Reddit mentions of Arctic Silver Arcticlean Thermal Cooling Material Remover and Surface Purifier (ACN-60ML)

I got them for free, so it's what I use.

https://www.amazon.com/Arctic-Silver-Arcticlean-Material-Purifier/dp/B0087X738E

I used artic mx4 too, seems to be working well, might want to get some thermal paste remover too to get the factory stuff they use off. Make sure to post what Lenovo says for your country too so other people can have another reference on this, the entire viability of repasting is going on the word of just one lenovo support person so far.

XTU does indeed work perfectly, not sure how they decide what laptops it works on. Being able to use it to undervolt is super useful though I haven't figured out how to get a persistent profile working.

It only works for the CPU though, I have no clue how you would undervolt or downclock the GPU though I'd be quite interested in knowing as well.

I'm so grateful for pop os, I wish there was a way for me to donate money to them without having to buy a system76 laptop, where did you see the info on nvidia optimus? That would be useful, till now I've just consoled myself with knowing that if I wanted to do something with the GPU I'd just restart into windows anyways generally.

> Compaq Presario CQ5320Y

Ok, perfect. So your motherboard is a M2N68-LA. Here's the page I just looked at to find out this.

Per the HP site, that board supports up to 95 watt CPUs which means the Phenom II X6 1065T is the best CPU for your motherboard. You can probably (I'm 99% sure) put 2 8GB sticks of PC3-10600 (DDR3-1333) RAM in there as well.

But to your other questions. For installing a new CPU, or just cleaning an old one, I like this product. And this is my go to thermal paste. Lastly, just to dust a computer, I use canned compressed air. I think most of us on here do. Also, I personally will wipe down almost any part of my case with windex and a paper towel. Obviously don't get windex on any electrical component, and if you do, let it fully dry.

1. Im not sure i would use nail polish remover, 90%+ purity rubbing alcohol would probably be more suitable, or get something like this Amazon Link which ive used before and it works very well for removing thermal paste.
   
   
2. Thats a good thermal paste.

This stuff is magic it softens and removed the oldest and driest thermal paste with ease.

Just get something like this and this before you remove anything.

Also, a few more things since I'm just sitting around anyway :)

• You might want to consider removing the HDD cage for better airflow. You can buy a cheap and simple bracket to mount the HDD in the top 5.25" bays. Added bonus is you won't have that extra length of wire running all the way down from the optical drive to the HDD.
  
• I don't see it in your case, but in your parts list you listed a Noctua NF-F12 fan. This fan is meant for high static pressure (like in liquid cooled setups), and may not really be right for you. Check out Noctua's page on the matter. The NF-S12A may be better for your push-pull configuration.
  
• It's hard to tell from the picture, but it looks like you've bunched up the PCI-E power connectors in the front of the case just before the GPU. It could look better if you bunched them up in the back instead!

Good to check =D.

I used this to clean my CPU when I swapped out my case. Makes it easy, but other ways to do it too: https://www.amazon.com/Arctic-Silver-Arcticlean-Material-Purifier/dp/B0087X738E

Using Articlean with coffee filters. One or two drops of each bottle is enough for removing completly thermal compound.