Removing heatsinks after extended use

[FunkZ]

It had been a few months since I had the XP-90 off my A64, guess it was the Tt Orb review back in August.

Anyway, the AS5 had very nearly glued the XP-90 to the top of the chip. I was twisting back and forth and pulling and it was still not coming loose.

Suddenly the heatsink came free, and I'm sitting there holding it in my hand. I look down at the motherboard and the socket is empty. WTF, where did my proc go? Doh! Yes it was still stuck to the bottom of the heatsink.

Not only did more than a few of the pins get bent at a severe angle, as I carefully used a jeweler's screwdriver tip to try and straighten them back out it seems like many of them are so weak they are ready to break off. These are not like SocketA chip pins, these are much, much thinner.

Thankfully I was able to get everything straightened without breaking any and reinsert the chip back into the socket to do the SI-120 test. I'm not looking forward though to the next time I have to remove the heatsink. I also have ASC here, however that stuff is like epoxy after it's been used. I have put it on older GPU's and after a few months you don't even need a retention mechanism on the heatsink anymore.

I miss the good old days of the XP chips. With the smaller exposed core this was not a problem. Now the video cards are using this type of chip, so we don't have the worry about them pulling out of the card anymore, however now I have to worry about my A64 because of the IHS having so much surface area to cement to.

[Bio-Hazard]

I've heard of several people having the same problem........... :twisted: It hasn't happened to me yet, guess I've been lucky.
I think part of the problem is that the IHS on the chips isn't totally flat, and after time, the concaved IHS causes a suction with the spreading out of the TIM between the IHS and the CPU cooler.
I also let my system warm up before I try removing the HSF, this seems to help a little also. I also lapped my CPU just a bit to get rid of the higher outside edges.

[silenze]

Common problem.. I've only had it happen once, with my old 3400+ newcastle... but it barely bent any of the pins... if one does break off a jeweler can fix it for you.. or you can try a piece of wire in the socket, but that's pretty ghetto lol

[fstroupe]

Did you have the entire die covered, or just a "dot" in the center as per the AS5 instructions?

http://www.arcticsilver.com/images/p4_as_dab1.jpg
http://www.arcticsilver.com/images/p4_as_dab2a.jpg

[silenze]

Either way you do it it's going to do the same thing..

[jester]

It did happen to me last year. I was using some off the wall brand compound I picked up at radio shack at the last min.

When I pulled the HS off a month later for AS5 it took the P4 2.66g right with it & 1 of the pins did snap off. :cry: Pi$$ed me off cause that chip o/c'ed well.


So I take it people have had simular problems with AS5? Doesnt apply to me much anymore cause I did remove the IHS on my current p4.

[playafly187]

yeah, ive heard of this problem several times as well but never had it happen to me. i also run the system a bit then shut down and remove the heatsink. just a few slight twists and mine come right off, no problem.

as for applying the as5, i spread it all over the chip. ive never understood the logic of putting a small dot in the middle... because when you remove the heatsink later, you find the paste isnt evenly spread over the entire chip.

[silenze]

The logic is that the core is in the center of the heatspreader so it's only necessary there... however they don't take into account that it's flush with the IHS, and it's called a heat SPREADER for a reason... you should cover the entire IHS surface with a nice thin layer... although I doubt there would be much difference if any at all...

[FunkZ]

Yeah, I swapped my old XP-90 back on and tried the small dot in the center method. My temps are running more than 5° C higher than when I had the whole IHS covered.

By the way, it was much easier to get off this time. I was very careful to spread only a very thin layer over the entire IHS and it did not stick at all. As soon as I popped the clips it sprang up. So the best method of applying the thermal compound seems to be to cover the entire IHS, but to use only a small amount and spread it very thin.

[Neo_Bui]

Removing the heatsink from my brothers computer was a breeze,because it had no thermal compound on it. He said he took it to a tech to put it together and that it was ready for use. he had it like that for three months before i put in the new heatsink(venus 12). He has a Amd athlon 64 3000 socket 754.i was like :|

[captses]

I had that happen to me a few months back. I bent some pins and straightened them up. However the chip was fried. Good news is that I have replaced it with my 4000+. I still have problems with removing heatsinks. I run the comp for a few minutes and wiggle with light pressure.

[privatedonut21]

Is the problem with sticking only with AS5? Or do the other types (i.e. AS3 etc.) have the same problem?

[kcaverly]

My old S754 Athlon 3000+ had that happen, it had the stock thermal goop that comes on the heatsink. I bent a few pins pulling it but if you use a mechanical pencil (one with a metal tip) i think it is the ones that use .5mm lead. The tip slips over the pins nicely and makes it really easy to straighten without fear.

Kevin

[El_Seano]

My old S754 Athlon 3000+ had that happen, it had the stock thermal goop that comes on the heatsink. I bent a few pins pulling it but if you use a mechanical pencil (one with a metal tip) i think it is the ones that use .5mm lead. The tip slips over the pins nicely and makes it really easy to straighten without fear.

Kevin

I use a business card