Thunderbird heatsink question

[ScoobMaster]

Hi all.

After lurking and doing a lot of research in these forums (you ALL have been a wealth of info and experience - thanks!) I decided to jump in and build my own system. I bought a retail boxed 1Ghz T-bird and an MSI K7T Pro2-A mobo. Unfortunately, I was one of the unlucky few to get a defective Pro2-A. Fortunately, MSI has been wonderful to deal with and is issuing me an RMA and replacing the board. OK - on to my real question - In order to remove the processor, I had to take off the heatsink (the socket release lever could not be moved with the heatsink on.) This of course broke the "seal" of the factory thermal goop between the heatsink and processor. What is the recommended method for re-assembly when my new mobo arrives. I am not so naive as to think I can just "slap em back together". I am thinking the best thing is to scrape the remaining goop off the heatsink (it is just a block of aluminum after all) and buy a tube of thermal compound at my local electronics store (we have an excellent one in town). This sound OK? Any better methods? (I don't wanna put my 3yr processor warranty at risk). Thanks for your input.

-Scoobmaster
PC support veteran
PC building novice

 

[Tsaico]

Seal? I have never heard of the retail shipping with the heatsink already attached... I could be wrong, but I have always had to do that myself. And yes, cleaning off the thermal compound is fine. And when applying your new compound, be sure it is a thin film, not mounds of it. Just enough to cover it. When your new board comes, I would remount the cpu first, when that is seated correctly (luckily it will only fit in one direction, so if it stops, don't push it. It should fall into the socket completly with only gravity pulling on it) then mount your heatsink. Many o the heatsinks have a step cut into them to allow for the rised section of the socket, so make sure that lines up. Clip the sucker back in, and there you go! happy building! Honestly, if you got the sucker back off, then good job. I have found that stock amd fans are some of the hardest things to get off...

 

[ScoobMaster]

Thanks Tsaico,

You are correct about the retail boxed processor. The heatsink/fan assembly came shipped unattatched to the processor.
I didn't mean to make my wording confusing, but I used the term "seal" to refer to the initial contact when I put them together for the first time. I've been working on PCs for nearly 15 years now (I am an IT professional) but never attempted to "build my own" before. It was fun, but would have been a bit more rewarding had my MSI board not been defective

-Scoobmaster