How do I remove and put on Artic Silver 5?

[Nocturnal]

And reapplying a layer to the chipset as well as my CPU Winchester Athlon 3200+.

Can I use isopropyl alcohol to remove the gunk from the chipset and surroundings? And then I think I'll use dish washing soap to remove it from the Athlon 64?

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

I'd go with isopropyl for everything.

 

[fstime]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
I'd go with isopropyl for everything.

 

[daniel49]

alcohol the purer the better for cleaning. for applying it i smear a little on with with my finger in a plastic bag or put a drop or two on then spread evenly and thinly as possible with a piece of real light cardboard like a matchbook cover. take your time be neat.

 

[Nocturnal]

Well from what I understand and reading the Artic Silver website it says to just drop a little dot, the size of a BB and then use the heatsink and kinda smudge it around. I've also read here on this forum that you don't or shouldn't have to spread it thinly across the CPU anymore. Anyone disagree?

 

[fstime]

Yes, applying a very small dot works fine. So does applying a thin layer your self. I like to apply the thin layer myself.

 

[Melchior]

AS5 is fine as long as you never plan to take out your CPU out of its socket ever again... without having a heart attack

 

[Nocturnal]

Originally posted by: Melchior
AS5 is fine as long as you never plan to take out your CPU out of its socket ever again... without having a heart attack

WTF are you talking about?

 

[Melchior]

AS5 sticks. In many cases, if you try pulling the HSF out of the socket, it WILL take the CPU with it (yank right out of holding mechanism). Very bad. Im not sure if this still happens with the Socket 939, but it does for 478 & Socket A.

 

[DanDaMan315]

Originally posted by: Melchior
AS5 sticks. In many cases, if you try pulling the HSF out of the socket, it WILL take the CPU with it (yank right out of holding mechanism). Very bad. Im not sure if this still happens with the Socket 939, but it does for 478 & Socket A.

He's right. I was taking my heatsink off to apply AS5 and it ripped the CPU right out, it scared me quite a bit. It was a bitch just getting the CPU and heatsink apart, with just generic thermal grease.

 

[Ike0069]

Just remove the HSF while the CPU is still hot. Come's off much easier that way.

 

[DanDaMan315]

Originally posted by: Ike0069
Just remove the HSF while the CPU is still hot. Come's off much easier that way.

Well that would require some quick work .

 

[drewski]

i just got a combo from Monarch. i asked them not to test, but they put on the generic heatsink i got. i'm still waiting for some parts, but thought i'd put on the XP-90 . . . i think i did have a heart attack as the cpu popped out of the closed socket!! i think i'm more worried about damaging the socket. can't test this thing yet, cause still waiting for some memory!

i guess they were nice enough to ignore the generic white stuff that came with the heatsink as use AS5, but they seriously overapplied. it was oozing over the side of the headspreader. it's the thought that counts, right?

edit: i've been informed by someone with much better attention to detail than me, that Monarch doesn't sell AS5. OK. my bad. whatever it was, it wasn't the white stuff, which they left in the box . . .

. . . i see that they sell Shin Etsu thermal grease. i've never used it, but if it was the stuff on my CPU it has a remarkably similar grey color, and thick sticky texture as AS5!!

 

[Musicman6425]

Originally posted by: Nocturnal
And reapplying a layer to the chipset as well as my CPU Winchester Athlon 3200+.

Can I use isopropyl alcohol to remove the gunk from the chipset and surroundings? And then I think I'll use dish washing soap to remove it from the Athlon 64?

I removed the excess thermal paste from my process with coffee filters. Be care not to scratch very hard. Benefit is not leaving a lot of lint...

 

[drewski]

Originally posted by: Musicman6425

Originally posted by: Nocturnal
And reapplying a layer to the chipset as well as my CPU Winchester Athlon 3200+.

