How to safely remove epoxied on Ram sinks?

hkp0lice · Jun 12, 2004

The ramsinks on my XFX 5900XT came epoxied on from the factory, but not very well. I can see gaps between the ram and the sink. Is there any way of removing the sink without ripping off the chips? I remember reading somewhere that putting it in the freezer helps, but these are fragile BGA chips, so i'm not sure.

Card looks like this:

Stedeman · Jun 12, 2004

A new razor blade pushed flat against the sink NOT chip, then tap it in about half way, pull it out than move to a new spot and repeat, going around the chip 360 degrees (or as best you can) and freezing dose help.

bafbrian · Jun 12, 2004

Another method I used on my R9800Pro when I bought it from a member over at XS was that I took a hairdryer and turned it on full blast. I put the card in one hand and aimed the hairdryer in the direction of the sink. I then used a Kroger Plus card and popped it off. If the sink didn't pop off on the first try, I put the hairdryer to work again and heated it some more. When I first got the card, it was too expensive to risk popping off the RAM. But it only took me about 15mins to get them all off.

Just use a hairdryer and it should work. I would recommend a heatgun but since I have never used one for that, then I would proceed at you own discretion.

hkp0lice · Jun 12, 2004

Stedeman said:
A new razor blade pushed flat against the sink NOT chip, then tap it in about half way, pull it out than move to a new spot and repeat, going around the chip 360 degrees (or as best you can) and freezing dose help.

Couldn't get a razor in there, the epoxy is too strong. I tried dipping the razor in acetone to dissolve the epoxy but it only worked a bit around the edges

hkp0lice · Jun 12, 2004

bafbrian said:
Another method I used on my R9800Pro when I bought it from a member over at XS was that I took a hairdryer and turned it on full blast. I put the card in one hand and aimed the hairdryer in the direction of the sink. I then used a Kroger Plus card and popped it off. If the sink didn't pop off on the first try, I put the hairdryer to work again and heated it some more. When I first got the card, it was too expensive to risk popping off the RAM. But it only took me about 15mins to get them all off.

Just use a hairdryer and it should work. I would recommend a heatgun but since I have never used one for that, then I would proceed at you own discretion.

Hmm, wouldn't heating it up be worse?

What is a kroger plus card?

EvilCow123 · Jun 14, 2004

Kroger is a grocery store. =P

Westline · Jun 14, 2004

Try putting it in the freezer for about 20 minutes and then try and remove it using the razor blade.

SantiMun · Jun 14, 2004

The freezer method won't work. I have a Radeon 9100 w/four copper ramsinks on it using arctic alumina epoxy. I placed the card in a freezer for a couple of hours and tried to remove the ramsinks. No dice, not even a budge! Your best bet is to return the card and get a new one.

bafbrian · Jun 14, 2004

hkp0lice said:
Hmm, wouldn't heating it up be worse? What is a kroger plus card?

It didn't hurt my R9800Pro when I did it. On the Kroger plus card, I was just saying what card I used. Any credit card with do as long as you don't use it anymore because it can become damaged in the process.

I would try the freezer method but, some ppl have actually popped of the RAM along with the sink and sometimes the Ram pops off on its own.

Give the hairdryer method a try.

Just be careful when you trying one of the methods.

How to safely remove epoxied on Ram sinks?

hkp0lice

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Stedeman

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hkp0lice

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