AMD Hosed me, What should I do?

[spartacuskzm]

Nothing major (yet), but I'm bent out of shape.

My 2400+ Retail w/ heatsink from Newegg came today. I took the heatsink out and it turns out that tape piece covering the paste was only half-way on. As far as I'm concerned, the paste on there is shot.

Luckily I purchased some arctic silver for my computer about a year ago and never used it so I have it laying around. I don't, however, have goof off or carburator cleaner (Arctic Silver insturctions say use that to completely remove the old thermal compound if one was there before) so now I need to run to the store to buy that.


Ok - that's my rant.

Am I doing the right thing by not using the half-covered existing thermal paste? Anything wrong w/ 1 year old arctic silver?

Thanks all....

 

[mechBgon]

How is that a problem? Many AMD heatsinks don't come with any tape over the thermal compound at all (the whole bottom of the heatsink is covered with a plastic tray instead). Like this. I don't think phase-change thermal compound is the type of thing that's going to mind exposure to air. Of course, you ask "well, then why is the plastic slip there?" and I don't know, but my guess is that it's for ease of putting it onto the heatsink without messing it up.

 

[spartacuskzm]

Originally posted by: mechBgon
How is that a problem? Many AMD heatsinks don't come with any tape over the thermal compound at all (the whole bottom of the heatsink is covered with a plastic tray instead). Like this. I don't think phase-change thermal compound is the type of thing that's going to mind exposure to air. Of course, you ask "well, then why is the plastic slip there?" and I don't know, but my guess is that it's for ease of putting it onto the heatsink without messing it up.

Actually it didn't come w/ a plastic tray...just the tape and some black foam-type stuff below it...the thermal compound clearly has a litny residue on it.

 

[mechBgon]

Oh, gotcha. Yeah, the linty part would bug me too. Wierd, I've gotten plenty of retail-boxed AthlonXP's but they never put foam below the heatsink. There must've been a change in the packaging procedure.

 

[Lord Evermore]

What do you mean no plastic tray? How was this packaged? In a retail package, the heatsink is sitting in its own recess surrounded by plastic, and the CPU is packed inside its own small plastic case which is then locked into place with tabs inside the main plastic shell. The bottom of the heatsink isn't even exposed to anything and doesn't touch except at the corners.

You will void the warranty if you use Arctic Silver apparently, this is something new according to a recent post here. But if there is stuff on the thermal pad, you shouldn't use it. You should return it to Newegg as defective before you even touch anything else on it.

 

[spartacuskzm]

Well in that case I'm going to use it as it came and if it gets fried AMD can replace it for me - they're dumb fault for crummy packaging.

Here are some pics of the package

Pic 1

Pic 2

PIC 3

We'll see how it goes....

 

[boyRacer]

My 2700 came the same way... no problem though since i wasn't going to use the retail heatsink... i only got the retail because it was $2 more than the OEM so might as well.

 

[chansen]

Let's not get too picky here. You've got AS - scrape off the TIM with a razor blade, clean it as best you can, or even use some wet/dry sandpaper mounted on a flat surface to lap the heatsink if you want. Either way, you'll be fine.

 

[Nocturnal]

I'll buy any of your retail HSF off of you if the price is right.

 

[alphonsus]

Originally posted by: Nocturnal
I'll buy any of your retail HSF off of you if the price is right.

Noctural e-mail me. I got a brand new HSF for my XP 2400+. It even still have the tape covering the thermal paste .


spartacuskzm dont get bent out of shape . Isn't the artic silver better anyways?


be better if i included my e-mail alphonsus_n@hotmail.com

 

[Tromos]

Just remember, folks, you can't get warranty service from AMD for their Boxed set processors without the HS/F. If your processor fries in 2 years and you call AMD for replacement, they will ask for the serial number on the HS/F. They also won't send you a new one until you've sent back the whole boxed set,