Hey! I just bought an Cooler Master hyper 212 EVO aftermarket cooler. I've been using the stock one before. I'm wondering if i can remove the thermal paste by using a coffee filter and some oil free acetone?:)
here video link ww.youtube.com/watch?v=-hNgFNH7zhQ near the end it show cleaning off thermal paste, I dont think using coffee filters is the best idea in the world.
Coffee filter is way better than a paper towel. Think about it, a paper towel leaves a lot of fibers behind. A coffee filter doesn't, if it did your coffee would have lots of fibers in it :)
Best is concentrated (>90%) isopropyl alcohol and a microfiber cloth, but say pure ~40% ordinary cleaning ethanol and a coffee filter works. Oil free acetone might work, I don't know if it leaves any residue behind. Any residue left on the CPU or heatsink contact area (even fingerprints) wrecks the thermal conductivity.
microfiber cloth, if you dont have one use the coffee filter, it'll be fine. but no paper towels for sure, def a no no
there is lots of different ways to get a cpu clean. isoproyl or rubbing alcohol thats 90%+ pure is 1 of the best. any lint free cloth will work. i have in the past just used head cleaning fluid then used butain gas to make sure there was no residue left. it freezes on contact and you just wipe it while its bubbling. it works but its not a good method.
the best method is to buy proper tim remover. it costs $/£5 and will last a lot longer than the 7-10 aplications of paste per tube you get.
honestly though if you get the old paste off with just a cloth and keep rubbing till the surface doesnt leave any marks on it. it will be clean enough to apply new paste with pretty much zero impact on the thermal conductivity. way less than 1'c
To answer your question, acetone (any alcohol really) will be effective in removing thermal grease. Rubbing alcohol will work, and the coffee filter will be more effective than a paper towel. The grease that comes with the cooler is pretty decent, if you want something else buy some mx-4
+1 tuniq tx-4 or arctic mx-4 are both excelent 2 of the best and not at all expencive. £5/$7 a tube and you should get 8-10 aplications out of each.
I use akasa tim clean and a mircofibre cloth