Heatsink Removal Question

[dirkoneill]

I am returning my motherboard(KN1 extreme) and I need to uninstall the CPU and heatsink. The heatsink is the standard one that comes with the AMD 64 3000+ and I have unhooked both side hooks that attach to the motherboard. This was my first time builing a computer and I was surprized at how easy it was to install the CPU and heatsink. Now, I am equally surprized at how strong the bond is between the two. How hard should I have to pull on the heatsink? Right now I feel like i am putting a lot of force on it and it's not coming up. I'm a little worried to try any harder. Is this normal? Thanks.

 

[d2arcturus]

Yeah, don't rock it though, try twisting it a little bit while pulling away from the board.
Getting the northbridge heatsink off my A7N8X was a real pain, I literally had to hold the board down while twisting and pulling at the heatsink. This is normal with thermal pads.

 

[dirkoneill]

alright i'll give it some more power. scary.

 

[keeleysam]

TWIST it.

 

[dirkoneill]

Thanks for the help. Twisting worked. Now when i order my new motherboard what do I need to get in order to clean off the heat sink and CPU? Also is it going to be ok without the thermal pad and only thermal paste?

 

[n7]

Thermal paste is usually a tad better than the thermal pad.

To cheaply clean your heatsink & CPU, use rubbing alchohol (isopropyl) + some paper towel.

 

[510kut]

sorry for bumping up an old thread but I'm having the same problem. Except with a 3000+ retail hsf. after struggling to get the clips off now I'm struggling to pull off teh heatsink lol. Its on there tight! I tried twisting but I cant twist that much because of the bracket. Although I guess with the twisting its a little bit freer then when I first started. But this thing is on there tight I wouldnt be scared to just hold the heatsink and fling the motherboard around cause I doubt it would come off.

 

[dirkoneill]

Yeah you have to just pull real hard and twist a little to get some movement and hopefully air under there. It took me awhile but it will work if you put some strength into it. Those thermal pads are a pain.

 

[Rike]

You can make things a lot easier on yourself by running your system under load for 15-20 minutes, shutting down quickly, pull the plug and then removing the heat sink.

Alternately, if the system is already apart, you could use a hair drier on low and warm the heat sink a bit.

The thermal pad will release more easily when it's warm.

Note: Don't put the mobo in the oven, microwave, toaster, fireplace etc. to warm the heatsink. This will void anything resembling a warranty.