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Vent: My buddy swore by using a heat gun for stubborn thermal paste, and now I'm out a motherboard.
He said 'just a quick blast' on a 5 year old gaming rig, but the paste was basically cement and the CPU socket didn't survive the attempt. Anyone got a better method for ancient, rock-hard paste that doesn't involve turning the board into a paperweight?
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paige_owens52mo ago
Man, a heat gun is WAY too much. For old paste, just soak a paper towel in isopropyl alcohol and let it sit on the CPU for a few minutes. It softens right up without the risk.
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jamesf292mo agoProlific Poster
That LTT video showed the paper towel method leaving fibers behind.
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morgan_king369d ago
Saw that video too... but honestly the problem isn't the paper towel itself, it's the cheap ones with loose fibers. The blue shop towels are way tighter woven and don't leave anything behind. I've used them on like 20 different CPUs including some old LGA 2011 sockets and never found a single strand stuck anywhere. Same goes for the unbleached coffee filters, they work fine too but you gotta be careful they don't tear when they get soaked with alcohol.
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angelaw782mo ago
Ever see what happens when fibers get stuck in the socket pins? My buddy tried that paper towel trick @paige_owens5 mentioned on an old Xeon. It left little bits behind and he spent HOURS picking them out with tweezers. He was so mad. Now he only uses those coffee filters, says they don't shed at all.
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