How to cleaning a graphic card?

Every couple of months, I pull out my ATI Radeon X1900 XTX from my PC for cleaning. What I usually do, is I remove the heatsink, by removing the clamps on the bottom of the card, then remove the plastic cover that covers the metal of the heatsink and run cotton swabs through the fins of the sink, and fans. I also re-apply thermal compound to the GPU. This can really increase performance if you do it every couple of months, since it keeps the GPU cooler. Start by removing any screws on the back of the card, that hold the heatsink in place (When you put these back in, tighten them evenly!). You should be able to lift the heatsink off now. There's a good chance that the fan is still connected by a cable so remove that too. Then look on the back of the heatsink assembly. There should be screws that hold the plastic cover onto the metal portion of the heatsink. Remove those, then the plastic cover. You should now have access to the actual metal heatsink. To remove dust from fins, I recommend using cotton swabs, and running them through gaps. Then, clean the thermal compound off of the GPU chip, and the heatsink, and re-apply a thin layer to the chip. The best way to do this, is to put a very small amount (about the size of 2 or 3 grains of rice) of the thermal compound onto the chip, and spread it evenly with a playing card. Then you can put it all back together, and remember to evenly tighten the screws that hold the heatsink in place!