Removing Thermal Compound - The BEST Way?
Vložit
- čas přidán 15. 05. 2017
- Thermal compound is essential to good cooling - But what's the best way to REMOVE it?
Sign up for Dollar Shave Club today at dollarshaveclub.com/linus
Check out G.SKILL's KM570 keyboard on Amazon: geni.us/qnl00r
Buy Arctic Silver ArctiClean on Amazon: geni.us/LYEN8C
Buy IC Diamond on Amazon: geni.us/mwA70
Buy Arctic MX-4 on Amazon: geni.us/HOQ8o
Buy Arctic Silver ArctiClean on Newegg: geni.us/dlwR3
Buy IC Diamond on Newegg: geni.us/F64d
Buy Arctic MX-4 on Newegg: geni.us/pGFDYR
Discuss on the forum: linustechtips.com/main/topic/...
Our Affiliates, Referral Programs, and Sponsors: linustechtips.com/main/topic/...
Linus Tech Tips merchandise at www.designbyhumans.com/shop/Li...
Linus Tech Tips posters at crowdmade.com/linustechtips
Production gear: geni.us/cvOS
/ linustech
/ linustech
Intro Screen Music Credit:
Title: Laszlo - Supernova
Video Link: • [Electro] - Laszlo - S...
iTunes Download Link: itunes.apple.com/us/album/sup...
Artist Link: / laszlomusic
Outro Screen Music Credit: Approaching Nirvana - Sugar High / approachingnirvana
Sound effects provided by www.freesfx.co.uk/sfx/ - Věda a technologie
Nail Polish remover gets rid of anything.
Slipped some into my ex gf's coffee... Boom problem disappeared
Offensive Comment
tried that but then my supply of nail polish remover dried up, too, so... consider yourself warned there
Name checks out
Regular Polish remover works also if you are German/Slav
good thing nail polish remover is cheap and sold at a store near you!
James Rivett or probably we have it now..
The real challenge is when the thermal paste has been applied for months, even years and it has lost moisture. That is when the cleaning products start to matter.
Ga1us Agreed
Get out the chisels, we're carving stone!
Worst case clean the thermal paste from a MacBook Pro early 2011. Look up for a video if you wanna know what you'll find in there.
Yeah hope they do one year for each. So we get a video in 2047, that would be nice
Thank you. I was trying not to scream that the whole video
clearly coffee filters are the winner
They’re the basically the only lint-free disposable wipes readily available. I cringe when people use toilet paper
Came here to say this
@@ZombieLincoln666 I have used a Coffee filter more times then I like to admit haha, because I forgot to buy a lint-free disposable and was like eh worked last time :).
Eisenhower303 What about those phone screen wipes, or glasses wipes? Im pretty sure they are also lint free.
@@phantom-xb6wv Of course! But they are also way more expensive and you only get one. Coffee filters all the way!
I just lick the thermal compound away.
Yes it is very tasty
Lmfao
I eat the cpu
Then you become colder. It's useful when it's very hot
thank you 2d very nice
Hmmm, I'm gonna clean my 500$ cpu and my 80$ cooler with BEER ! Nothing would go wrong.
I bet the cpu gets a headache if you clean it too much with it
The best way to remove thermal compound is with a pry tool and very shaken scared hands
screw driver and a hammer :)
can confirm screwdriver and hammer is a real good way to do it, maybe bust out the dremmel from time to time to save a bit of time
chisel & hammer better
i used an angle grinder, worked so well i turned my 32nm cpu into a 25nm cpu :D
the dishwasher works good and its easy......top rack of course
For those wondering the reason alcohol work so well is because it has a molecular structure that is polar on one side and non polar on the other. In chemistry like dissolves like and from what I could tell looking online briefly the thermal paste seems to be made of some largely polar molecules mixed in a nonpolar goo Soo the alcohol is able to dissolve both materials where as the liquids that were more polar like acetone had a hard time breaking down the main part of the thermal paste and the water which is very very polar did basically nothing for you. I also looked into the Arctic silver cleaner which seems to have mostly just improved on these principles with there cleaners though there could be more at work in it they don't list every ingredients only the potentially hazardous ones on the SDS. The second paste seems to come off with a Stern look so I didn't look into it. (I could also be wrong I made it through sophmore year in chemistry soooo maybe if I'd stuck with it I'd be telling me how dumb I am right now)
Who is here because of covid 19? Lol all the stores in my area are sold out of rubbing alcohol
I am just bought a 3800X
Dude what did u end up using??
and hand san...
