Removing a SB heatsink

[the24frans]

i am having a problem with my SB overheating and i want to remove the heatsink to clean and regrease it, but it's attached to the motherboard with springloaded plastic pins that expand when pushed through the motherboard. i can't seem to grip the pin with the pliers and push it back through at all. In an earlier post someone said just pinch it with a pliers and "voila!" and i don't know what they mean--it seems pretty difficult to me to remove those plastic pins without damaging them. Can anyone elaborate? what kind of pliers are you using? how do you grip the pins without them slipping off or being too close to the hole to push the pin through?

I just gave up in frustration yesterday and am hoping the temperature spikes i'm seeing on the southbridge sensor for just a second (it spikes from 48 to 200 and back, about once or maybe twice in a few hours) are an artifact, perhaps a faulty sensor. The motherboard is a Rampage Gene II/ CG5290 and I've wanted to remove both the NB and SB heatsinks and clean and replace the thermal grease on them ever since i heard there was some sort of "pad" stuck between the chip and the heatsink that was preventing the heatsinks from working well. I was searching for info when the northbridge was overheating a few months back (I added a second chassis fan which brought that down to 66 which is i guess passable). I just replaced the hard drive after numerous failure warnings from windows and SMART last week if that is relevant...I replaced it with an equivalent in capacity and speed, a caviar green, 1 tb 7200 sata. I tried not to disturb the cables in the case as much as possible.


Any info anyone can give me on these pins, the overheating problem, or the mb and its problems would be appreciated as I can't really afford to replace this hardware for awhile and I need to keep this thing limping along for as long as possible. Right now i have the case open and i've only seen the spike once in many hours of computing. Temps are CPU=35, MB=31, SB=47, NB=66, and i'm running an asus essentio cg5290 [i7, 9MB. etc] with just 3 modifications -the opened case, the extra fan, and the new hard drive. I disassembled it yesterday trying to get to the SB heatsink, but as I say gave up in disgust when i couldn't get those pins out with my needlenose pliers. Maybe I need a better pair I'm beginning to think I looked at this thing crosseyed and it's getting its jollies out of random failure warnings...

-fran

 

[ko888]

What utility or application are you using that is reporting "... ( it spikes from 48 to 200 and back, about once or maybe twice in a few hours) ..."?

I know ASUS has some flaky utilities that will randomly report absurd sensor values like negative temperatures and voltages especially when you do some overly aggressive overclocking.

 

[the24frans]

I'm using the "AI manager" program that came with the computer, which has been reporting normal temps for over two years...it'd be nice, though, to think that it's the software that's crazy and not the southbridge chip itself...I don't know how or what else to use to monitor temps on a motherboard other than the program the motherboard came with?? Aren't those programs pretty much hardware-specific??

 

[ko888]

I use AI Suite II with my ASUS P8-Z68-V PRO and it gives wonky sensor readings when I've set the VRM phase control settings to a setting that is too aggressive.

Download the freeware utility CPUID Hardware Monitor

http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/hwmonitor.html

 

[the24frans]

unfortunately this software doesn't monitor the SB/NB temps at all, I'm just winging it hoping that the temperature readings i'm getting are, in fact, due to faulty software, as you said, I really wish someone had a way of removing those heatsinks without destroying the fasteners...

I use AI Suite II with my ASUS P8-Z68-V PRO and it gives wonky sensor readings when I've set the VRM phase control settings to a setting that is too aggressive.

Download the freeware utility CPUID Hardware Monitor

http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/hwmonitor.html

 

[ko888]

unfortunately this software doesn't monitor the SB/NB temps at all, I'm just winging it hoping that the temperature readings i'm getting are, in fact, due to faulty software, as you said, I really wish someone had a way of removing those heatsinks without destroying the fasteners...

I thought that pulling up the spring-loaded center pins would allow the fastener's prongs to be squeezed together from the underside of the motherboard and thereby release the heatsink.

 

[the24frans]

so far squeezing the prongs with either pliers or the fingers hasn't resulted in the fasteners coming through the other side, perhaps due to them not being easily gripped by pliers or fingers and properly squeezed enough, or some other factor I am not aware of at work preventing the pins from being pushed through to the other side. I have the sneaking suspicion that they were designed NOT to be squeezable unless you have either A. a special tool, or B. you break the pin and replace it. Either one I'd like to know a resource for, if that's what needs to be done, if not, there's a "trick" to it I don't know about. If there is, I'd LOVE it if someone would tell me what it is.

 

[Sonny73N]

No, don't break the pin. Although it's kind of hard to push the pin out but you have to try. Just press the nose of your pliers against the board to get enough grip on the pin then use something to push it out. Old thermal grease/pad may be sticky. Just take your time. I suggest if that monitoring software you're using not reliable, you shouldn't mess with the board at all. Those artifacts you were seeing may be from the faulty graphic card. Oh, and because of not-so-flat surface of the chipset, thermal pad usually being used instead of the paste. Beside, some paste is corrosive and electrical capacitive. You should be careful.

Edit: typo

 

[the24frans]

No, don't break the pin. Although it's kind of hard to push the pin out but you have to try. Just press the nose of your pliers against the board to get enough grip on the pin then use something to push it out. Old thermal grease/pad may be sticky. Just take your time. I suggest if that monitoring software you're using not reliable, you shouldn't mess with the board at all. Those artifacts you were seeing may be from the faulty graphic card. Oh, and because of not-so-flat surface of the chipset, thermal pad usually being used instead of the paste. Beside, some paste is corrosive and electrical capacitive. You should be careful.

Edit: typo

thanks, this is the sort of info i was looking for--I think since i haven't seen a warning now for quite some time, i'm just going to leave it and assume it is an artifact--i'm not having any system-wide lockup issues at all--especially considering what you've said about the thermal pad and the thermal paste...a lot to think about surely...and as long as i have the third fan and the case open i have great temps on all the chips (at least according to the monitors). Thanks everybody, I think I'm going to mark this one as answered!

 

[the24frans]

Best answer selected by the24frans.

 

[nikorr]

This topic has been closed by Nikorr