HELP ! Having hard time mounting heatsink on AMD 1.33

[nuclearB]

I just had an 1.33 TBird to build a new rig. The heatsink is Volcano II. After many attempts I couldn't secure the sink on my CPU. I was afraid to crack the Bird so I didnt press too hard, but I exerted a pretty good amount of force.
One more thing, should I remove the little sticky yellow pad on the heatsink or just leave it there (after removing the red cover) ? I have Arctic Silver paste but dont know how to apply it on the Bird. Should I spread the paste evenly on the entire Bird or just the little core at the center?
One more question: If I use the thermal paste, how easy is it to remove the heatsink if I decide to replace it ?
Thanks a lot guys and gals

Hugh

 

[nuclearB]

One more thing: after many attempts to mount the heatsink, the corner of the Bird was scratched a bit. Is it still fine ?

 

[mstudd]

Everyone seems to say these are a hard HSF to fit.
I think you need a pair of pliers or small screwdriver to exert enough force on the clip to get it on.
My advice would be to lay some electrical tape or similar on the motherbord, under the clip. Many people have destroyed mobos while fitting the clips.
The main thing when fitting the sink, is not to put any pressure on the sink itself, just hook the first clip on and then sit the sink gently onto the chip. Then don't push at all on anything but the clip.
Get rid of the thermal pad totally, gently scratch it off with your fingernail and clean it up with some acetone. Then go to the arctic silver website and follow their instructions for application.
Hope this helps,
Good luck.

Oh yeah, the scratch on the CPU....it will probably be OK, all you can do is try it!

 

[AbsolutZero]

You can also use a credit card or a plastic knife to scrape of the tape, artic silver says even using fingernails could impair heat transfer (prob not too much).

 

[nuclearB]

Thanks guys, I hope I'll get it on this time.

Hugh