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Applying Arctic Silver Adhesive to Northbridge Heatsink

K

Krizalid

Member
Hi,

The clips which held down my heatsink for my Northbridge motherboard have come off and I have been told I should get some Arctic Silver Thermal Adhesive and "glue" it back on. What I am wondering is, besides removing the pink stuff in the middle, do I need to also get rid of that white padding as well or do I just leave the padding on as well but just remove the pink stuff and apply the adhesive?

Northbridge Heatsink

I am just worried that the padding is there for a reason so as to prevent those little silver bits sticking out of the Northbridge chip from making contact with the actual heatsink itself?

Also, I am currently running the comp without the heatsink attached and it seems to be running fine??
 
that padding is there for a reason, to cushion the heatsink. Do NOT remove it. Only remove the pink thermal goo in the middle of it and then apply the adhesive. That's a small core though, not sure if adhesive on that little core will be strong enough, but maybe it will 🙂
 
bump for more input. i have a similar problem and was confused about that pad too. it just looks like the padding might interfere with proper contact between the hssf and the northy.
 
Originally posted by: daveybrat
that padding is there for a reason, to cushion the heatsink. Do NOT remove it. Only remove the pink thermal goo in the middle of it and then apply the adhesive. That's a small core though, not sure if adhesive on that little core will be strong enough, but maybe it will 🙂
Click to expand...

AS epoxy is very strong. If you mix in the correct ratio, you won't be able to get the HS off again.
 
Originally posted by: PrincessGuard
Originally posted by: daveybrat
that padding is there for a reason, to cushion the heatsink. Do NOT remove it. Only remove the pink thermal goo in the middle of it and then apply the adhesive. That's a small core though, not sure if adhesive on that little core will be strong enough, but maybe it will 🙂
Click to expand...

AS epoxy is very strong. If you mix in the correct ratio, you won't be able to get the HS off again.
Click to expand...

Indeed, is strong like bull!

I've used it to attach some pretty beefy (read, heavy) heatsinks to chipsets and video cards. Never had a problem with it loosening.
 
The force applied by the springs (clip) is enought to compress the padding and make good contact between the heat sink and the chip.

Is there any way you can fix the clip?
 
Not from what I can see... I tried putting those u shaped clips back into the holes on the MB but then as soon as I try and reclip the heat sink, the clips on the MB come back off...

Which makes me wonder should I keep the padding on and just apply a bit of pressure when I put on the adhesive or should I remove the padding altogether ?? But then that goes back to my first post. If I remove the padding will that be a bad thing because then the actual heatsink touches the little silver bits which stick out of the chip.
 
What I don't like about using epoxy is that it is permanent. You will not be able to remove and adjust it.

What is wrong with the clips? Has the solder come off the rings that are soldered to the motherboard? Do you have a soldering iron? Do you have experience soldering?

Is the picture in your first post a picture that you took? I don't see the problem in that picture?
Can you take another picture showing where exactly the damage is?

Those 4 rings are soldered to the motherboard. To be able to see that, you need to remove the motherboard from the case and look at the other side of it. If one of those rings has come loose (and that is the problem), you should be able to fix it by soldering the ring again to the motherboard.
 
Originally posted by: Navid
What I don't like about using epoxy is that it is permanent. You will not be able to remove and adjust it.

What is wrong with the clips? Has the solder come off the rings that are soldered to the motherboard? Do you have a soldering iron? Do you have experience soldering?

Is the picture in your first post a picture that you took? I don't see the problem in that picture?
Can you take another picture showing where exactly the damage is?

Those 4 rings are soldered to the motherboard. To be able to see that, you need to remove the motherboard from the case and look at the other side of it. If one of those rings has come loose (and that is the problem), you should be able to fix it by soldering the ring again to the motherboard.
Click to expand...

That image I showed is what the heat sink and Northbridge chip looks like on my machine (not an actual picture of my machine). Basically in that picture 2 of the clips on the motherboard have fallen off.

I don't have access to a soldering iron and I have no experience soldering. Anyway it seems more of a hassle to have to remove everything so that I can remove the motherboard to solder the clips back on then it is to use the thermal adhesive.

Why is it such a bad thing to use the epxoy because it is permanent? Once I sit the heat sink properly onto the chip, I have no intentions of removing the heat sink later.
 
It is just that it is permanent.
I don't like permanent!

How about requesting an RMA? Is there no warranty left on your motherboard?

Anyway, if you have made your mind and you want to use permanent Epoxy, I would remove the padding. The padding is there to protect the surface-mount components (resistors and capacitors) that are on the chipset (Northbridge) board. When you use the clips to mount the heat sink, you first clip one side and then you flex the spring to clip the other side. While you are doing that the heat sink may come too close to the board on one side. The padding does not allow the heat sink to come too close to the board on one edge only.

To make sure that you have good contact between the heat sink and the chip, you need to remove the pad if there is not going to be the force of the spring to compress the padding. While the Epoxy is curing, you need to put slight pressure on it. Make sure that you keep the heat sink even. If you leave the padding, there will be some space between the chip and the sink, which should be filled by the Epoxy. But, the best thermal contact is made when you minimize the distance between the two surfaces. Thermal interface material (grease or Epoxy) is better than air. But, worse than a direct contact.
 
Ok so I should remove the padding for best contact.

Noone has still been able to answer my other worry though and that is as stated above, if I were to remove the padding, are there any issues with the heatsink touching those silver bits sticking out of the Northbridge chip??

I am worried about them forming a bridge between one another and maybe short circuit the chip or motherboard or whatever.
 
The heat sink should not touch those components when properly seated on the chip. If you think that removing the pad will make the sink contact those components, you should not remove the pad.

Those components will be shorted (electrically) if the sink makes permanent contact with them. That will cause malfunction.
 
An update on this....

After ordering the Silver Adhesive on Mondy it didn't arrive until Friday (long story) but anyway today I followed the instructions and applied a thin layer (paper thickness) to the core on top of the Northbridge chip, held it there for about 5-10mins for it to harden and then left it for a few hours for it to fully harden.

When I came back I tried moving the heatsink and ooopps it came off, so back to the drawing board again (scraping the silver adhesive off the heatsink and chip core)

On my second attempt I applied a lot more of the adhesive to the chip core (probably about 2-3 sheets of paper thick) and did the same thing as above and now the heat sink is firmly fastened to the core of the chip.

I am just hoping the slightly thicker layer of adhesive allows the heat to still move freely (although probably not as effective as a thinner layer of the substance) from the core to the heat sink.

I feel let my computer run for awhile and then touch the heatsink to see how effective it is.

Thanks for your help guys.

BTW I left he white padding on.
 
Isn't that a thermal pad? The same thing that goes on the CPU heatsinks? It looks like it was only touching the small metal part in the middle. Put adhesive there and take off the pink pad.
 
No I removed the pink padding in the middle, I am talking about the white cushion (if you have a look at the image again). I left that on so that the heat sink does not make contact with those silver bits which stick out of the Northbridge chip.
 
Update again....

Well I thought this adhesive stuff was suppose to be strong.... looks like it isn't. The heat seems to be too much for the adhesive and the heatsink has fallen off again. It was looking promising for a second then. Oh well back to the drawing board.
 
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