Changing a heatsink

[Chameleon]

Hi

I discovered where all the damn noise from my case was coming from last night ...... the heatsink sticky pad obviously didn't secure the heatsink to the cpu, making the heatsink and fan wobble on the cpu and send vibrations throughout my case and creating a right old racket!
The thing is, I removed the heatsink and fan (which lifted off very easily as if not stuck at all) and found half the melted sticky pad stuff on the bottom of the heatsink, but the other half stuck on the top of the cpu chip.
I'm going to buy a new heatsink at lunch time and will fit it tonight ..... I hope, but I'm a bit unsure about how to go about getting a clean surface on the top of the cpu to make sure the new heatsink joins to it properly. I assume this is quite a delicate job. Should I pick off what I can with tweasers or summin? Do I need to be careful not to touch the CPU itself? Can I take it out and wash it down with something?
I could really do with some advice before I go in with both feet and end up breaking the cpu!

Also, when I put the new heatsink on, should I leave it for a prescribed period of time to 'stick'? If so, how long?

Isn't there some compound I can use in place of the sticky pad that some heatsinks come with? I may not be able to get this stuff as easily as the heatsink itself though.

CPU = 1.4ghz Thunderbird

Thanks for any advice you might have.

Ch@m

 

[Xavier]

Use cellulose thinners on a cotton bud to clean your CPU

 

[Chameleon]

Is it seriously safe (ish) to clean the sticky gunk from the cpu like that?

 

[Testin da Cable]

not if it's turned on at the time

 

[Chameleon]

hehe, no i'll have it turned off
At OCUK they suggested nail varnish remover, amongst other substances, to remove the melted thermal pad, as it is alcohol based. I'm happy to do this, but although the stuff is mostly on the raised area of the chip (processor die?), there is some on the surrounding area too. I wonder if it's safe to wipe the gunk off this bit too, carefully ?

 

[~YuckFou~]

I've just done this, Wilkinsons have cellulose thinners for £1.49 bottle. Works a treat. I used some of the wifes' cotton buds.

 

[Testin da Cable]

just make sure it's really really really dry before you plug it back in again heh

 

[Scouse]

"Stick" to it??

Isn't there are metal bracket that you use to secure it to the motherboard???

 

[Wilier]

And junk the sticky pad and use thermal paste instead. Arctic Silver is the paste of choice I believe.