instillation question

[gamerman1988]

I am expecting my new fan and heat sink to come in the mail today so I am super excited, but I have a few questions. How do I go about removing my old thermal compound and replacing it with AS5? and are there any tools that would be helpful in doing this? Thank you

 

[ghost]

Old credit card, cloth/rag and some alcohol based cleaner does the job for me.

 

[gamerman1988]

How important is the alcohol based cleaner? Will there be a decrease in performance if I just use a cloth to rub it off and no cleaner?

 

[StrangleHold]

If it just rubs off you should be fine, just make sure its good and clean before applying the new!