Deranged667
03-23-03, 06:02 PM
I recently encountered an issue I've never seen before when building a computer. Needless to say, I should have been a bit more thorough when researching the parts I was purchasing but it is still kind of odd that there is even an issue here. I purchased my mobo and heatsink from Newegg last week (Asus A7N8X Deluxe & Thermalright SLK-900U).
My idea was that the SLK-900U screws down through the motherboard into a backplate, making it more secure and less likely to fall off. I also made this decision because one of the socket clips on my last mobo broke off and it was a pain to get replaced.
So anyway, I get the parts and I start assembling the heatsink/fan and then I took the mobo out of the box I was about to put everything in it when I realized that there wasn't much room around the perimeter of the socket.
Firstly, on the motherboard, there were a row of capacitors about 2cm high each on the southern side of the socket.
Secondly, the northbridge heatsink is quite tall and close as well. The copper fins on the SLK-900U were being obstructed by both. I later discovered that there is a 90 degree difference in the way the SLK-900U and the SLK-800A sit on the CPU (the significance of this is the fact that all the diagrams I saw before hand were of the 800A version).
I figured that this had to be a pretty obvious problem which would be addressed by Thermalright at least. I went to their website and discovered that their solution to the problem was to bend all the capacitors which were obstructing the heatsink so it would fit. I took a second look at the mobo and made sure this was possible. IT WASN'T! The capacitors all sit right against the motherboard and cannot be bent even 10 degrees in any direction without risk of them breaking off. Even if it were possible, there would still be the issue of the northbridge heatsink, which I know isn't goind anywhere. So it is a false solution and an immediate "dead end."
I've already e-mailed Thermalright to see what they say about all of this. I may try to contact Asus as well even though I doubt they will be able to do much.
In the meantime I've decided to post this issue in case anyone else has feedback or the same problem and would like to know what they can do about it.
As usual, any ideas are much appreciated. Thanks.
My idea was that the SLK-900U screws down through the motherboard into a backplate, making it more secure and less likely to fall off. I also made this decision because one of the socket clips on my last mobo broke off and it was a pain to get replaced.
So anyway, I get the parts and I start assembling the heatsink/fan and then I took the mobo out of the box I was about to put everything in it when I realized that there wasn't much room around the perimeter of the socket.
Firstly, on the motherboard, there were a row of capacitors about 2cm high each on the southern side of the socket.
Secondly, the northbridge heatsink is quite tall and close as well. The copper fins on the SLK-900U were being obstructed by both. I later discovered that there is a 90 degree difference in the way the SLK-900U and the SLK-800A sit on the CPU (the significance of this is the fact that all the diagrams I saw before hand were of the 800A version).
I figured that this had to be a pretty obvious problem which would be addressed by Thermalright at least. I went to their website and discovered that their solution to the problem was to bend all the capacitors which were obstructing the heatsink so it would fit. I took a second look at the mobo and made sure this was possible. IT WASN'T! The capacitors all sit right against the motherboard and cannot be bent even 10 degrees in any direction without risk of them breaking off. Even if it were possible, there would still be the issue of the northbridge heatsink, which I know isn't goind anywhere. So it is a false solution and an immediate "dead end."
I've already e-mailed Thermalright to see what they say about all of this. I may try to contact Asus as well even though I doubt they will be able to do much.
In the meantime I've decided to post this issue in case anyone else has feedback or the same problem and would like to know what they can do about it.
As usual, any ideas are much appreciated. Thanks.