Removing heatsink with Arctic Silver Ceramique...?

[caribouuu]

when assembling my system i used the stock cpu heatsink and fan (which i guess i'll refer to as hsf from now on) and arctic silver ceramique. i think the hsf is stuck to the cpu, and that's the reason i can't remove it from the motherboard. i think it's sealed really tight since it's been on there for about four years. i searched online for any solutions, but twisting it hasn't worked for me because it's not possible to twist the HSF very much while it's attached to the motherboard, it's connected at one end. it's an asus a8v motherboard, socket 939. aaaaaaaaahhhhhhh i don't know how to get it off *cries*

 

[Terry1212]

Turn the computer on. Let it run for a few minutes, turn it off, then remove it using the twisting method.

 

[nforce4max]

Turn the computer on. Let it run for a few minutes, turn it off, then remove it using the twisting method.

That is your best shot to get it off and don't pull on it or the cpu will pop out of the socket while still stuck to the cooler. If you have done that already don't panic, take the fan off (any thing plastic) and set the cooler on a hot plate or stove burner till warm like a fresh cup of coffee and then the paste should be soft enough to pry away the cpu safely. To clean it use isoprophy alcohol (70% works best) to soften the old compound on the heatspreader (the metal cap on the cpu) and the underside of the cooler till it softens enough to ware you can use a cloth and wipe away the old compound. Once done get your self some arctic silver 5 and only use a pea sized blob in the middle of the heatspreader and apply the cooler.

 

[4Ryan6]

when assembling my system i used the stock cpu heatsink and fan (which i guess i'll refer to as hsf from now on) and arctic silver ceramique. i think the hsf is stuck to the cpu, and that's the reason i can't remove it from the motherboard. i think it's sealed really tight since it's been on there for about four years. i searched online for any solutions, but twisting it hasn't worked for me because it's not possible to twist the HSF very much while it's attached to the motherboard, it's connected at one end. it's an asus a8v motherboard, socket 939. aaaaaaaaahhhhhhh i don't know how to get it off *cries*

ASC is very sticky even a fresh seated install seems a little difficult to remove, the twisting motion is your best bet to remove the heatsink, make sure the clamping mechanism is unhooked from both ends, a worst case senario would be to remove the screws from the clamping base allowing more twisting motion, just be careful of nearby components.

 

[caribouuu]

Thanks for your replies, but I still don't know what I should do because the HSF is the one that came with the a8v (at least I think that's where it came from), and it is square shaped and fits into the square bracket of the motherboard, leaving very little space to twist- maybe 10 degrees. Of course, I lifted the lever which is on one side, but the other side is hooked onto the bracket, and to detach it I think I would have to either cut it off or invent way to access the screw that's keeping the lever mechanism on. I wish I could pull off the HSF with the CPU still on it because I've seen people saying they've done that accidently and found nothing was damaged, but I think the design of this HSF makes that more difficult. hm what to do...

 

[caribouuu]

okay, haha. the hsf has clamps. stardard hsf and i didn't remember that about it so let's all have a good laugh. so do i just use pliers? that's what i'm gonna do in about .. now.

 

[caribouuu]

got it. the zalman cnps 9500 led is installed. the power supply and a bar on the case made tightening the screw on that side difficult and i had to use pliers and a technical screw driver so i couldn't guage the torque on the screw very well but both sides seemed tightened against the clamping base, only i hope i didn't over-tighten that side. can that be a problem? well my bios tell me now that the cpu is running at 76 degrees celcius and climbing (it used to run at 56 with the stock hsf.. hm. does this non-curing zalman super grease need time to cure?) but the motherboard temp is running 2 degrees lower than prior, at 30 degrees celcius. then again i haven't tried running windows yet.

system:
antec sonata III case (chassis fan running at low, as usual)
asus a8v
athlon64 3500 (zalman cnps 9500 led running at max)
4gb ocz platinum pc3200
sapphire radeon 3850 AGP (the computer is still noisy, and i think it might be this)
2 hard drives
floppy and dvdrom

 

[caribouuu]

80.5 degrees now.... maybe i didn't apply the grease the right way. i just looked at a review in which the pictures showed it applied evenly on the entire surface of both cpu and heatsink, but i applied it in a penny width with some extra thickness on both the cpu and heatsink (as they told me to do when i bought it). i guess i'll take it apart and add some extra grease wherever it's needed later tonight.

 

[caribouuu]

The led lights are on, but the fan is not spinning. If I manually jump-start it by spinning it with my finger, 1/3 times it will pick up on it's own, but only for a fraction of a second. I unplugged the AGP radeon 3850 to see if it was a power thing, it made no difference.
What do you think the problem is? I have a 500 watt PS.

 

[4Ryan6]

Sounds like a bad heatsink fan to me.