UNimportance of heatsink

If you pull out the heatsink of AMD it will die... I wonder what will happen if the heatsink of these 5 things is pulled out

1, Via KT266A or KT133A Northbridge
2, GF2 Graphic card (GeForce 2 Pro for example)
3, ATI Graphic card (Radeon 8500 for example)
4, GF3 Graphic card
5, Rambus

I think no one can answer since no one (Except for TOMS hardware) will test it... But in your own time you may investigate for me by sending emails to supplier

I ran my Geforce2 GTS without a heatsink on the core for a week or so. was still able to overclock it too, got 215 out of it. I've also seen RIMMS that have no heat spreader on them at all straight from the factory.

Are you trying to make me do what you did wrong?

IMO Here is what I think would happen to each of the hs removals...

1, Via KT266A or KT133A Northbridge

Computer will freeze after short time (1-2 mins) and will almost certainly not get any further than POST. Might do northbridge damage too.

2, GF2 Graphic card (GeForce 2 Pro for example)

Framerates drop to unbelievable levels. Games crash and on some cards, w/o a spinning fan, the GTS2 wont even work.

3, ATI Graphic card (Radeon 8500 for example)

Dont know, but I would think they burn out. Doubt they have same sort of protection as GeForce cards.

4, GF3 Graphic card

Would probably burn out too.

5, Rambus

Not much, prolly be unstable at higher fsbs.

Out of the lot of them, I would say that removing the northbridge hs or the 8500/GF3 hs would definately do damage.

I have a Giga-Byte GA-GF1280, with the GeForce2 MX 200 chipset, 32 mb, and it didn't come with a fan, and no mount for a fan, just a lil' bitty heatsink. I used it like that for 3-4 months, just rubber-banded the fan from my old duron on it, last week.

Are you trying to make me do what you did wrong?

Click to expand...

Huh? What do you mean by that?

Pitspawn- I've personally purchased RIMMS direct from a supplier that had no heat spreaders. Worked just fine. Didn't OC on them however. At just ~15 watts per stick i don't think an IHS would matter.

My GTS works just fine without a sink on it, even OCs a bit without one too. The bare core gets pretty warm but games still run at their full speed. This is not a guess, I have done this myself. GF3s run even cooler; I bet they're in the same boat.

On most devices heatsinks are purely for show. On northbridges and GPUs they most likely extend the working life of the device, but the device still functions just fine without one. I leave em on there, but if I need to leave them off for a while as I wait for replacements everything still works fine.

Everything there will run fine at stock speeds without a heatsink. Except for maybe the GF3, but I think it will survive also. I mean come on, I have yet to see a GPU HSF actually mounted in a way that it can move heat.

At stock speed I think most of it would work OK. KT133A northbridges on one hand do benefit greatly from good cooling. On my KK266 I was having problems getting over 145-148 FSB. I popped the green meanie off, wiped off the hodge-podge layer of silicone or zinc based TIM they had there, cleaned both surfaces with IPA. Applied ASII in the manner recommended by the website (rub some into the heatsink and wipe off, thin layer on chip with a razor blade) and then put the HS back on with a 50mm fan from a 486 HSF screwed on there. Whaddaya know, after that, I was able to get to 160 FSB @ cas 222, 167 @ cas 333, and 170 cas 333 albeit a bit unstable... God I miss that AXIAR chip... Oh wellz... That'll teach me to mount an MC462 drunk...
Peace
John

yeah, good cooling will definately help you OC. It's just not imperative that you have good cooling for stock speeds however.

Good cooling will certainly extend the lifespan of a device though. Chips can slowly cook themselves to death over time if not adequately cooled. Or so the manfacturer claims!

My Pro133 is not the hottest chipset around, but it's run heatsink-less for the better part of a year now. Still ticking!