so i built my pc a few months ago and was using the stock amd cooler.So about 2 weeks ago i bought a cooler master hyper 212 evo.I've been wondering how would i take the old thermal paste off and how would i put the heatsink on?Do i take my motherboard out of my case and do what the instructions say?
Use rubbing alcohol (at least 90%) to remove old thermal material.
If your case has a hole behind the motherboard, you can follow the directions while leaving the motherboard in the case. It's pretty simple, don't be scared, everything will work out fine if you follow directions
Maybe try to find a YouTube video with a walk-through of a heatsink installation. You can probably find one with a hyper 212 evo.
sooo is it fine if i use 70% rubbing alcohol?
bump for help
Read what Kiaxa has already said above. No, 70% is not fine. Anything below 90% can leave a residue... residue is bad.
I like to use something lint free to clean up the old thermal paste so nothing but a clean surface is left when you are done.
and yes 91%
Coffee filters are what I recommend
70% is probably fine. residue is bad but not that bad
'hell I used cheap 60% stuff and my proc never gets above 52C OC'd to 4.7 (specs on profile)
In terms of cleaning the actual cpu use coffee filters- they won't leave fibers
If your case has a cut-out for the cpu socket you should not need to uninstall the mobo to change coolers. however if it's too small, some screws are block or you don't feel comfortable working with it upright- then don't take it out and put the mounting hardware on.
Yeah, 70% will work in a pinch, but 91% is better. It's only a couple bucks for a bottle at the store, just go get some. If you're going to do it, may as well do it right. No sense spending hundreds of dollars building a system only to cheap out over a $3 or $4 bottle of alcohol.
I have used 70% and have found it works just fine. It's clean enough that it won't really effect your cooling that much.
What WhiskeyRanger said sums it all up. Why buy all this nice stuff and then go, "enh, that's good enough. It'll probably be fine."
No, you're all wrong, it's denatured alcohol or nothing! No, I'm joking. I prefer using 90+% isopropyl alcohol because it evaporates very quickly and doesn't leave much by way of a residue, although 60-70% would also suffice. For the cleaning, I typically use a paper towel followed up by a coffee filter. Don't bother doing the initial cleaning with the coffee filter, since they don't have enough of a texture to remove hardened thermal paste.
Now how to remove the cooler and replace it with the aftermarket model. If you take the side panel off to look behind your motherboard, and you find that you can see the pins, or the plate that holds on your heat sink, then you don't even need to remove your board from the case to swap your components out. If you can't, then you're in for a 30 minute job, if you're expedient about it. So, if you can't access the mounting hardware for your CPU cooler through a CPU cutout, then you're going to have to remove your motherboard from the case to install the new hardware. If you don't have to remove your motherboard thanks to a CPU cutout, you may consider step 1 and then skip to step 6.
Here's what you do:
- Power off your system and disconnect the power via the power switch on your power supply. Most power supplies have this, if yours doesn't, then you'll have to pull the power cord. Now, there are many different schools of computer building when it comes to how cautious you should be and in what manner you should shield your components from static electricity. I don't find it to be an issue. Most power supplies have a constant ground-line, which is the third, round peg in the power connector. This will ground your PC even when the switch has been flicked on the power supply, and it will provide you with a relatively safe environment in which to work. Consider unplugging your power supply if you think it is possible that you might accidentally flick the power switch on it, as this would be quite detrimental. Not to fear, though. Since most computer cases are made of large amounts of metal, it is frequently sufficient to work in a location that doesn't encourage static buildup, and also to regularly discharge yourself by coming into contact with the case, which will spread the charge and create a neutral charge throughout the system.
- Find all of the plugs and unplug them. Consider documenting this procedure with a digital camera, if you think that you might forget the order or placement of these cables. Also make sure to check that you are fully disabling any locking mechanism currently employed by the connectors. Move all of these out of the way.
- If you have expansion cards, unscrew their retention screws on the PCI brackets and remove them, being careful to disengage any locking mechanisms on the PCI-e connectors.
