Removing Thermal Paste on 7800GT

[DeludedGuy]

I bought myself an Arctic NV5 (rev3) for my 7800GT, everything seems pretty straight forward, but i need advice on how to remove the thermal paste from my 7800GT, and what tools are best for the job.

Its my first time doing something like this, and I really dont want to damage the card.

Thanks.

[aidanjt]

Akasa TIM-clean will eat just about any kind of thermal paste/interface material and give your GPU a nice sheen

[dave87]

or just use surgical spirit?

[nvening]

I used special remover stuff on my x800xt but it says just use a tissue

[behappier]

Nail polish remover

[aidanjt]

or just use surgical spirit?

You really shouldn't use alcohol based solvents on computer hardware.

[RavenNight]

I've used Nail Polish remover on loadsa TIMs and it always comes up great even stuff thats been stuck down for years comes up beautifully with a little cotton wool and cheap Nail Polish Remover.

[aidanjt]

I use TIM-clean, a tissue, cotton bud, and a toothbrush. Great for shifting silver particales.

[nvening]

Oh yer, i used cotton buds on my x800xt

[schmunk]

White Spirit works fine for me.

[aidanjt]

some crappy cotton buds loose strands easily though, and its a nightmare trying to get them off. gotta watch for that.

[schmunk]

some crappy cotton buds loose strands easily though, and its a nightmare trying to get them off. gotta watch for that.

Yeah - I tend to use blue J-cloths, which don't seem to moult...

[Speed]

I can't say a toothbrush is a good idea . When I did my 7800GT I used the same process as I do with processors. Kitchen roll, Q-Tips (cotton buds) and a can of Isopropyl Alcohol I got from Maplins. Isopropyl Alcohol is much better than nail polish remover as it doesn't leave any residue and totally evaporates (it's also normally a component of what Nail Polish remover is made up of anyways). Just use a squirt of Isopropyl Alcohol on the core, remove the bulk of the thermal paste with the kitchen roll and finish up using the Q-Tips and more Isopropyl Alcohol.

In an ideal world I would use coffee filters instead of kitchen roll, but (although I have not looked) I'm guessing they won't be cheap.

[Dark Horse]

Akasa Tim-clean is well worth a purchase, its only a few pounds but cleans stuff really well and smells nice too! Has lasted me for ages aswell, maybe 1/8 of the way through after a very busy year of maybe 10 graphics cards cleanings and 20 processor cleanings as well as a few chipsets and random other dirty computer things! Also excellent at removing AS5 and other silvery compounds.

[aidanjt]

I can't say a toothbrush is a good idea .

Toothbrushes are amazing actually, the bristiles are soft, fine and ridged enough for your gums, so they're perfect for scrubbing off traces of silver away from cache's on the GPU/CPU package. That coupled with TIM-clean.

[Speed]

Toothbrushes are amazing actually, the bristiles are soft, fine and ridged enough for your gums, so they're perfect for scrubbing off traces of silver away from cache's on the GPU/CPU package. That coupled with TIM-clean.

Fair enough, not something I'd use/recommend though.