Vin Diesel I think I just used a bit of water on a paper towel and just wiped it clean it comes off easier than I thought.
@@kev5834 have fun when your pc goes bye bye, water is the worst to use
isopropyl alcohol 70%+
gg just saved you 10 mins
91% Isoproply is the best one.
Cheers
Ken G no, 99.9%
@impulse Here in Germany, you can get 1 Liter 99.9% for 10€
@@cris_crafter hmm ok show me where that is sold?
The coffe filters performed the best way.
I mean in the Video it removed everything perfect
Amateurs. Thermal paste comes off just fine if you give your motherboard a hot shower.
Thank's a lot, my motherboard is destroyed because of you. At least the thermal paste came off.😒
@@logan2906 please tell me you're joking
To be honest if you do that while there's no power on it then make sure it doesn't leave any residue or water then it will actually be fine
mothers do loosen up in hot showers. good thinking
I'm surprised the Goo Gone didn't do better with the MX thermal paste. We've found that the orange Goo Gone (there's a yellow Goo Gone that smells pretty bad) to be particularly effective removing hardened thermal paste. The only big issue we have with Goo Gone is that it's particularly oily, so we always apply it to the paper towel rather than directly on the CPU (a little dab will do you). Great video Linus - bit of a weird topic, but really useful.
Linus must have eaten thermal compound as a child to be this cool.
Wut the what Ali Abbas
Ali Abbas go see a therapist
COOL??? Really? Nice bloke.. very clever, but he wears SOCKS with his SANDALS! - that is as far from cool as you can get!
#prayforthe1800X
its fine if that happens
f
May GabeN be with it, and that he saves the 1800x. Amen
1 like = 1 pray
I did that a crap ton on HP business pc, it is fine as long as the pins are mostly straight...
yOU THE BEST MAN! I was planning to clean mine with sanitizer as I dont have alcohol rub shiii, But I was scared to do so and none of the videos showed up doing it. But you here made my day!
love you! Ima post video what happens after putting sanitizer.
Majority of us cleans/changes the compound when it is really super dry, like after at least a year of usage, so this test just gave us half of the picture since the compound is still fresh. Having said that, I always use isoprophyl...
How are those dust PC's coming along?
mrsuperbuckets
Wait what
How many months have passed since they started the experiment?
yendak
5 months on CZcams.
mrsuperbuckets They are dusting up nicely.
almost forgot about these things.
Isn't this kind of pointless...? How often do you guys find yourself cleaning freshly applied thermal compound off? Like of course you could just wipe it off by hand..... I wanted to see what worked best on dried on compound that you might actually need to clean off before putting more on.
My thoughts exactly.
I would like to see that as well, but for me at least as long as decent compound was used it seems to take 3-5 years to dry up, and i usually replace it on most of my devices for some reason or another by then. Even the cheap bulk tube of AS Ceramic compound i got probably 5 years ago comes off pretty easy even after a year of 24/7 use. Most people building a new PC are just cleaning the pre-installed stuff off of new heat sinks anyway. Now 5+ year old laptops, thats where you really need something that works well.
I've had to clean my CPU exactly twice. Once when putting on an aftermarket cooler, and once two minutes later when I realized I put the paste on way before I should have, and needed to manipulate the CPU without risking the paste falling off.
when your fan gives out. LOLs. that's like 10 years down the line, but by then you'll have new computer built.
Was thinking the same thing. Also coke on others shits leave grease n sugars and other craps to surface.
Got an older GPU for a retro build and the paste was like concrete on there. I used carb cleaner to get it off (sprayed on paper towel, not on the chip). Worked great. Was careful of course, and I cleaned it with alcohol after.
Had a bottle of bad vodka and finally used it for something *decent*!!
Worked perfectly, thanks!!
No clorox bleach?
Dissapointed.
