Contents of AMD Retail Box

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Suprnova04

Limp Gawd
Joined
Apr 1, 2004
Messages
439
I just purchased a retail 64 3500+ venice... do the retail packages come with some kind of thermal paste? If so.. is the stuff worth using? If not.. should i get something like this??

Thanks.
 
The retail heatsink and fan has a thermal interface material "TIM" on it from the factory. It is a light grey patch of material. It works well for stock speeds and mild o/c's. I used my stock hsf until I got a copper zalman 7000. If my cpu croaks I'll be able to return the cpu and used heatsink (TIM intact) for RMA.
 
We buy boxed chips for all the high-end (Opteron) systems at work. The thermal "paste" is pre-installed on the bottom of the HSF.

It looks like total crap, we were real tempted to clean it off and use AS 5. But went with it anyways to not kill the factory warranty.

Seems to be working well enough, haven't had any over heating problems, some of these boxes are SQL servers, the chips get a pretty good workout sometimes.
 
wow that's retarded... but if I buy an aftermarket heatsink and leave the stock one alone... even if the processor craps out the warranty holds?

geeze.. that seems crazy.. for all they know I could not even use a thermal compound and just fry the sucker...
 
Suprnova04 said:
wow that's retarded... but if I buy an aftermarket heatsink and leave the stock one alone... even if the processor craps out the warranty holds?

geeze.. that seems crazy.. for all they know I could not even use a thermal compound and just fry the sucker...
Click to expand...

Sad, but true.

AMD folks aren't dumb, they can tell if the stock HSF was actually used when it gets returned to them. But I doubt they'd say anything about it if it wasn't, they don't need a bad returns reputation by pushing little issues like that.
 
When I installed my aftermarket hsf I was able to remove the stock hsf so that the TIM had been deformed by the correct installation and use. If the CPU dies I can return the cpu and hsf (with used TIM) without warranty problems... not that I would do that... never killed a cpu from o/c'n.

Suprnova04 said:
wow that's retarded... but if I buy an aftermarket heatsink and leave the stock one alone... even if the processor craps out the warranty holds?

geeze.. that seems crazy.. for all they know I could not even use a thermal compound and just fry the sucker...
Click to expand...
 
LBJGH said:
When I installed my aftermarket hsf I was able to remove the stock hsf so that the TIM had been deformed by the correct installation and use.
Click to expand...

IC... that brings up another point... is it hard to remove a hsf? I've never used thermal paste / TIM so i don't know what it's like.. is it actually sticky.. or more goopy? (yeah goopy isn't a word but you know what i mean)
 
There's an alternative to buying boxed chips just for the 3 year warranty. Places like Monarch will let you add two years onto a OEM's one year warranty for somewhere around 15 bucks.

The 15 dollars for that, plus about 25 for a decent HSF, you still save a little money over the boxed units and get a HSF that'll do a better job for OCers.
 
The consistency of the TIM is like "caulking" that is 80% dried out. It can be scraped off with your fingernail. Previously I was able to pull off the TIM in one piece similar to a piece of tape. If the TIM has been on for a long time you may find that it gets kinda "crusty"

Suprnova04 said:
IC... that brings up another point... is it hard to remove a hsf? I've never used thermal paste / TIM so i don't know what it's like.. is it actually sticky.. or more goopy? (yeah goopy isn't a word but you know what i mean)
Click to expand...
 
In my case, the TIM ripped out my 2800+ with the heatsink :eek:

I guess that I am screwed :( I took off the TIM and put on some cheap grease. Oh well, my overclocking adventures with that chip probably voided it anyway. 200mhz may not be much of an OC, but it's enough to corrupt windows on an unlocked SATA channel.
 
apHytHiaTe said:
200mhz may not be much of an OC, but it's enough to corrupt windows on an unlocked SATA channel.
Click to expand...
depends on your multi ;)
for me, 200mhz would be 17mhz on the htt/fsb :D
 
you also get a sticker with the box... and sometimes the retail version is CHEAPER than the oem... up to $100 at newegg sometimes... dont ask me why but you would be stupid to get the oem just to buy another heatsink :p
 
(cf)Eclipse said:
technically yes. it's one of those stupid things though
Click to expand...

So what do you suppose someone do if they wanted to change motherboards without voiding there warranty? :p
 
How do you remove the stock heatsink.. or any heatsink for that matter... without messin' stuff up? Does you just pull it off or what?

Thats what i was trying to get at with the question about the consistancy of it.
 
Suprnova04 said:
How do you remove the stock heatsink.. or any heatsink for that matter... without messin' stuff up? Does you just pull it off or what?

Thats what i was trying to get at with the question about the consistancy of it.
Click to expand...

LOL Maybe they want you to buy a new cpu/heatsink combo for every mobo upgrade... :D
 
Good question... the TIM are a one-time deal... you aren't suppose to reuse 'em. There is an active AMD forum where this discussion may have taken place... might be worth a quick search:

http://forums.amd.com/index.php?act=idx

Suprnova04 said:
How do you remove the stock heatsink.. or any heatsink for that matter... without messin' stuff up? Does you just pull it off or what?

Thats what i was trying to get at with the question about the consistancy of it.
Click to expand...
 
Its best to try it after your computer has been on, then turn it off of course. And gently twist the hsf fan until it comes off, if you pull sometimes it will take the CPU with it, and that can mean bents pins and such. SO just go slow and twist it back and forth.
 
mpcamer1220 said:
you also get a sticker with the box... and sometimes the retail version is CHEAPER than the oem... up to $100 at newegg sometimes... dont ask me why but you would be stupid to get the oem just to buy another heatsink :p
Click to expand...

I can get a roll of stickers off ebay for about 4 bucks...

I saw that on Newegg, the boxed cheaper than the OEM on some of the chips. All I can figure is the egg is selling a lot more OEMs than boxed, and they need to move the now-overstocked boxed faster, so cheaper. Just a guess though.

If (usually) saving some money and getting a better HSF with the same 3 year warranty is stupid, then I'm happily stupid! :)
 
Shakezilla said:
Its best to try it after your computer has been on, then turn it off of course. And gently twist the hsf fan until it comes off, if you pull sometimes it will take the CPU with it, and that can mean bents pins and such. SO just go slow and twist it back and forth.
Click to expand...

Thanks! That's the information i was looking for :)
 
I don't think simply being on will definitely be enough...give it a good work out in Prime, SuperPI or even a few minutes of your favourite game (as long as it isn't Minesweeper!) first.
 
Good advice, Shakezilla. I would still have a warranty if I had *twisted* before I ripped it out! But, usually when you rip them out, they don't bend the pins. That only happens to people that God is mad at.

FYI, my computer had been on for days before I took of the hsf, and it was stuck on there. However, I discovered that a TINY twist will get that bad boy offa there.
 
If everything is working fine, it's probably not worth it to remove the HSF just to apply different thermal material to the stock AMD HSF. If I remember correctly, they use thermal pads made by Shinetsu, which are actually pretty high quality pads. The material is also intended to last indefinitely with no leak or break-down, which is why AMD prefers it to AS5 or any other paste. You can maybe drop a couple degrees with AS5 over the stock pad, but nothing remarkable, so unless you're removing it to upgrade to a new HSF with AS5, I would leave it alone. There are benchmarks floating around comparing the Shinetsu pads with various other materials, and they seem to hold up well.
 
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