I purchased an OEM AMD Duron cpu earlier this week and have 7 days to return it. Their return policy states the item must be in the same condition that it was purchased in before it can be returned. My problem is that the cpu core is covered in that white thermal paste that came with my HSF and a little bit has spread elsewhere onto the chip, the chip works fine but how do I make it look like new again with stuff I should have lying around the house so I can take it back???

- mitch

Why do you wanna take it back if it works fine? Not fast enough?

Try cleaning with acetone or nail polish remover.

Try using rubbing alcohol. It worked wonders on my Athlon T-Bird 1.4 GHz.

Oh, but use a Q-tip or something really soft and wet that with the alcohol. Then rub it around your CPU a little and it should look like new.

How do you prevent the rubbing alcohol from shorting something on the CPU, or doing other damage? And what about the thermal paste that is on the little circites that surround the CPU Core?

I use 91 percent isopropyl alcohol and a lint-free lens cloth. You can get the alcohol from your local pharmacy for under $2.00 and the cloth from an office supply store or camera shop for around $5.00.

Moisten a corner of the cloth with alcohol and rub it around the CPU core and ceramic. You might need to use a little bit of pressure, but be careful. Repeat this using different areas of the cloth as needed. You DON'T want to use anything to scrape the substance off, as it could scratch the core.

The alcohol evaporates very quickly and won't harm the CPU. I wondered the same thing the first time I cleaned my CPU and heatsink.

Another user mentioned using acetone. You can use it, but you should do a final cleaning with the alcohol as well. I would say, just go with the alcohol. It works quite well for me.