Bleach isn't a solvent. They're using 15 different solvents.
orange and beer are solvents? 0.o
a solvent is anything that can dissolve. OJ and beer are acutely acidic, meaning they're a solvent. bleach does "clean" things but usually by breaking down the organics of dyes and pigments, it's also why it kills bacteria and cleans up blood by breaking down the organic material in them. so if the thermal compound adherent substance was organic it could potentially remove it, but that's a big if since they're all synthetic.
No bleach, but there is windex. That's close enough for me!
They do use bleach in the video.
Acids, bases and bleach (usually bases) clean using the same principle, dissolving the substances (or reacting with them in such a way to make them soluble) and suspending or removing them with the solvent the acid (or whatever) is suspended in (usually water).
The chemistry behind them is different and therefore works on different things, but the general principle is the same when it comes to cleaning.
And being highly acidic is no guarantee of being a solvent, as is apparent here as coca cola is far more acidic than beer or orange juice and did worse than beer and just as bad as orange juice.
Now that being said, bleach is not a specific type of chemical but is instead a general term for most chemicals that bleach...stuff...Two of the more common ones being Sodium hypochlorite and hydrogen peroxide (used in video). And as most types of bleach are oxidizer's they will in fact corrode metal and most other things that oxidise given time and suitability.
You didn't try WD40 :(
Didn't try duct tape either!
He didn't try urine either. :(
i works fine for removing it but it leaves a film like substance to displace water, so i inhibits heat transfer
the fact that im in the situation where im out of iso. this is needed. thank you for everything
going to put on my IC graphite and forgot to get alcohol. this video really helped me pick out what i should use.
Pee on that thermal paste to show dominanace and it will go out on its own :D
XD
XD
LOL
Some people would actually believe this nowadays; also XD
LMAO
1800x RIP May 16 2017 - "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the silicon of death, I will fear no thermal throttling: for Linus art with me; thy mouse and thy keyboard they comfort me."
Seeing this made my day 😂😂😂😂 I'm dying
F
I once ripped out Phenom x4 black edition the same way. It was okay. Still taught me a lesson - use as little thermal compound as possible.
Hey Linus Tech,
Is it possible to use perfume to clean my CPU because of the high alcohol part?
My dad used this method and I think he still uses it.
Although there are a lot of oils in it, he never had problems with technology, but I am really sceptical to use it myself.
Do you have any ideas or thoughts about this?
A few things you didn't try are Mineral Spirits, paint thinner (Both recommended by thermal compound manufacturers) and VM&P Naptha. I have used Naptha (aka Lighter fluid) for many years and it works extremely well. In a pinch, a light oil like WD40 or CRC 2-26 will also work well.
For everyone who wants to save 10 minutes. The best is isopropil alcohol and paper towel.
yes! izi Pizi
thanks man
Any short-chain alcohol will do the job just as well. Using ethanol instead of isopropanol makes no difference, and ethanol (in the form of methylated spirits) is available at nearly every supermarket, and costs bugger all.
Paper towels can leave lint behind. Use a coffee filter.
I know. But he has to fill a 10 second solution into a video of at least 10 minutes so he can get paid by google. They dont pay unless it is at least 10 min long. The "paid" people on YT do nothing but waste yuour time now and i try to avoid professionally produced vids cos i know i will get 10 minutes of some person filling my ear full of crap when 30 seconds would have done it. This guy here is a prime example of this.
I've always thought that the purpose of using 99% isopropyl is that it completely evaporates without leaving any residue like, say, orange juice would, so that if a bit gets on your motherboard/in the pins of your CPU, its not a big deal. Plus, it evaporates quickly, reducing the chance of powering on the system while there's still liquid.
Matthew Hennes yes
Thought especially the beer, coke and juise would get that issue. Vodka aswell, it got quite the amount of sugar left in.
Can i use it to clean the pcb if my gpu
Good-quality vodka is actually nothing but alcohol and water, they distill it and then dilute it back to 40%.
ShortGamingVids yes you could use isopropyl alcohol to clean your GPU.
Awesome video! I will be using the hand sanitiser. Funny how some people are over thinking this as if it is tricky as cleaning the sensor on a digital slr camera, which really is a PITA.
I don't usually Like or subscribe, but I definitely liked this one. Thank you Linus for the commitment to this project.
Stupid blue pixel. Thought my screen was giving up. But no, it's your 65000 dollar RED.
