Northbridge heatsink partly came off

[pmilleroly27]

I made a really dumb mistake last night while installing a wireless pci express x1 card. I normally grab the cpu fan to hold motherboard in place when snapping something in. Instead I accidentally grabbed the north bridge which I think is actually the north bridge heat sink correct? and it snapped part way off. I pressed it back in place and it seemed firmly in place. Started my computer, no problems and it's been running for over 3 hours. Should I take the north bridge heat sink complete off and reinstall? If so how do I go about that? Thermal paste? and if not what should I look out for in the future for north bridge problems. I've read in a post before that a north bridge fell off somebodies motherboard. That probably means mine is at huge risk of doing so considering it already sort of disconnected. A north bridge break down would be helpful thanks.

 

[InvalidError]

Why would you pull on anything within the case other than whatever you are working on while "snapping something in"? If it is to prevent the case from moving as you press cards into slots, you should either pull on the chassis or apply counter-force on the opposite case side after lining things up. Push-pin clips are not intended to get pulled on as leverage while installing/removing other components, they are only intended to keep the heatsinks in place during normal operation.

As for re-installing the heatsink, since all CPUs in recent history have integrated memory controllers, there is no more "north bridge", only the IO hub which is without heatsink on some motherboards. For CPUs with IMC, the "chipset" does not produce much heat so I would not worry too much about re-attaching the heatsink beyond making sure it is secured properly.

 

[pmilleroly27]

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/33418-gigabyte-870a-ud3-am3-motherboard-review.html

links shows a picture of the motherboard piece that came partway off, AMD 870 Northbridge. It's still on and computer runs fine. It felt loose after I pulled on it. Then I pressed it back in and now it seems secure so do you suggest to leave as is?

 

[pmilleroly27]

Best answer selected by pmilleroly27.

 

[nikorr]

This topic has been closed by Nikorr