Cleaning a Heatsink

[Twyst]

Ok I just started Overclocking a few weeks ago and have had some success so far. From reading throughout the forum and the various guides I've determined that the heatin pad that shipped with my AMD 900mhz T-Bird is *****y as far as transfering heat from my processor to the heatsink (yes it's the manufacturer's HSF I'm too poor to afford a new one quite yet). Any good suggestions for cleaning the residue of the pad off of my heatsink before I apply the thermal compound I bought at radioshack?

[Da Whip]

Welcome to the Forum.
Try scraping most of it off with a single edge razor. (be sure to leave fingers attached)
Then use finger nail polish remover (Acetone) to clean up the residue. You might want to consider lapping the bottom of your heatsink.

[mw521]

Originally posted by Da Whip
Welcome to the Forum.
Try scraping most of it off with a single edge razor. (be sure to leave fingers attached)
Then use finger nail polish remover (Acetone) to clean up the residue. You might want to consider lapping the bottom of your heatsink.
Definitely lap it, I haven't seen a sink yet that was flat. (but haven't seen a lot of the new high dollar ones yet either.) You don't need a mirror finish just a smooth flat one. To check take some say 1200 grit sandpaper and rub the sink on it while the paper is on a flat surface. This will give you some "reference marks". Do the marks hit evenly? take it from there!