Pim DSLR Productions gg
which part of the screen
Pim DSLR Productions where? i dont see any.
right side about half way down. there's a white pixel right next to it
United States of Embarrassment Im watching on my phone (s7 edge) had the resolution in youtube on 720p instead of 1440p. I see it now
Sooo, we found that the best way to remove termal compound is with a coffee filter.
Or bakery paper :)
yea .....actually its better cus it doesnt leave lint behind
I literally watched this so that I could apply hand sanitiser to clean my CPU last thermal excess as well as my CPU fan. Good news it worked and now after applying new thermal compound Arctic MX4 I'm seeing my CPU has 35 degrees Celsius idle. Great work on the vid!
Awesome. No IPA in the house,but Purell worked perfectly on this near decade old Dell. Thanks!
the point of using cleaner it to get the dried old paste out of the micro grooves of a rough surface, the polished surface of that heat sink doesn't count cuase you don't even need a solvent to just wipe it clean. and it's new paste, not hard to remove. You need to find old computers, also wd40 is the best cleaner.
I agree, and then follow it up with some isopropyl alcohol to clean off any remaining WD40 residue. WD40 seems to dissolve the paste even if it's old and crusty. It's good stuff.
Yup, WD40 to remove the thermal compound, followed by alcohol to remove the WD-40. Works great for sticky tape glue also.
My thought too. When I need to remove thermal compound, it's not brand new paste, it's dried on crud. I think the test needs re-ran with some old heatsinks from scrapped machines.
Anyone else notice the stuck pixel?
So you're saying the 500 million $ 8K camera has a stuck pixel? :O
David Langford where?
Cameras don't take video in pixels.
AcidSugar1414 stuck photon, it happens
dust in the camera lens..
A glorious contribution to society. A "must watch". Only covering the important things. Profound stuff here guys.
I just use a microfiber cloth (like the ones that come in a LCD screen cleaning kit) and some rubbing alcohol. Last removal I used 50% which made me have to work harder to remove the paste, but it worked just fine. People often treat the application and removal of thermal paste like you're stepping on a potato chip, it's not that fragile.
That blue dot
i was looking and wtf??? bad pixels?
I know I was like crap somethings wrong with my monitor i tried wiping it off then it moved.
Where?
:D
LUL 50.000 DOLLAR CAMERA
feetswOw OMEGALUL
spit and toilet paper does the job for me
Vegetsu101 ur putting water on your cpu
Vegetsu101 dumb
urine is more effective
TheHybridPotato it doesnt matter aslong as it is left to dry long enough, I clean used boards in my dishwasher :)
TheCanadianLanBoy Thanks for the great tip! Just tried it and the board works perfectly, but my dishwasher stoped working :(
In order to properly emulate a real-world scenario, Linus would have to go to people's houses with computer owners in their 60s who bought e-machines at Best Buy in 2003 and try to remove the thermal compound from Celeron CPUs. THEN we would know which one is the best. That's like removing cement from steel rebar.
As someone kinda new to pc building, this helped me a lot. Thanks!
Why does Linus media get sponsored by a shave club he can't even grow a beard
it is like this because the shaving worked a little too well
Bc neck beards
or balls
AppleSlice Dylan Because it's called a "shave" club idiot
It's as if he actually uses their product... or something.
Was disappointed not to find chocolate milk in the mix, Linus.
I'm so glad i watched this video i've got a all in one water cooling system coming in the mail today and i just so happen to have a full bottle of goo gone so hopefully no hickups 🙏 (this is also my first time swapping out my cpu cooler)
lol ordered a new cpu a week ago and realized that oh shit this pandemic got me without any isopropyl alcohol so at least now I know I can use nail polish remover
Yeah i'm going for that too.
Cringed so hard when he poured the solvent onto the CPU...
Ikr
SacredSkill he makes me cringe like fuck with his bad advert acting
le cringe
Linus hurts my soul with his childish and dumb behavior.
@@tron-8140 He is trying to be entertaining, he wasn't acting that bad, no need to call his behavior dumb
8:23 rip to that ryzen 1800x
5PIDER_
It's in our prayers.
nah... it's ok
MotoK tips
resteroni in pepperoni al capone
why rip the cpu? nothing happened to it?
