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UGH stock cpu fan stuck to mobo

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vsage

Registered
Joined
Oct 10, 2004
Location
Gainesville, FL
I would first like to thank everyone who has guided me along so far in my endeavor to get my first computer up and running!

Anyway, here is the issue. Being the intelligent person I am, I wanted to see how everything on my computer would fit together so I attached my processor to the motherboard, stuck the heatsink and fan on, just so I could hopefully work it in a bit better when I actually was ready to use the computer. WELL I'm not sure if it's a common occurence or anything but the fan just WILL NOT come off again so I can put some AS5 on the CPU. It's an P4 (Prescott) wtih stock heatsink and fan. There are these godawful latching mechanisms that made me feel like I was breaking the motherboard when I put them on, in addition to attaching to the locking mechanisms that are physically attached to the mobo, and now I can't get em off again! Anyone know what I'm talking about? I will try and find the online version of the heatsink/fan so you can get a picture of what I'm talking about.

I'm basically freaking out at this point because one of the godawful latching mechanisms on the fan was a LOT easier to get off than the other side (which is essentially stuck), and I can't seem to remove the latching things from the motherboard from their grip on the fan either. I will edit this with any other info I find (or maybe pics, but I have to fetch a camera from somewhere). Everything looks fine, just doesn't feel right.

edit: http://support.intel.com/support/processors/pentium4/sb/CS-007989.htm shows a picture of the stock fan/heatsink/complicated latching mechanism. They say it's "ok" to have the motherboard bend some while putting the processor in place, but doesn't give any mention to how to get the dang thing off again (about 2/3 down the page)

Edit: With some willpower I FINALLY got it off (I really though I was gonna break the motherboard), and there's an uneven layer of some gray substance between the processor and heatsink (which I am assuming is the thermal sheet they put with the stock heatsink). Pardon me if these are silly questions I am just so scared of breaking something! Should I now scrape off the gray sheet?
 
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vsage said:
I would first like to thank everyone who has guided me along so far in my endeavor to get my first computer up and running!

Anyway, here is the issue. Being the intelligent person I am, I wanted to see how everything on my computer would fit together so I attached my processor to the motherboard, stuck the heatsink and fan on, just so I could hopefully work it in a bit better when I actually was ready to use the computer. WELL I'm not sure if it's a common occurence or anything but the fan just WILL NOT come off again so I can put some AS5 on the CPU. It's an P4 (Prescott) wtih stock heatsink and fan. There are these godawful latching mechanisms that made me feel like I was breaking the motherboard when I put them on, in addition to attaching to the locking mechanisms that are physically attached to the mobo, and now I can't get em off again! Anyone know what I'm talking about? I will try and find the online version of the heatsink/fan so you can get a picture of what I'm talking about.

I'm basically freaking out at this point because one of the godawful latching mechanisms on the fan was a LOT easier to get off than the other side (which is essentially stuck), and I can't seem to remove the latching things from the motherboard from their grip on the fan either. I will edit this with any other info I find (or maybe pics, but I have to fetch a camera from somewhere). Everything looks fine, just doesn't feel right.

edit: http://support.intel.com/support/processors/pentium4/sb/CS-007989.htm shows a picture of the stock fan/heatsink/complicated latching mechanism. They say it's "ok" to have the motherboard bend some while putting the processor in place, but doesn't give any mention to how to get the dang thing off again (about 2/3 down the page)

Edit: With some willpower I FINALLY got it off (I really though I was gonna break the motherboard), and there's an uneven layer of some gray substance between the processor and heatsink (which I am assuming is the thermal sheet they put with the stock heatsink). Pardon me if these are silly questions I am just so scared of breaking something! Should I now scrape off the gray sheet?


Yes, take off the thermal pad. You MUST have another TIM to go back on though. AS5/Ceramique is the most popular (which you have). clean it off with 91% Isopropanol Alcohol (rubbing alcohol, can be found at a pharmacy; ~71% can be used as well) and something to scrape off. A razorblade might work, but it might scratch up the surface of the heatsink. A creditcard should do the trick.
 
Yeah I was going to apply AS5 to it, and I did finally after (I thought) following the instructions on their website. You know, spread it on the heatsink and place a dab on the heat spreader on the cpu and let it be squished and whatnot. Well I don't know what I did but the cpu temperature read so high on my BIOS that I had to immediately shut off the computer for fear that it would fry the cpu (85C). What did I do wrong? Ugh I'm too afraid to even turn on my computer now to see if I just read the numbers wrong.
 
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The heatsink attachment mechanism should be rather easy to attach and remove. I have done it myself several times. You have to use your mind isntead of your might.

The page you linked DOES have very specific instructions for removing the heatsink properly with a flathead screwdriver. A whole section titled Processor Removal. They say don't remove the thermal material because they are afraid stupid people will ruin the processor by doing this and then not properly remounting it with a good thermal interface. Their solution is to buy a new heatsink. You don't need to do that.

Read the instructions at arctic silver's website more carefully. The part about the heatsink is ONLY for OLDER types of arctic silver. With AS5 you don't do that part.

I couldn't tell for sure from what you wrote whether you actually removed all of the previous thermal pad. It's absolutely vital that you remove ALL foreign material from the cpu and heatsink mating surfaces.

Remove any thermal pads or other interface material from the heatsink before applying the Arctic Silver. Thermal pads can be scraped off with a plastic tool that will not scratch the bottom then the remnants can be removed with ArctiClean 1Thermal Material Remover and ArctiClean 2 Thermal Surface Purifier. If you do not have ArctiClean, use a xylene based cleaner, (Goof Off and some carburetor cleaners) acetone, mineral spirits, or high-purity isopropyl alcohol.

Never use any oil or petroleum based cleaners (WD-40, oil based grease removers and many automotive degreasers) on the base of a heatsink. If you use a citrus based cleaner, you must use ArctiClean 2 Thermal Surface Purifier to remove the citrus oil before applying new thermal material, Any oil remaining on the heatsink will fill in the microscopic valleys in the metal and significantly reduce the effectiveness of any subsequently applied thermal compound.

If your heatsink has a thermal 'pad' mounted on it, this pad must be removed before using Arctic Silver thermal compound. Thermal pads are made with paraffin wax that melts once it gets hot. When it melts, it will fill in the microscopic valleys in the heatsink with wax. To minimize the permanent contamination of the mounting surface with wax, the thermal pad should be removed before it is used and melted. Never use heat or hot water to remove the pad, the heat will melt the wax into the heatsink.
 
Ack now I feel bad for having two threads on essentiall the same subject. I knew how to pop off the heatsink, but unfortunately I am not very knowledgeable in hardware and therefore don't know how hard is too hard to pop off a device like the heatsink (which I'd honestly never touched before a week ago).

I did indeed remove all of the thermal pad that came with the heatsink (although there was still a grayish tint left, which probably meant some of the pad was still attached), even after cleaning. So what you are saying is that I made a *mistake* in applying AS5 to the heatsink itself, and that I should have only done the part where I apply a glob to the heat spreader? Ugh!
 
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