Removal of AM3 CPU Mount and Backplate

[henrystrawn]

Hey Forum,

I just bought a Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus for my Gigabyte GA-MA785G-UD3H rev 1.0. I know that I have to remove the stock CPU mount and back plate to install it.

It is in a CM Storm Scout Case that has a cut out for the CPU, so I shouldn't have to remove the MB.

My question is how is the best way to remove the stock back plate. Is there adhesive holding it on or is it just screws holding it on? If I have to pry it off, what is the best way to do this, minimizing the chance of damage to the motherboard?

I have never done this before, can someone, who has, give me some pointers?

My cooler should be here this evening, and hope to get some advice before attempting it.

Thanks for your time.

 

[bilbat]

The manual is here:
http://www.coolermaster.com/upload/download/485/files/Hyper%20212%20Plus%20manual.pdf
and is pretty much useless...

My opinion - if you'd read it before ordering, you'd not have bought it, and the best decision now is to send it back, 'eat' the re-stock fee, and get something else. If you manage to damage the MOBO removing the backplate, I am 100% certain GB will not accept it for RMA; do you really think it's worth the risk? I read probably a hundred of the 262 reviews at NewEgg, there were some folks who did manage to get it on AMD boards, apparently without damaging the boards, but none mention how...

CoolerMaster makes good stuff - I've got a Cosmos, & love it, will likely buy a few more, but there is absolutely no excuse for this manual!

My 'second best' guess is to try their 'live chat' support here, and ask them how, before starting to 'pry around' on it...

http://www.coolermaster-usa.com/livehelp.php

 

[henrystrawn]

bilbat, thanks for the reply. The live chat sounds like a great idea. I have watched every video on youtube concerning this cooler and case. There were only 2 AMDs and neither of which showed removal of the back plate. One suggested a screwdriver in an antistatic bag, which I was leary of, but did not show it's removal.

I currently have the Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro rev 2 installled. It is only giving me a 2c drop from stock. It is oriented "wrong" with no way to rotate it 90 degrees to exaust out the rear. I have reinstalled thinking I may not have applied paste correctly, with no improvement in cooling.

Cooler Master on live chat suggested the Hyper 212 plus, when I inquired about their TX3 after reading reviews. I will chat with them again.

My choice of their cooler was based on reviews as well. I have a 955 BE clocked to 3.8 on multiplers, with a slight undervolt 1.3975v. my temps are 40c/61c (idle/load). I would really like to drop those temps some. I have a AC Freezer 7 Pro pre revision on my intel system with a Q9550 @ 3.8 that does great, so I was disappointed with it on the AMD.

I will look at another large cooler solution, but everything I looked at required a removal of the back plate.

I will let you know what CM has to say, and what I decide. Thanks for the advice.

 

[bilbat]

I'm thinking, too, that you have a TIM problem, if you only got a couple degrees from a 7 - as they're what I pretty much always recommend here! Used one myself on a 4GHz 9550, until (for reasons unrelated to actual cooling) I did this:

You want a 'blob' or a 'pea' of TIM for duals (Arctic recommends a pair of 'lines' for quads), and let the 'squeeze' spread it out at HSF install - no matter how you go about trying to 'spread it' in advance, you will end up with voids in the TIM from entrained (trapped) air - pretty much, you get 'bubbles in your goo'!

 

[henrystrawn]

Heres a pic

I used the "pea size" method. I will try and reinstall. I have never spread my TIM. I think I got the instructions from the Arctic Silver web site for the AMD quad, and they recommended the "pea size".

I was wanting to exaust out the back, even though I have a 140 mm top fan. I was sure that was my problem.

Your two line sounds more applicable, I will try it. Thanks so much for the pics, I'm a more visual person.

I will let you know how I do. CM basically said, "it's your decision"... shouldn't be a problem removing the back plate.

Thanks again for the assistance.

Very impressive. I was a "dirt" welder, and I have personal knowledge of electricity and water. I just don't know about mixing the two. I'm such a woose.