Nothing should have happened to it
I have tried everything mentioned in this and other videos, but nothing can beat WD40 when you are trying to remove HARDENED thermal paste/grease. One drop in the middle of the rock hard paste and a minute later you can wipe off like butter. I am not sure if it hurts the CPU, but sure cleans the heck out of it.
Oh hell yeah, I do the same with WD-40! I also follow up with a blast of CRC Quick Drying electronics cleaner, for when you want to make sure your CPU/IHS/heatsink is _clean_ clean. WD-40 remains one of the best things ever invented!
Thanks for your hard work on this. I was worried because I'm out of Isopropanol, but I've got some nail polish remover around here. =)
would it work different if the paste was used and heated up first?
It would be a very different story if the paste was dried up.
Press F to pay your respects to the 1800X
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
F
F
F
Would've gotten killed by the 2700X anyway
Hey Linus. Thank you i was just wondering how to do this(diy)... Perfect :)
Thank you very much for doing this experiment.
mx4 is water soluble that's why everything worked so well
I bet Linus wishes he had the bulk thermal compound now for all these tests
You mean peanut butter?
Verlisify Did somebody say... Peanut butter?
No I said banana.
Verlisify Oh... hey... the cancer of poketube is here...
wait u watch linus??
Try white gas. It is a bit less thin and volatile than alcohol, it feels somewhat oily, which makes it easier to work with, while retaining the ability to aggressively dissolve the paste. I’m using a passively cooled case with 16 heatpipes going around the case, connected to various heatsinks, so I have to deal with a lot of thermal paste smears and smudges when I do something like a GPU change. Use the white gas with a magic eraser sponge and it’s like one of those commercials: one wipe and it looks brand new again.
I've used my sisters nail polish remover for all of my builds. Works wonders.
Yup tried that yesterday and it worked. Just hope it won't destroy the cpu
@@marnixds I doubt it unless you managed to get it into the socket.
@@Jmvars Thx! Luckily I put it on the paper towel and very little of it.
wtf, this tiny vodka bottle, is it for 6yo kids?
nyet tovarisch, is for of having emergency vodka in shoe for next time glorious Lada engine explode
No, six year olds drink from juice cartons.
Once exploded you go for ask your neighbor "Oy PIzdec vladimir you have lada engine" and he replace it but you have no fuel you take precious tiny bottle hidden in your beard put it in reservoir and go to the gas station, trade what's left of vodka to the gas station man with pack of cigarette so he fills your tank with good old gazoline
Its a vodka bottle for ants
Never been on a plane?
Where´s WD-40???
yea i thought it was an obvious thing to use
It will makes the thermal glossy
Equally logical to use engine oil >_>
I know something that would remove thermal compound, problem is it might also strip off the coating on the CPU. Acetone mixed with harris stay-clean liquid acid flux. It also works great for removing rust from lots of metals.
I love golden draak. That beer is amazing. Hard to get where i'm at though.
bit too sweet and thus heavy, no ? blue chimay or some other quad. Personally prefer imperial stout all the way
When I ran my own shop, we used Goof Off which would pretty much dissolve any thermal compound which we could then just wipe off.
It was also good for those baked-on thermal compound pads you often find stuck on heatsinks.
I just want to say considering the carono virus how relevant this is....im pissed there is nothing left in town alcohol wise to do this right
Yeah I'm wanting to replace my thermal paste while moving my set up into a new case and I'm fucked, idk what to do
Ran out of Isopropyl during the sanitary crisis, tried some ether, it worked great.
I bought and used the Arcticlean and it works really well ! 🤓
Of my various household inhalants, er solvents, I use Goof Off most often.
Never thought I would need to use this video lol
That Steam Works beer brings me back some BC trip memories!
Thanks dude, needed this info!
Clearly the best way to remove thermal compound is to use a coffee filter. The rest doesn't seem to be needed. (Actually I used to just remove compount with kitchen paper and polish it with that for a minute or two. Seemed to work just fine too :) )
BTW I would think it's also important how much residual stuff is left behind on the processor die after cleaning and if there are any long term effects to the surface from using those other types of cleaners (oxidation for instance). And if there will be any reaction between any left over residue and newly applied thermal past later down the line.
Speaking of thermal paste, I would like to see various thermal compounds exposed to high temperatures, to see which one gives out first.
wow.. the effort you put in this experiment is awesome lol 😂
lol that intro was so much high energy. well done.
