Heatsinks are discouraging

[GlitchOfDoom]

Why are heatsinks so hard to put on? the pressure placed on the core of the cpu is enough to literaly sqash my finger bone and all. Once you get the darn thing on theres no way anyone would want to take it off again. How can you tell if its not seated on properly?

[JoT]

Heatsinks are hard to put on if there are things around the socket. For most people, if there isn't anything around the socket, then it's not nearly as bad, but if there are oh say [i]capacitors[/] right there NEXT to the socket, such as on the Epox 8K3A, then it is MUCH more difficult.

God I hate capacitors.

[tyshy]

same here...ive noticed a lot of the epox boards are a pain in the arse to put hsf's on....especially the 8kha+ which i have...all those capacitors make me nuts.

[JoT]

The capacitors blew up on mine, but not because of anything I did, so I had them replaced by a friend, now they're even more loose! Capacitors are the devil, I tell you, and Epox is his lord! >=(

[I.M.O.G.]

Well he has an asus board, so his problem may or may not be similar to the problems with epox boards - I'm not familiar with either brand.

Heatsinks require a lot of force to ensure efficient heat transfer obviously, but I'm sure you understood that. I think your question was more like a "there's got to be a better way" rhetorical question.

A good way to tell if the heatsink is seated properly is to check your temperatures using mbm (http://mbm.livewiredev.com/download.html) or a similar utility. Compare these temperatures to the temperatures that other members of the forum are getting with your heatsink, CPU, and mobo (same bios revision is good too). If your heatsink is applied correctly then your temperatures should be within a few degrees celsius of someone else's temperatures. It's fairly obvious if there is a problem with your thermal paste or mounting.

My preferred way to judge a mounting is to remount the heatsink for a few trials to see if the temps are fairly consistent between mountings, but that isn't a great option if you aren't comfortable with the mounting pressure required.

Welcome to the forums! :)

[Ffats]

Come to the Intel side, my friend ;).

[cherryp00t]

actually i like the ziff socket after you get the hang of it its quite easy =d i can put one on atke it off 100 times no problesm =d just make sure your board is out of the case when you do it...