 

[bilbat]

I misspoke - it's just a line for Intel quads:
http://www.arcticsilver.com/pdf/appinstruct/as5/ins_as5_intel_quad_wcap.pdf
oddly enough, different recommendations for AMD quads:
http://www.arcticsilver.com/pdf/appinstruct/as5/Ins_as5_amd_quad_wcap.pdf
The best thing I ever found to 'look at' the effects of differing techniques was to get a couple roughly two inch square pieces of clear lexan, and try them, getting the 'spread' by clamping; obviously, if you apply enough clamping force, you can get the stuff 'squeezed' down to a 'nothing thick', fine layer, but it gives you a really good idea of what's really happening... Best TIM I've ever found is this stuff:
http://www.tim-consultants.com/products.html
Cheap, easy to spread (it's 'thixotropic - it loses viscosity when placed in shear, so 'wiggling' the HSF down into place liquifies it to some extent), tests well:
http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=138&Itemid=1
and it's like, two dollars for shipping - they just throw it in an envelope!

 

[henrystrawn]

I misspoke - it's just a line for Intel quads:
http://www.arcticsilver.com/pdf/appinstruct/as5/ins_as5_intel_quad_wcap.pdf
oddly enough, different recommendations for AMD quads:
http://www.arcticsilver.com/pdf/appinstruct/as5/Ins_as5_amd_quad_wcap.pdf
The best thing I ever found to 'look at' the effects of differing techniques was to get a couple roughly two inch square pieces of clear lexan, and try them, getting the 'spread' by clamping; obviously, if you apply enough clamping force, you can get the stuff 'squeezed' down to a 'nothing thick', fine layer, but it gives you a really good idea of what's really happening... Best TIM I've ever found is this stuff:
http://www.tim-consultants.com/products.html
Cheap, easy to spread (it's 'thixotropic - it loses viscosity when placed in shear, so 'wiggling' the HSF down into place liquifies it to some extent), tests well:
http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=138&Itemid=1
and it's like, two dollars for shipping - they just throw it in an envelope!

Well bilbat, I got the CM Hyper 212 plus installed. All the fuss over the backplate was for not, it just fell off when I removed the CPU mounting screws. I tried an "X" pattern for the TIM, since the cooler block has some fine grooves for direct contact. I used two Antec tricolor 120mm, for push/pull and had to remove the top door fan for clearance.

Temps have dropped to 35c/53c (idle/load) with OCCT. Still running the same 3.8 Ghz OC with multipler only with 1.3925 v. so I'm happy.

When I removed the AC Freezer 7 Pro rev 2, it looked like the cooler block was not centered, and it looked like I got a good spread, not too thick.
I think that it is just the design of the AM3 brackets. there is only one screw per side and the cooler can pivot. I tightened the screws all the way down. I will just throw it up on craig's list for cheap. I love the other one on my 9550.

Here's some pics

Thanks again for all your assistance, and great info. I will have to give thixotropic (TC Grease) a shot, I have just been blindly buying AC5 on reputation, and it is a little pricey.

You have an amazing rig.....I wish I had the discretionary income to play like that too.

 

[henrystrawn]

Best answer selected by henrystrawn.

 

[henrystrawn]

Hey Bilbat,

I ran an overclock @ 4.0 Ghz with 1.475v multiplier only. Temps topped out at 39c/56c. That's all I wanted, I'm happy. From the benchmarks I have seen anything more would be pointless. Here's some "screenies" of before @ 3.8 Ghz and after CM Hyper 212 Plus @ 4.0 Ghz.

After I reinstalled the AC Freezer 7 Pro rev 2, and dropped my voltage to 1.3975v, My temps dropped to the 40c/61c. I just didn't take a screen shot. That's why the "before @ 3.8" shows higher volts and temps.

Thanks again for your support and advice.

 

[henrystrawn]

Here's 3.8 Ghz multiplier only, 1.725v. I slowed the Antec fan for push/pull to "Medium" to cut down on noise. The rear fan is the CM fan that came with the heatsink, I have plugged into the CPU fan header, and smart fan enabled. set to "PWN".

I grabbed a free version of Passmark 64 bit, and ran it. At 3.8 Ghz 1859, and for 4.0 Ghz 1935.

I may try and to go higher and test, to see if it make much difference. I got kinda silly and had to clear my cmos for the first time in a long time, and it reset my date and time. Passmark says my trial is up....D'OH !!!!

What is the "standard" benchmark that most people use. If I'm gonna buy one. I see alot of Futuremark.

