Athlon Xp and CPU Rubber Pucks

[Dr J]

Hello everyone,

I removed my heat sink and fan from my Athlon XP 3200+ and when I did, I noticed that one had almost completely disintegrated.

Can anyone tell me if these rubber-mounting pucks, on the Athlons, are replaceable and if so, from where can I get new ones?

thanks,

John

 

[ther00kie16]

Haha, I have the same cpu in my now dormant rig. When I lapped the heatsink, I noticed that the rubber pad was disintegrating too. Luckily, it wasn't a problem then. The easiest way to "pad" the core from being crushed as the rubber pads do is to tape some padding of sorts on. Otherwise, you could cut a piece of rubber (old sneaker?) and glue it onto the cpu.

 

[Dr J]

Thanks, ther00kie16!

Is it not possible to find the same rubber pucks, from AMD or some computer outfit? From what I could see, it's important that they all be the same size. I have a Thermaltake heatpipe and it's a hell of a chore to get that thing on and off of the socket.

I built this rig with a 9600 pro and recently replaced it with a 7600gt. Now, it utilizes the CPU more and so, of course, it's running hotter.

I ordered an adapter funnel and will install a new noctua 120 mm quiet fan, which should bring the temps and noise down. I'd like to also lap the heatsink and reseat it. I'm worried that without the four rubber pucks, the heatsink might not sit properly on the cpu; the reason for my concern.

Thanks for the suggestion.

John

 

[Ratman6161]

Originally posted by: Dr J
Thanks, ther00kie16!

Is it not possible to find the same rubber pucks, from AMD or some computer outfit? From what I could see, it's important that they all be the same size. I have a Thermaltake heatpipe and it's a hell of a chore to get that thing on and off of the socket.

I built this rig with a 9600 pro and recently replaced it with a 7600gt. Now, it utilizes the CPU more and so, of course, it's running hotter.

I ordered an adapter funnel and will install a new noctua 120 mm quiet fan, which should bring the temps and noise down. I'd like to also lap the heatsink and reseat it. I'm worried that without the four rubber pucks, the heatsink might not sit properly on the cpu; the reason for my concern.

Thanks for the suggestion.

John

Sounds like an awful lot of effort for a system that old - particularly if you are buying a new cooler. I'd say don't worry about it running hotter unless its really excessive.

 

[NXIL]

Hi,

never used one of these, but here is a copper shim:

http://www.aerocooler.com/shop...ITEM&prod_id=FANTT1594

Purple! But sadly, out of stock:

http://www.jab-tech.com/product.php?productid=1605

On eBay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/THERMALTAK...12568036QQcmdZViewItem

http://www.stsi.net/storefront...94226&mpid=7584&dfid=1

http://www.atacom.com/program/...ALL&KEYWORDS=CPUA_ATAC

http://search.ebay.com/search/...aprchi=&fsop=32&fsoo=2

http://www.pcpartscollection.com/copcpushimfo.html

Review:

http://www.devhardware.com/c/a...Copper-AMD-CPU-Spacer/

http://www.overclockersonline.net/?page=articles&num=31

http://www.slcentral.com/revie...g/highspeedpc/amdshim/

Non conductive, and still in stock:

http://www.frozencpu.com/produ...n-Conductive_Shim.html

HTH

NXIL

 

[ther00kie16]

Ah yes, thanks NXIL, I knew I was forgetting something. I looked into shims slightly when I built my athlon xp rig. My xp 3200 is paired with a AIW 9600pro. As for old... yes... but still does most of what you need. I played COD4 on mine with decent frame rates. It can also play hd video, though barely. But then, why would you need to utilize the cpu for anything else while playing hd videos? The only grudge I have about it is that it doesn't overclock as well as any of the other bartons. Mine topped out at 2.4ghz while you can get more than that with the 2500 or some of the xp-m.

 

[SlowSpyder]

This brings me back to my Athlon XP 2500+ mobile. I could never get that thing to run stable other then at the stock 133mhz bus... yuck.

 

[bunnyfubbles]

Originally posted by: SlowSpyder
This brings me back to my Athlon XP 2500+ mobile. I could never get that thing to run stable other then at the stock 133mhz bus... yuck.

sounds like a motherboard problem...and considering the mobiles were mutli unlocked (at least on the right boards) even that shouldn't have mattered too much

 

[HannibalX]

Hmmnn. I have an Athlon XP 3200+ that runs nice and stable at 2.6GHz. Has been running that way with an after market copper heatsinc /fan combo from CompUSA for almost two years. I wonder if I should take it apart and look at the rubber stoppers.

I have decent Patriot ram I am using. Before I got this ram the highest it would go was 2.3GHz.

 

[AMDrulZ]

I used to fab some pucks or stoppers for Athlons and Pentium 3s using double sided tape that had a foam core... i would take a paper hole punch and punch out 8 round pieces and stack two together an peel off the backing and the adhesive would hold the pad in place... crude but effective and you wouldn't have to worry about them disintegrating again.. just a thought... LOL

 

[SlowSpyder]

Originally posted by: bunnyfubbles

Originally posted by: SlowSpyder
This brings me back to my Athlon XP 2500+ mobile. I could never get that thing to run stable other then at the stock 133mhz bus... yuck.

sounds like a motherboard problem...and considering the mobiles were mutli unlocked (at least on the right boards) even that shouldn't have mattered too much

I had top end equipment back in the day, but you never know. I had a DFI nFinity board (idenitcal to the LanParty without the extras and shiney color plastic parts) and a Thermalright xp-90c or whatever it was... I could push the multi all the way up to 13x and boot at 2.6, sometimes all the way into Windows. Just one of those things I guess. I eventually got sick of it and grabbed a Venice core A64 3000+... that processor made me much happier.

 

[Dr J]

Thank you all for your responses, they've been very helpful.

I like the idea of the copper heatsink shim and will look into purchasing one.

The making of pucks is also a clever idea, but with a copper shim, it would simplify the process, greatly.

And, interesting info on the 3200+. I'm actually thinking of upgrading my generic ram, as I can't get it past 2.3 ghz (with stability).

Again, thank you all.

John

P.s. is it worth upgrading ram and if so, is it worth having 2 gigs, instead of only 1? I use Stat bar, which continuously provides feedback. I seldom use more than half the memory I have (both in computer and in head! lol)

 

[ther00kie16]

2gb isn't going to make much of a difference in most cases and if you are to upgrade, don't think about more ram. rather, think about upgrading entire system. not only do you increase performance, but it also saves power. I built a pc last october for $310. and if you get the right deals (fry's cpu + mobo combos are insanely cheap), you can even aim for $250 or less.