Athlon XP retail: Part of the thermal pad stuck to the die. *Nevermind, Problem Solved*

[Dmao]

I bought a retail 1700+ XP, and the processor went in fine but the heatsink didn't. When I pushed the locking clip down, it felt like I had to force it too much, so I stopped to reposition it. The problem is a small part of the pad (the pink junk) came off on the die.

Pictures of my problem!

+ Is it safe to use it with the pad broken? (see pictures) Will I get the necessary cooling? (I won't be overclocking)

+ If not, I'll go buy some thermal paste. How should I remove the part of the pad that's stuck to the die? (I'm guessing I shouldn't lap my XP!)

+ How hard should the heatsink be to put on? I pressed really hard on the clip and it didn't move much. Is it possible to damage the cpu by pressing too hard?


Sorry about such basic questions, the last cpu I installed was a socket 7. Thanks

 

[MichaelD]

You are fine. You would be better off with some Arctic Silver on there, but unless you can literally go to the store near you and buy some, don't worry about it.

1. Don't remove the stuff stuck to the die; you haven't powered up yet, so it hasn't melted, so it's still good. Leave it there. It's once the TIM (thermal interface material, aka pink goo) has melted that you have to remove and replace before remounting the HSF.

2. It looks like you have a regular, 1-clip HSF. These are the hardest to push down. First, make sure you have the HSF pointed the right way; see the little "shelf" or "lip" on the bottom? This side fits over the raised part of the CPU socket. The HSF is only supposed to go on one way.

3. Once you have it facing the right way, while holding the HS over the CPU, hook one end of the clip over the tab. Make sure it's fully seated.

4. As you bring the CPU down SQUARELY on top of the CPU, push the clip over the other lug. Use a small socket on the end of an extension to fit over the clip. This will keep your fingers from hurting.

5. If you haven't seen it already, look at AMDs very own processor installation guide.

6. As long as the HSF is sitting SQUARELY on top of the cpu, you won't crack anything.

 

[Dmao]

This is a huge relief! Thank you very much for your help! I just installed the heatsink and fan. Takes superhuman strength, but eventually got it!

I remember when cpu's didn't even need a fan. I feel old

Gotta move my cards to the new black box and power up...