One more newbie question

[silentzero]

Hey guys,

thanks for answering my last post.
I'm very newbie-ish when it comes to fiddeling around with inside my computer. I want to try out the pencil trick, I've checked out all the tutorials so I know exactly what I want to do.
Now I want to take off the cooler from the CPU, and it has sort of a metal wedge beside it. I have no clue how to take it off properly, and I don't want to try or use too much force or it might break off and I don't want that to happen :( After the cooler is removed, I would know what to do. Please help me!

thanks

silentzero

[Wa11y]

Metal wedge? What kind of heat sink do you have on it, the stock one from the retailer, or did you add your own? Usually there's a clip you have to press down on with a screwdriver, and pull the bottom out. It's kind a tough, and may require an extra hand. Just becareful not to let the screwdriver slip, or it can damage parts of your motherboard, which is a bad thing to have happen.

And if you ARE using the stock heat sink, don't worry about breaking it, because you'll need a better one once you start to overclock. And be sure to get some thermal paste, either from Radio Shack ($1.99) or Arctic Silver ($8 online). I've used both, but not on the same machine, so I don't have a basis for comparison, but some people have had temps drop 1-2*C by adding Arctic silver. Just be sure not to damage the core of your processor. And if you can get us some pics, that would REALLY help us out.

[silentzero]

Thanks!

The PC was built by a friend of mine who included the best possible components, and he ordered a cooler especially from some cooling site, so it should be fine for overclocking.
I don't have a digi-cam so I drew a quick sketch of what my cooler looks like.. i wonder how to removie it properly.

http://www.geocities.com/chemical_rat/cooler.gif


Thanks!

-silentzero

[Wa11y]

Try the pic again. It didn't seem to work.

[silentzero]

http://www.geocities.com/chemical_rat/cooler.gif

[Wa11y]

Swing and a miss!

Doesn't display the page. You must have the WORST luck posting images!

[silentzero]

damn.. geocities is dead. I've ATTACHED it to this post!

[Wa11y]

Hey, guess what! It worked! Picasso you are not!

Well, from what I can guess, it's just got the standard HSF clip on it. You SHOULD be able to press down it and pull the bottom out. It'll require some force against it. If you feel you're pushing too hard, STOP! Better to play it safe than to have to buy a new processor. If you can wait a few hours, I should be able to take some pics of a Volcano II HSF clip, and show you what I'm talking about.

[silentzero]

OK! Thanks alot :)

-silentzer0

[silentzero]

WOW!!

That was an experience..

I just pushed down the metal wedge, and a very loud clack was heard, followed by a scary "skkkr" . I ALMOST SH** MYSELF :D
I thought I had broken my processor, but the skkkr was just the dried thermal paste breaking, and the cooler came off with no trouble at all! I immediately assembled everything to see if I had broken anything, but it still works! I'm going to try the pencil trick now.. WISH ME LUCK :D

-silentzer0

[Wa11y]

MAKE SURE YOU GET SOME THERMAL PASTE ON THAT CORE BEFORE YOU PUT THE HSF BACK ON!

Dried thermal paste is BAD. I'm betting your friend didn't replace the crap thermal pad that was on there. Get some rubbing alcohol and acetone (paint thinner) to clean that core and HSF off so you can have a nice clean joining. If you're in a rush, go to Radio Shack and get some thermal compound. It's about $1.99 for a tube, and it has a few applications in it. I've had one tube do three applications, and STILL have some left over.

Just spread a thin layer of thermal compound on the die (the raised metal part of the processor) with a razor or edge of a credit card. It doens't have to be perfectly smooth, just make sure it's completely covered. Too thick and it'll squirt out the sides, and might short circuit a few bridges.

One other thing to check out: make sure you didn't damage the plastic clips on the socket that the processor goes into. I hope it's not, since that ALWAYS sucks, but there are ways around it.

And I'm glad you were able to get you HSF off without damaging your core. Taking off a HSF is always hairy.

[silentzero]

well, now that you mention it.. it wasn't really dry.. but a bit.. hardened, but I'll be sure to follow your tips. Thermal paste is a bit rare around here :/ I live in England.

[Wa11y]

You don't have Radio Shacks in England? You should be able to hit just about any electronics or computer stores and ask for some thermal compound or heatsink compound. Get Arctic Silver II if you can. But avoid the pads. There's a reason they give them out for free.

[silentzero]

So if I buy Arctic Paste 2, where would I apply it? On the 4 circle things or generally all over the CPU?

Thanks,

silentzer0

[Rob Cork]

Originally posted by [Oc]Wa11y
You don't have Radio Shacks in England? You should be able to hit just about any electronics or computer stores and ask for some thermal compound or heatsink compound. Get Arctic Silver II if you can. But avoid the pads. There's a reason they give them out for free.
Nope, closest we have to Radio Shack is Maplin (http://www.maplin.co.uk), which rules :)

silentzero, you could try the Maplin site (they might have a store near you, where do you live?), I expect they do some cheap thermal paste, which is better than none. However, if you want the best stuff go to one of the specialist overclocking sites, like Tekheads (http://www.tekheads.co.uk), overclockers.co.uk (http://www.overclockers.co.uk), The Overclocking Store (http://www.theoverclockingstore.co.uk), or overclock.co.uk (http://www.overclock.co.uk) - that's about all of them. They generally all have very good, personal customer service and good prices. If you order from one of them I'd get a good hsf with the thermal paste while you're at it - try the Thermalright SK6, it's one of the very best out there and not as expensive as some others (eg Swiftech MC462). If you want any other advice on buying ocing stuff in the UK, feel free to drop me an email :)

EDIT: hehe, that was messy, took me 4 edits to get the links working. If you swap the c and l around (typo) in overclockers, it blanks out the result: overl****ers !

[kat]

a word to the wise you should never never never remove or replace your hs unless you remove the mb from the case and suport it on a flat surface with a towel or bubble wrap:D :D

[silentzero]

don't scare me!!! :D

btw. thanks for the tips Rob!

silentzer0

[Wa11y]

Originally posted by silentzero
So if I buy Arctic Paste 2, where would I apply it? On the 4 circle things or generally all over the CPU?


JUST on the center die of your processor. That would be the part that has the identification on it. It's a metal rectange right in the middle of the porcelean where the bridges are. Maybe 2cm by 3cm. And that's ALL you need to put it on. Here's (http://www.arcticsilver.com/arctic_silver_instructions.htm) a good place to get instruction on it, regardless of what type of thermal compound you use.

[silentzero]

Oh, and for those who are curious this is my cooler:

dunno if it's good
http://www.titan-cd.com/d4t.htm

> my CPU is 1 Ghz, and apparently the cooler supports speeds up to 1,5 Ghz.. so I might want to try out 1333 Mhz!

[Rob Cork]

Originally posted by silentzero
My CPU is 1 Ghz, and apparently the cooler supports speeds up to 1,5 Ghz.. so I might want to try out 1333 Mhz!
I wouldn't necessarily believe what they say. I think Coolermaster says some of their sinks support up to 1.4GHz cpus or whatever, but what they mean by that is it will keep a 1.4GHz cpu below AMD's maximum rated temperature - which is about 70C for continuous operation I believe (90C max temp). You want a hsf that will keep it at about 40-45C. They don't list the sink's C/W, so I'm guessing it's not that good. I would definitely get a better cooler before ocing much, as lowering the temp of the chip will increase it's lifespan and improve stability, probably letting you oc further.