Cleaning off "fresh" thermal paste question.

[yaddam205]

Well I just got back home and I am about to start constructing my secondary!

But with every mobo I get online I have this fear that it is DOA, and I am going to be installing the Scythe Ninja which requires you to remove the backplate, well I am going to test the mobo 1st and make sure its posts and then if all is well take off the Ninja, install the backplate it came with and then put the whole thing in the case.

So my question is what should I use to clean of thermal paste that is simply "temporary" and will be still "fresh" when I want to remove and reapply with AS5, and the proper backplate

Cheers.

[Serra]

Anytime I go to remove thermal paste for a quick test or two, I just give it a quick wipe with whatever's handy, then take a few dabs of Isopropyl alcohol to it with some form of lint-free wipe (if available) to get the small bits that are left over.

[couppi]

I've always put some isopropyl on a paper towel and wiped it all off. Lint free cloth is always preferable, I guess.

I don't think you lose warrenty by taking off the backplate. No need to worry so much I think.

[Turok]

I use Q-tips with 90% Isopropyl alcohol at first contact. The thermal compound starts to become muddy and I pick it up with the wet Q-tip.
When I take off all the dense stuff with a few Q-tips soaked in alcohol, I start to use Q-tips with one side a bit wet with Isopropyl alcohol, and I leave the other side dry so I can absorb the stuff.

I use the Q-tips so the AS5 doesnt stick on my other components and cause a short-circuit or something. Q-tips are more precise, but you end up using a lot of them :P

Use verry little AS5 on your next application. Just enough to cover the entire die, but thin like a hair just to fill the imperfections between the two metal surfaces.

[yaddam205]

Thanks for the replies, but I just thought that there's prolly no need to even bother with "replacing" the thermal paste, I think ill just put it on there proper like I would usualy then see if it posts and iff so just take the CPU off and HSF set aside do my dirty work then put it back on, cause I dont think AS5 is going to come close to drying in a basment temp room, Or am I wrong?