- You should finally have a relatively clear view of your motherboard and heat sink. Find an appropriate philips head screwdriver and remove all of the screws currently holding the motherboard into place, being careful not to drop any screws (a magnetic screwdriver head can be very useful for this.)
- After you've gotten your motherboard unscrewed, gently lift it out using the currently installed heatsink. Almost all heatsinks are robust enough in their mounting hardware to allow for the weight of the motherboard and RAM to be suspended from them without any concern. Lift in an arc leading with the side opposite the I/O panel, as this allows you to free your I/O ports from it and finally lift the motherboard out.
- You've finally removed your motherboard (unless you haven't)! This is an exciting moment, I know! If you didn't have to remove your motherboard, you can start from here. Check out your heatsink to see how it's mounted. Intel stock heatsinks mount by using plastic retention pins which can be removed by twisting the pin counter-clockwise and lifting it. If this doesn't work, flip the board over and use a pair of pliers to force the pins together and through the motherboard. I really dislike this very fiddly form of heatsink mounting hardware that Intel insists on employing. AMD, on the other hand, uses roughly the same mounting mechanism that they've always had. It uses a tension lever to force the heatsink against the heat spreader on the processor. This one is really easy, you just disengage the lever by pulling up on the handle and levering the clip toward the center of the processor to pop it off of the retainer. once the mounting hardware has been foiled, give the heatsink a wiggle to help it unseat from the Thermal Interface Material (in the future, I'll refer to this as TIM, just so you know.)
- So you've got your cooler off,now, what do you do? I'd recommend looking at the instructions that came with your heatsink, as most of them have their own interesting mounting solutions, which may not be as easy to understand without the specific instructions. Make sure you read these even before you clean off the processor, because it would be a shame if something got onto your carefully prepared processor while you were fiddling with the instruction booklet. I also recommend considering the Arctic Silver website for information about how to apply thermal paste and what distribution works the best for which processors.
- Go find your 90% isopropyl alcohol, a paper towel a coffee filter, your TIM, your new heatsink and the instruction booklet for your new heatsink (just in case).
- Apply your newly wetted paper towel to the processor and your new heatsink vigorously, follow this with a more delicate cleaning with the coffee filter, also wetted with alcohol.
- Apply your TIM in the method indicated by the Arctic Silver website (I typically use either the line or the 'X' method, after the initial tinting, depending on the number and orientation of the cores.) Only use the tinting method with TIM that have a particularly thin or greasy consistency, as dry or hard TIM will not spread well enough for this practice to be beneficial. Remember that tinting is as thin of a layer as possible and is used only to provide a surface with less resistance to the spreading of the TIM. If you choose to tint, remember that it must be done on both mating surfaces (the heat spreader and the heatsink.) When tinting a heatsink that features exposed heatpipes on the base, make sure to apply a thin bead of TIM between each of these heatpipes and force it further in when you squeegee it off with a credit card, or some such implement.
- After you've applied your TIM, carefully center the heatsink above it and lower it into place. Most greasy thermal pastes will provide an exceptionally floaty sensation when you try to settle the heatsink, and it will shift side-to-side easily. Give it a slight wiggle while applying some downward preffure, a little twist back and forth, just to work out the air and spread the TIM evenly. Mount the heatsink as prescribed by the instruction booklet that you've already read through.
- Congratulations! You've installed your heatsink successfully! Now do the steps 5-1 in their reverse order to reassemble your computer (just make sure to get those power connectors seated well and the front-panel connections connected correctly and you've plugged the fan connector for your new CPU fan to the appropriately marked CPU1 or CPU, if your motherboard only has one, fan header on your motherboard.) If you are concerned about stripping out a stand-off (and everyone with any sense in their head should be) consider giving each screw a half-turn counter-clockwise before you attempt to thread it, as it helps to align the threads so that it will screw down more readily.
- Do not replace your side panels until you've plugged everything back in and powered it on. Also, if you didn't scratch yourself during this, your computer might not start, because the blood offering was not made. Just some common superstitions for you.
Have fun building! It's surprisingly easy and always an enjoyable time.
lol come on.