 

[bilbat]

Looks like the HSF reinstall did it for you

I got kinda silly and had to clear my cmos for the first time in a long time

:lol: here's a piece from one of my 'standard overclock' postings that may save you some time in the future:

...before we start ramping things up, I want to teach you a new skill involving the BIOS: Do the <DEL> at the boot to enter the BIOS;
notice, at the bottom, the <F11> "Save CMOS to BIOS" - hit this, and you should get a menu that will show a number (the count varies by BIOS) of empty 'slots', each of which will store an entire set of BIOS parameters, to be re-loaded from the corresponding <F12> "Load CMOS from BIOS"; this is a wonderful overclocker's feature. What I do with it, is to save my 'baseline' working parameters, so if I change something that 'irritates' the board, and forces a reset of all the parameters to defaults, or, even worse, get so screwed up I need to do a 'clear CMOS', I can get back to my starting point with no effort, and without having to remember 85 separate settings! Another thing it prevents is two hours' troubleshooting, having forgotten a change to a crucial parameter - like, "wait a minute - didn't I have the Trd at seven?!" It's pretty self-explanatory, and I alway urge people to start right away by taking the time to give the 'slots' names that mean something: in two hours, "Try2" and "Try3" will not be very helpful, but "450@+10MCH" and "450@+15MCH" will! Another use is for 'green' settings; overclocks, as a rule, do not 'play well' with green features, such as 'down-clocking' and 'down-volting'; with the storage slots, you can set up one profile, say "Green", with all the settings at 'stock' values, and all the 'green' features enabled; another, say "Balls2Wall" with a full overclock, and all the 'green' stuff turned off... Another neat feature of this 'slot' system is, for most BIOS, the mechanism itself will keep track of which ones have booted successfully, and how many times (up to, I believe, a max of five)!

BTW - I really like the red case motif; it looks properly 'molten' for 'screaming innards'!! When I first came across the whole case lighting thing, I thought "Eeek - these kids have totally lost their minds, now! Is it a computer, or the Vegas 'strip?" Then, I put in water cooling to keep from 'toasting' myself in the room it was dumping heat to, and put a blue CFL behind the transparent reservoir, to 'keep an eye on it', and kinda liked it... Thought then to see the condition of the water, added some UV dye to it, and a couple UV LEDs inside - and the hoses glowed eerily. Like to run it in the dark, and never could see the DVD tray decently, so sawed a tiny piece of aluminum tubing in half, lengthwise (and the ends of a couple fingers, with the razor saw ), to make a directional reflector for another CFL mounted right above the drive on the front panel:

It's right above the drive, under the 'in' and 'out' radiator temp readouts; I have it in a CM Cosmos, that has a front 'door' - added a magnetic reed switch right behind one of the cover plates, activated by a little magnet on the door, and 'reversed' by a miniature relay inside, that switches on the front lights, the reservoir illuminator, and the temp readouts when the door is opened... I still think the 'kids' are nuts - as evidenced by the fact that 'there's an app for' doing text-to-speech conversion so you can dictate your text messages; and 'there's an app for' doing text-to-speech, so your phone can read you your text messages back - HELLO - THAT'S CALLED A PHONE !! Alexander Graham Bell, 1875... [:bilbat:2] But. I do enjoy looking at some of the wild illumination schemes they come up with - looney, or not!

 

[bilbat]

Oh - and for benchmarking stuff, the guys to ask are here:
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/index.php
They live to benchmark! Another case of 'kids gone nuts' - it's amazing to see how many people are running systems on 'freezer pots' fueled by liquid nitrogen, good only for a three minute benchmark, at speeds that would reduce a normal CPU to a puddle of molten silicon. I, on the other hand, am not all that interested - I benchmark this and that, here and there, for tuning fine points, but, benchmarks are, for the main part, 'synthetic' - the real test is: how does it 'feel' to you in your OS?

I don't know if you're a 'car guy' or not, but I have an amusing statement from a manufacturer of engine blocks and heads that I always get a kick out of... For head airflow, valve tweaks, and the like, there is a device called a 'flow bench', that measures actual airflow into and out of the head; the problem is that there are a thousand minor 'tweaks' to how it's run, that make it easy to 'cheat', and hard to compare 'oranges to oranges' for different maker's parts. World Castings wisely (I think) says: "We don't race flow-benches!"

 

[henrystrawn]

bilbat, you do some nice work my friend. I have seen my share of caveman case mods. I scoffed at lighting at first, but it is just so much fun. Yay, I probably overdid it with the off the shelf lighting, but your custom stuff is pretty sweet.

