mike (Jun 10, 2001 11:10 p.m.):
Hey all,
I just recently made things worse:-( Well, I didn't think cooling was an issue because I have a very well ventilated case and actually put a lapped PIII heatsink/fan for their FCPGA chips on it that I attached using super glue and artic silver and had the warm air getting sucked out by one of those pci slot fans. So last night, I had this brilliant idea that maybe the heatsink somehow wasn't sitting properly. So I got the pliers and pulled the heatsink off. YIKES!!! I managed to pull the heatsink off as well as some of the chip. There goes my RMA that I was planning on requesting. So...after hours of sweet talking to my wife, she gave in and said I can get another one and I have to stop "tinkering" with the computer(of course I said ok

)
Just a thought: If epoxy adheres as well as super glue, EVERYONE BE CAREFUL! I didn't believe that you can literally pull chunks of the processor out along with the heatsink.
Not that it will bring your card back, but here's a tip: when you are trying to remove a heatsink that has been superglued or epoxied on, DON'T use pliers or anything else. Just use your fingers...chances are if your fingers aren't strong enough/tough enough to remove the heatsink, it's not coming off. But, I have yet to experience that.
The trick is, don't use brute force to yank the heatsink straight off. There's two ways you can go about getting it off. First of all you can use a flat head screw driver. Stick it under the heatsink and lever back against the board. Be gentle so you don't screw up the PCB, you don't need that much force. Go around to each side of the heatsink and lever up. Eventually you'll pop it off (you might have to use a little force, but not very much). Of course that only works if the heatsink over hangs the GPU.
If it doesn't, what I've found works is twisting the heatsink. This causes your force to be directed on the epoxy/glue itself rather than upon the card's GPU. It also seems to work better than pulling straight across (I suspect because when you pull straight across you're pulling against 1 1/2 inches of spread epoxy evenly, so it is very strong, but this way you're drawing against it unevenly so it slowly gives).
Anyway, sorry about your misfortune. Good luck with your new card.