Question Dawid [YT] gets a PC built by BestBuy... and it's NOT "all bad".

[VirtualLarry]

Kind of surprising, they did a decent cable-management job.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

He is such a n00b. I watch his channel because he is entertaining, but dang, some of the stuff he does. I cringed hard watching him pull the prism off. "This happens every time." That's because you're doing it wrong, goober. Experience teaches you it is best to pull the gpu and ram, because Murphy's law is out to get you. It also gives you more room to work, and address situations like the snafu he just had. As we discussed in that thread a few weeks back there are best practices for removing the cooler. When he felt the force needed to lift, he should have stopped and used those best practices, instead of going full ham on it. That amount of paste might have thwarted some efforts, but you can always use a spudger on it.

None of that directed at you of course. Written for the edification of those whom it might benefit.

 

[VirtualLarry]

That said, the AM4 ZIF socket used, along with AMD's factory thermal paste that turns glue-like after a short period of use... I've pulled the CPU out of the socket with the stock heatsink more than once as well.

Part of the problem with the stock heatsink, is that when removing it, you can't really "twist" it because of the mounting posts, so it comes straight out... along with the CPU, half of the time. Haven't bent a pin yet, though.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

I always get it good and hot first, to decrease the viscosity and make it easier to separate the CPU from the cooler. If the the system is laying on its side already, you can pop all the mounting screws first, so you can get it off before it starts to cool down too much. Dawid should have at least been putting his other hand underneath asap to avoid it dropping like that. Though it would have been tougher to do, since he did not pull the gpu and ram first.

As to Best Buy, I imagine the competency of the build is going to be a crapshoot from location to location. But I am stoked they carry everything I need for full builds and price match. I get most of the tax money back from the rewards, and the bonuses of being able to get it same day, plus returns being a breeze = nice. Selection is not the best, but unless Microcenter opens in Orlando or Palm Bay, it is the only place around I can get stuff same day in my area. Amazon has started same day in some major markets now right? That'd be cool too.

BTW, I am using the featured case for my living room HTPC/gamer which I am typing from at the moment. It is a good enough compact ATX case for the $75 I paid for it at BB December 2019. Definitely should have used one of my fully modular PSUs with it though. The power cable on the EVGA semi-mod 650w I am using, is so thick and inflexible, that I can't get it all behind the panel; no space/too tight. A non mod PSU is a bad idea because you would have to stuff all the unused cables in the HDD bay area. It keeps a 3600@4.2 and a 2070 Super plenty cool while gaming. I did add a 12cm exhaust

 

[WilliamM2]

Part of the problem with the stock heatsink, is that when removing it, you can't really "twist" it because of the mounting posts, so it comes straight out... along with the CPU, half of the time. Haven't bent a pin yet, though.

The 3700X stock cooler uses clips to mount. There are no screws, you can twist it easily.