My wife asked me to build her a system, I told her to pick out her own case. She picked the CM NV 690 I think. At the time I asked "Green"? But I'll tell you what, when I got it together, it is one sweet case. I actually like it better than mine. It's the Nvidia Branded Cooler Master Case.

I considered going to water cooling, but the expense and ignorance is what held me back. I do love to tinker though.

I looked on Passmark's site. Yes, they have some high post, the i7 920s are dominating. But like you stated they are just benchmarks that can be manipulated for their own sake. Didn't put much stock in them. I just wanted to see how my numbers were. I'm quite satisfied.

Thanks again for everything. This has become a recent hobby of mine, and it's nice to have help from the much more experienced. Unfortunely, I am never afraid to ask stupid question.

Still can't believe that I was so worried about that back plate, and the thing just fell off.

 

[bilbat]

My advice about water: don't believe nine-tenths of what 'people-in-the-know' pontificate about - they have no real clue about hydraulics, hydrodynamics, or thermal transfer - and the manufacturers just want to profit on high-buck junk! Just buy decent stuff, plumb it up, and go! I use all Tygon tubing, as it'll last forever - I've used it in lab setups for decades; also, stainless steel 'worm-screw' garden-variety hose clamps... I literally cringed at the very thought of pumping fluids around inside my case, but it turned out to be dirt simple. The only caveat: it does make system maintenance more complex; if you've gotta move video cards, or pull a CPU, the work involved goes up by about an order of magnitude; for a system that's been stable for a respectable amount of time, it's definitely the thing to do - quiet as a whisper (with the radiator in the basement), and cool as a cucumber!

Unfortunely, I am never afraid to ask stupid question

Ahh - my policy - always better a stooopid question, than a stoooopider mistake!

The Chinese have four millenia old wisdom about it: "One who asks a question is a fool for five minutes; one who does not ask a question remains a fool forever."

 

[Boombatic]

bilbat, thanks for the reply. The live chat sounds like a great idea. I have watched every video on youtube concerning this cooler and case. There were only 2 AMDs and neither of which showed removal of the back plate. One suggested a screwdriver in an antistatic bag, which I was leary of, but did not show it's removal.

I currently have the Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro rev 2 installled. It is only giving me a 2c drop from stock. It is oriented "wrong" with no way to rotate it 90 degrees to exaust out the rear. I have reinstalled thinking I may not have applied paste correctly, with no improvement in cooling.

Cooler Master on live chat suggested the Hyper 212 plus, when I inquired about their TX3 after reading reviews. I will chat with them again.

My choice of their cooler was based on reviews as well. I have a 955 BE clocked to 3.8 on multiplers, with a slight undervolt 1.3975v. my temps are 40c/61c (idle/load). I would really like to drop those temps some. I have a AC Freezer 7 Pro pre revision on my intel system with a Q9550 @ 3.8 that does great, so I was disappointed with it on the AMD.

I will look at another large cooler solution, but everything I looked at required a removal of the back plate.

I will let you know what CM has to say, and what I decide. Thanks for the advice.

I recently bought a Cooler Master Hyper 212 evo also, and like you have an A3 socket that already had a backplate on it. I was desperately searching the internet for answers like you and came across this board and saw that the "Best Answer" advised you to return the cooler and forget about it. I was not satisfied with that answer, so I kept searching.

In the end, I found the answer I needed.

There are 2 types of backplate mounts from what I found, the common and easy type, is one held on with screws. Most people would obviously see the screws and figure out on their own without having to look up a guide that they need to remove them. The 2nd type, which is the reason I am guessing you are here, is held on with a glue based patch. To remove it, it was suggested to 1st remove the CPU, then heat the back bracket with a blow dryer to loosen up the glue on the patch. Then it is simply a matter of prying the bracket off the board. You have to be very careful with this, too much pressure and you could break the motherboard. Pry it off very slowly, going from corner to corner, until it comes off.

Once you have that back bracket off, I found the rest of the installation to be very simple, and there are many, many guides on Youtube that show how to install it.

I am sure you have either solved your problem by now, or given up on it, but I hope my answer will help everyone else that comes here looking for a solution.

BTW, the Cooler Master Hyper 212 evo is fantastic. It brought my CPU temps down by 20C from my old stock cooler, and I never go over 45C even after hours of heavy load.