Can I use isopropyl alcohol to remove the gunk from the chipset and surroundings? And then I think I'll use dish washing soap to remove it from the Athlon 64?

I removed the excess thermal paste from my process with coffee filters. Be care not to scratch very hard. Benefit is not leaving a lot of lint...

i use camera lens cleaning papers for the final swipe-off. same idea, though, for no lint.

 

[Ike0069]

Originally posted by: drewski
edit: i've been informed by someone with much better attention to detail than me, that Monarch doesn't sell AS5. OK. my bad. whatever it was, it wasn't the white stuff, which they left in the box . . .

. . . i see that they sell Shin Etsu thermal grease. i've never used it, but if it was the stuff on my CPU it has a remarkably similar grey color, and thick sticky texture as AS5!!

Yea, Monarch really doesn't like AS. This I definitely know.
My guess is that they put a stock thermal pad on or used the Shin Etsu. The pad is actually quite good as it is made with Shin Etsu.

As for removing it, I also pulled my CPU out of the socket when removing the HSF that was installed by Monarch, but I did it with a cold system. I've since learned that you need to let the CPU get hot (preferably >55C), then shut down and immediatley remove it. The HSF comes off fairly easily that way.

 

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: DanDaMan315

Originally posted by: Melchior
AS5 sticks. In many cases, if you try pulling the HSF out of the socket, it WILL take the CPU with it (yank right out of holding mechanism). Very bad. Im not sure if this still happens with the Socket 939, but it does for 478 & Socket A.

He's right. I was taking my heatsink off to apply AS5 and it ripped the CPU right out, it scared me quite a bit. It was a bitch just getting the CPU and heatsink apart, with just generic thermal grease.

Geez, I've removed heatsinks from chipsets that had thermal tape on them. THAT stuff really sticks hard. For removing a heatsink from something sticky, I've gotten it off by just twisting back and forth, breaking a few more molecular bonds on each twist. Eventually, it gives enough that you can either twist it completely off, or else pull the heatsink straight away.

 

[farscapesg1]

Originally posted by: Melchior
AS5 sticks. In many cases, if you try pulling the HSF out of the socket, it WILL take the CPU with it (yank right out of holding mechanism). Very bad. Im not sure if this still happens with the Socket 939, but it does for 478 & Socket A.

Apparently, so does the stock thermal pad for the socket 754 Athlon 64's. My MSI motherboard died and when I tried to take the heatsink off it pulled the CPU out of the socket.

 

[cleverhandle]

Originally posted by: Nocturnal
Can I use isopropyl alcohol to remove the gunk from the chipset and surroundings? And then I think I'll use dish washing soap to remove it from the Athlon 64?

I've always followed a tip that I think I heard around here - rubber cement. It sounds a little wacky, but I guess it's got hexane or some other kind of solvent in it that cuts through the grease. I wipe off the bulk goo with an old, clean T-shirt. Then apply a smallish gob of rubber cement, spread it around, and let it dry for a few minutes. Use something not too pointy to start pulling off the cement (I use the rather soft plastic toothpick from my pocketknife). Once the cement starts to peel, use a clean fingertip to start rolling it up into a ball - the ball sucks up any leftover bits of thermal grease it touches, along with any lint or other bits of crud lying around.

Sounds strange, but works great. No wiping, no fluids, no lint, and it does a very thorough job.

 

[fstime]

Errr thats why you remove it after a shutdown so the paste doesnt cool down. Durrrr.

 

[Ike0069]

Originally posted by: Jeff7
Geez, I've removed heatsinks from chipsets that had thermal tape on them. THAT stuff really sticks hard. For removing a heatsink from something sticky, I've gotten it off by just twisting back and forth, breaking a few more molecular bonds on each twist. Eventually, it gives enough that you can either twist it completely off, or else pull the heatsink straight away.

That doesn't work on the A'64's though, because the plastic base that is screwed to the MB prevents you from twisting the HS more than a couple of degrees either direction.