Replacing CPU Cooler: Is This Easy?

[Bobsy]

Hi,

My computer has a i3-530 CPU with the stock cooler. At the time I had actually ordered a Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus from a lousy retailer, but it took so long to arrive at the store that I just used the stock cooler.

I will be opening up my case to upgrade to a discrete video card, so I thought I would take the opportunity to upgrade the cooler. (I am also worried the video card, an MSI GTX 460 Cyclone, will throw too much heat into the case and harm the whole system... but I posted about that separately.)

I have not attempted anything yet, but I expect to find my CPU bonded to the stock cooler. I guess I can simply use brute force to separate the two? Then, do I need to clean the surface of the CPU? The Hyper 212 requires the application of thermal paste. However, it seems impossible to find information about how to do this. Even Cooler Master does not show this step: see this video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSq_xbxsm7Q), at 2:20 they simply skip over it!

Lastly, where should the fan blow air towards? The back, the top? I am not even sure in which direction the PSU fan (which is on the lower face of the unit) shoots air (up or down).

Thank you for any advice.

Note: I have not purchase the Hyper 212 Plus yet so feel free to steer me away from it if you think this is not a good idea. My plan is to maybe overclock the i3-530 a little.

 

[sandorski]

Yes, you need to clean the HS paste/pad off. Nail polish remover works. Last time I used After Shave and that works well too. Just moisten a Q-Tip or piece of cotton with what you use and wipe it clean.

 

[zagood]

I have not attempted anything yet, but I expect to find my CPU bonded to the stock cooler. I guess I can simply use brute force to separate the two?

Use a twisting motion.

 

[badboyeee]

The Hyper 212+ is a really popular HSF. im sure you can search for a step by step guide somewhere.

Mounting a new HSF on a CPU seems easy but for some weird reason I get nervous to do it. haha

Generally you'd want your case fans at the bottom front of the case to blow in (intake) and then the top and back fans to blow out of the case (exhaust).

Goodluck

 

[MadScientist]

Use 91% isopropyl alcohol, available at Walmart, and coffee filters to clean the stock thermal paste from the CPU.

This is the best method I have found for applying thermal compound to a HDT cooler like the Hyper 212+.

http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=170&Itemid=1&limit=1&limitstart=5

If possible, on some MBs the ram and type you use may block the fan, mount the fan on the cooler so it blows air through the heatsink towards the back of the case.

 

[faxon]

yea the benchmark reviews HDT mounting method is what i used on my xigmatek x1283 and ocz vendetta 2 when i was still actively using both. currently one of them is now in a friends rig and i retired the other cause the fins were falling off, but the method worked better than anything else i tried. i always spread the grease on in the thinnest layer possible when i really care about temps, going through a lot of care to make it as thin as possible, so filling the gaps with TIM was kind of already in the bill there. on my last mounting i did i wasnt to concerned, since it was an x3 720 i was unlocking and the chip is gonna top out in 64 bit os before its OC limit is hit anyway, and when i pushed my friends phenom 2 965 to 3.8 with multi only and no voltage adjust it stayed really cool under just a vendetta 2. with the megahalems i figured it would be waaaaaaaay better, but i havent installed an OS on that box yet cause im waiting for 2 more drives to add to it (file server) before i do anything

 

[kuyaglen]

Typically for me the hardest thing about changing cpu heatsinks is getting the heatsink attached to the mobo and that itself isn't too difficult. The worst thing about the process is the removal of the mobo (at least in my case).