Whats the easiest way to change cpu heatsink??

malcky

Chassis Packer
Original poster
May 7, 2017
20
8
Hi folks,

Might be a silly question, but when I was building the HDPlex H1.S case, I put the cpu heatsink brackets on the wrong side of the block and only noticed when trying to secure the top half of the cpu block over the heat pipes.....so I needed to remove the cpu heatsink which needed a hell of a pull to get it off the cpu....and that was only after 10 minutes of it being fitted.

So, what is the best technique for taking off a heatsink....twist off, lift off from a corner or something else?

If it matters, the thermal paste I used was Noctua NT-H1

Thanks
 

GuilleAcoustic

Chief Procrastination Officer
SFFn Staff
LOSIAS
Jun 29, 2015
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Weird, been using that compound on several CPU and never had issues to remove the heatsink.

How much of the paste did you apply ? Best is to use a drop sized quantity of it and spread it with a latex glove.
 

malcky

Chassis Packer
Original poster
May 7, 2017
20
8
It was only a small blob/pea sized amount in the middle of the cpu, then pressed down and gave it a little twist as per Noctua's instructions to spread the paste.
 

confusis

John Morrison. Founder and Team Leader of SFF.N
SFF Network
SFF Workshop
SFFn Staff
Jun 19, 2015
4,129
7,057
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Twist and lift at the same time. If it's an Intel socket, you should be able to get away with a slight prying action on one side/corner to break the seal.

On AMD (or any PGA socket) you can do the same, but you have to be more careful as the CPU could come out with the heatsink, and bent pins may ensue.
 

Kmpkt

Innovation through Miniaturization
KMPKT
Feb 1, 2016
3,382
5,935
Can anyone comment on whether running the chip to heat up the paste before removal would help any?