Thermal paste residue very difficult to clean

Question

I'm trying to remove thermal paste residue from the die of my Radeon GPU with q-tips and isopropanol. The CPU was fine, but the GPU is extremely stubborn. It looks worn and dirty regardless of how much I try to clean it. Like I said, the CPU looks sparkling right now.

Should I be worried or should I just make sure there's no thermal paste left and go ahead and apply the new stuff even if it looks a bit rugged?

score 5 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 17 '13 at 14:07

Cleaner is always better for thermal contact. I'd try scraping with a razor blade and then removing any remaining residue with a stronger solvent like acetone. You can also use very fine sandpaper, like 600 grit, to abrade and clean the surface. You want a very flat, clean surface, so that the new thermal paste is filling only the tiniest gap between the GPU and the heat sink, because the thermal paste is far less conductive of heat than copper or aluminum, so less thermal paste is better.

It's sad how many people apply thermal paste like mortar. +1 — Adam Lawrence, Jul 17 '13 at 16:48

Thermal paste residue very difficult to clean

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