Anyone else see a blue dot on linus' jacket randomly throughout the video?
Justin Proctor that's his corporate overlords controlling him.
It seems to be a dead pixel on the camera. I can see it on the far right of my screen at 6:16
Semen.
Lva Not everybody loves computing like that... but compiling kernel...
Lva We can't, you swallowed it all.......
Senjougahara icon really makes this.
._.
a bunch of rugged men with salty spray in their face would surely make short work of thermal compound
I use Ronsonol or Zipper lighter fluid on the end of a q-tip..have done so for years and works excellent for any removal of heat sink paste and those hard to remove pads..then just a quick wipe with a bit of rubbing alcohol...if needed..
Hi. I love your videos. I came to this video to see how to remove the termalpaste from the CPU. I haven't seen that at all. Thanks for other videos tho.
I actually only use a coffee filter ironically.. it gets it all off.
Bruce Alrighty why didn't he use the white spirit or turpentine?
Nice, Gulden Draak. Don't use it as a cleaning product, drink and enjoy it!
I've only had it on tap, now I need to find somewhere to buy bottles of it
you live in the Netherlands?
Yes I am Dutch
dutch ftw
It's a really strong beer too, it would leave a lot of residue.
Yep, I always thought it was about evaporation/drying and use-case when dealing with old thermal compound on your 1-3+ year old install. It was a good video nonetheless. Thanks for taking the time!
For those worried about water left over from 70% IPA, understand that circuit boards are literally cleaned in water after being built in manufacturing. Not alcohol, just H20 in either an ultrasonic cleaner or water that is mixed with carbon and stuff like my company does. We use compressed air machine to dry up any excess water after the boards come out the cleaner. If you're worried about water left over under processors and other parts just get some compressed air and use the straw attachment thing to spray air under the parts to get the water out.
Literally why I found this video tryna repaste my laptop rn and found out my rubbing alcohol is gone lol
You wouldn't imagine how helpful this is in 2020 with the COVID-19 outbreak and no isopropyl available in stores! I am going for vodka to do this job now!
I grabbed some nail polish remover from my wife... the struggle to find 99% IPA is real!
Cliff Berry did nail polish remover work? Might do it myself
Vin Diesel The thermal paste the OEM used was still very liquid so it just wiped off. I was prepared to use it and it should have worked well but it came off easier than I thought.
+1 Goo-Gone to remove thermal paste in a pinch @ 11 at night! Thanks again for the vid
This is way too handy in the year 2020. Thanks for the research Linus.
I use toilet paper.
ikr,works just fine for me too
Bloody Wolf same here, cleans it perfect
Me too.
yup same here toilet paper or paper towels I have artic solutions but it's waste of time really...
i heat up the Thermal compound with a hair dryer and then use toilet paper works well for me
He had to test it with WD-40
Fraser White lol you are the worst
I use the white silicone thermal paste that never really gets dry. Paraffin works great on removing it, if I need to renew it.
Great video ! Thank you.
Hey Linus, could you make a video on liquid metal thermal paste? Its hard to remove, electrically conductive, damages aluminum heatsinks and its awesome! Additionally, if you were to remove the stock thermal pads of a gpu and replace them with expensive ones it would mean a hot OC benchmarking video.
#LinusDefinitelyOutOfIdeas
Majnak77 still better then pewdiepie
RougePheonix 89 but Atleast pewdiepie isn't a Soros Disney sellout. Soo he has that going for him.
Majnak77 #linushates 1800x
Was about to post the same thing LoL.
I was actually looking for something like this, so yeah. Not at all.
I have used a quick spray of WD40 on a paper towel to remove the thermal paste followed by a wipe off with alcohol. Very quick and extremely clean after.
I used engine lubricant and it worked amazingly well
I use thermal paste to remove thermal paste
I know why Linus is confused about men buying shaving razors. He has never needed one.
I'd feel bad about this comment now
Open up, I'm from the future
Master Xehanort
More like aged milk
This comment aged like rotten fish.
Arctic Clean is all I have used for years.. works great for me.
Great video!
I would like to know what would be the difference if any. Between using regular alcohol (Ethanol) and Isopropyl Alcohol (isopropanol).
it has been really hard to find the second one were I live.