try using WD40...

[GroundZero3]

http://www.ocwarehouse.com/articles/tc/2.htm

Cleaning a chip/heatsink requires some sort of cleaning agent and a cloth. My favourite cleanser is vodka, though good old ethyl alcohol will get the job done as well. Simply douse a cloth (lint-free is best to keep things clean as a whistle) with you're cleanser, rub the surface a bit, et voilà - you've got yourself a heatsink base clean enough to kiss. For cleaning a CPU, lightly rub the die with a doused cloth and let dry.

[iNeb]

The paste is like 10 years old. I tried alcohol. No luck

[EndobioticChaos]

Uh.. no, please... don't use WD40. You need to use non-petroleum based cleaners, such as mineral spirits or acetone.

Here are the official Arctic Silver instructions as to how to do the whole process:

http://www.arcticsilver.com/arctic_s...structions.htm

Here's some quotes from the instructions, pertaining to cleaning:

Never use any oil or petroleum* based cleaners (WD-40, citrus based cleaners and many automotive degreasers) on the base of a heatsink. The oil, which is engineered to not evaporate, will fill in the microscopic valleys in the metal and significantly reduce the effectiveness of any subsequently applied thermal compound.

Clean the mating surfaces completely with a low residual solvent (High-purity isopropyl alcohol or acetone will work) and a LINT FREE cloth. (i.e. lens cleaning cloth) If another thermal compound has previously been applied to the heatsink, the mounting surface should be thoroughly scrubbed and cleaned with a xylene based cleaner, (Goof Off and some carburetor cleaners) acetone, mineral spirits, or 99% pure isopropyl alcohol. It is important to keep the surfaces free of foreign materials and NOT to*touch the surfaces (a hair, piece of lint, and even dead skin cells can significantly affect the thermal interfaces performance, especially on modern small core CPUs as the surface area is already severely limited). In addition, oils from your fingers can adversely affect the performance by preventing the micronized silver fill from directly contacting the metal surface. (Fingerprints can be as thick as 0.005")

[dunbar]

Isopropyl Alcohol (aka rubbing alcohol) can be used in a pinch, but that can leave behind a bit of residue, so after you wipe off the paste, wipe the moisture off the chip with a clean dry cloth. ENDO posted a correction while I was creating mine - his detailed quotes are better than my post.

[Ruahrc]

Actually I found that WD40 was the cleaner that worked best for removing Arctic Silver. I just clean off the WD40 with alcohol before I apply paste.

As for the paste that won't come off: have you tried some kind of "bath" where you put some solvent on it and let it sit for a while to break up?

Ruahrc