Ok, so I ordered the parts for my new computer several months ago. I get the ASUS A8N-E board, revision 2.0, so I thought great. Then when everything's here (the board being last to arrive) I put it all together. Lo and behold, my chipset fan is a 9,000 RPM screamer, I was supposed to have the good one and not the screamer. About two weeks later I call ASUS, because it's starting to grind and went up to 10K RPM. The replacement comes a few weeks later. I install it (along with the Zalman for my CPU), scrape and fatigue off all the old thermal paste and put the replacement in.
The replacement ran about 5,400 RPM normally, but went up to 5,800 RPM. Several weeks ago it started grinding. It didn't just grind, I could hear the ball-bearings clink and clatter all around like they were getting stuck. And my case started shaking. This isn't some 10-pound Lanboy, it is an Antec P-180 with a heavy Seasonic S-12 power supply, and probably about 50 pounds in total. But its not just my case, my whole desk is shaking!
So I think the heck with it, I'm getting a Zalman NB47J, even though the shipping is more than what it actually costs and there's no local stores selling it or willing to sell. I get it, reduce computer useage for a two weeks until I can install the HS.
I look inside the case, and lo and behold, there isn't any wiring that could have gotten in the way of any fans. I took everything apart, got the mobo onto the antistatic pad, and got the mobo's HSF springs popped out with a pliar. I try to fatigue the HSF off and it doesn't move. After five minutes I try fatiguing it in all sorts of directions, to each side, then to each corner, it barely moves. About a half hour of this it's finally starting to come off, and there's just a little left, so I pull. Lo and behold, the protective wrapper around the mobo chip is stuck to the replacement HSF. And what do I see under the wrapper but a lake of old thermal padding material from my old HSF, which by the way I thought I completely removed because I didn't see any more at the time. The leads around the chip, the metal bits sticking out, everything was covered in it. The chip itself is covered in the new pink thermal pad.
I douse the whole chip with 91% 9% pure isopropyl alchohol. The old, white thermal padding is removed easily with lint-free paper towel and careful swabbing of Q-tips. The pink stuff doesn't want to come off; it isn't soluable with the isopropyl or water. I gently scrape it with the towel and Q-tip, it won't come off. I take the cotton off the end of a Q-tip and scrape at the thermal pad with the Q-tip point, it barely moves. About every minute I get enough of a small bit of the thermal pad that I can take it out on the point abd wipe it off on another paper towel. I do this enough times that I could form my own dental practice; really, it is good practice for scraping plaque out of someone's teeth without causing damage to the surrounding "tissue".
Finally done about an hour later. I turn to the protective plastic still attached to the old "new" HSF. Most of it is still sticky around the edges, but it takes forever to remove the pink thermal padding; the white was removed quite easily. I put it back over around my chip, and it's hardly sticky where the thermal padding leaked under, but it sticks everywhere else, and I found no damage to the surrounding board so all was well. Another hour and, to make a long story short removing the rest of the thermal padding that was between the plastic and HSF was impossible, but I got most of it.
I put the Zalman NB47J on, after spreading maybe a hairlength-fine layer of the thermal paste that came with it. To make a long story shortened even shorter, I improved my wiring scheme, reduced my front fan speed, installed my 7700 AlCU's controller and reduced that speed, and guess what? My CPU temp is about the same and my mobo temp is LOWER, about 34 C in idle and 36 C at load. Those numbers look rather strange to me, but it's what the BIOS says.
Now my machine's sound is much better. It's not exactly silent, but it produces a sort of quiet "whoosh" that I actually find to be pleasant. And the case (a 35-pound P-180, 40 pounds with all my stuff in it) isn't shaking anymore and doesn't shake my desk anymore.
Moral of the story: Never use any mobo manufacturer's stock HSF or the thermal pad that comes stuck to them because they suck... no I'm not going to write what they suck or how bad they suck, use your imaginations.
The replacement ran about 5,400 RPM normally, but went up to 5,800 RPM. Several weeks ago it started grinding. It didn't just grind, I could hear the ball-bearings clink and clatter all around like they were getting stuck. And my case started shaking. This isn't some 10-pound Lanboy, it is an Antec P-180 with a heavy Seasonic S-12 power supply, and probably about 50 pounds in total. But its not just my case, my whole desk is shaking!
So I think the heck with it, I'm getting a Zalman NB47J, even though the shipping is more than what it actually costs and there's no local stores selling it or willing to sell. I get it, reduce computer useage for a two weeks until I can install the HS.
I look inside the case, and lo and behold, there isn't any wiring that could have gotten in the way of any fans. I took everything apart, got the mobo onto the antistatic pad, and got the mobo's HSF springs popped out with a pliar. I try to fatigue the HSF off and it doesn't move. After five minutes I try fatiguing it in all sorts of directions, to each side, then to each corner, it barely moves. About a half hour of this it's finally starting to come off, and there's just a little left, so I pull. Lo and behold, the protective wrapper around the mobo chip is stuck to the replacement HSF. And what do I see under the wrapper but a lake of old thermal padding material from my old HSF, which by the way I thought I completely removed because I didn't see any more at the time. The leads around the chip, the metal bits sticking out, everything was covered in it. The chip itself is covered in the new pink thermal pad.
I douse the whole chip with 91% 9% pure isopropyl alchohol. The old, white thermal padding is removed easily with lint-free paper towel and careful swabbing of Q-tips. The pink stuff doesn't want to come off; it isn't soluable with the isopropyl or water. I gently scrape it with the towel and Q-tip, it won't come off. I take the cotton off the end of a Q-tip and scrape at the thermal pad with the Q-tip point, it barely moves. About every minute I get enough of a small bit of the thermal pad that I can take it out on the point abd wipe it off on another paper towel. I do this enough times that I could form my own dental practice; really, it is good practice for scraping plaque out of someone's teeth without causing damage to the surrounding "tissue".
Finally done about an hour later. I turn to the protective plastic still attached to the old "new" HSF. Most of it is still sticky around the edges, but it takes forever to remove the pink thermal padding; the white was removed quite easily. I put it back over around my chip, and it's hardly sticky where the thermal padding leaked under, but it sticks everywhere else, and I found no damage to the surrounding board so all was well. Another hour and, to make a long story short removing the rest of the thermal padding that was between the plastic and HSF was impossible, but I got most of it.
I put the Zalman NB47J on, after spreading maybe a hairlength-fine layer of the thermal paste that came with it. To make a long story shortened even shorter, I improved my wiring scheme, reduced my front fan speed, installed my 7700 AlCU's controller and reduced that speed, and guess what? My CPU temp is about the same and my mobo temp is LOWER, about 34 C in idle and 36 C at load. Those numbers look rather strange to me, but it's what the BIOS says.
Now my machine's sound is much better. It's not exactly silent, but it produces a sort of quiet "whoosh" that I actually find to be pleasant. And the case (a 35-pound P-180, 40 pounds with all my stuff in it) isn't shaking anymore and doesn't shake my desk anymore.
Moral of the story: Never use any mobo manufacturer's stock HSF or the thermal pad that comes stuck to them because they suck... no I'm not going to write what they suck or how bad they suck, use your imaginations.
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